学术权力和行政权力要适度分离而非隔离

Discussion about moderate separation rather than isolation of academic power and administrative power

在中国由高等教育大国向高等教育强国转变的过程中,高校学术权力与行政权力的适度分离是当前我国高等教育的必然趋势。全国高校"两权分离"在具体的实践操作层面仍存在一些理念和认识的模糊与偏差:一是把去行政化粗暴地理解为去行政级别;二是把行政权力与学术权力相分离线性地理解为把拥有行政权力的群体排除在学术群体之外,人为地割裂学术群体与行政群体之间固有的交互性和关联性。我们认为,去行政化不是简单的去行政级别,更不是取消行政管理或行政决策,而是如何理顺学术与行政的关系,有效遏制行政权力对学术权力的侵蚀和替代。学术权力与行政权力的适度分离并不在于其行驶主体上具体是谁,而在于学术权力与行政权力是否按照各自的运行原则运行。学术权力与行政权力相对分离,重要的不是对人员的隔离,而是其是否遵循各自的运行规则。当前,正确把握学术权力与行政权力的相对分离,要坚持权力责任对等、权力约束、权力运行公开透明等原则。

In the process of the transformation from a country of massive higher education to one of powerful higher education, the appropriate separation of the academic power and the administrative power is the inevitable trend in higher education in China at present. National universities have made a lot of active attempts and exploration in this respect, which reflects the public expectation of the separation. And it indeed has pushed the appropriate separation of the two powers, and in many ways also achieved positive results. However, universities have vague and biased ideas and understanding of the separation in their practices. The first bias is that they think de-administration is to simply abolish administrative levels. Actually, de-administration is not merely about the abolition or cancellation of the administration, but about the rationalization of the relationship between the two powers, thereby effectively curbing the erosion and substitution of the administrative power to the academic power. The second bias is that they think the separation of the two powers is simply to exclude the group with the administrative power and to artificially divided the intrinsic relevance and interaction between the two groups. We believe that moderate separation of the two powers lies in whether the academic power is running in accordance with the principles of academic operation and whether the administrative power is operating in accordance with the principles of the administrative operation. The key to the separation of the powers is not the isolation of personnel, but compliance with their respective rules of operation. For universities, cultivation of talents and promotion of the academic prosperity are the endogenous power of their development. Academics as its essential attribute also gives the university governance unique dual power structure which restricts and supports each other as well. The relationship between the two powers is not the absolutely opposite, but interdependently dialectically unified. Firstly, they are mutually independent and mutually contradictory. Administrative power advocates the promotion of the efficiency and the decrease of the cost, and it has formidable executive capacity which the academic power cannot reach. If its coerciveness cannot be appropriately restricted, it may jeopardize the freedom and autonomy of the academy. The academic power represents professional authority that seeks the truth. It has the power to influence and dominate academic affairs and it also has properties like fragilities, autonomy and democracy. Secondly, the powers are mutually connected and mutually unified. The development of universities relies on the support of the powers which always coexist inside the universities and are integral parts of a university. Even though the division of the responsibilities and specific interests are not the same between the two powers, the basic interest is the same and for that they are highly unified. Thirdly, 'the operation rules of the two powers are different.' If the academic power and the administrative power represent pursuit of truth and of efficiency respectively, the substantive characteristics are widely different and the operation rule of the powers are different too. At present, the crux of the relative separation between the two powers is to enact the basic principles of appropriate separation:(1)Reciprocity principle of power and responsibility;(2)Principle of power restriction;(3)principle of operation transparency.In sum, the principles above do not mean to make the two powers contradictory. If we can only see the conflict of the two powers, we will go against the original intention of the separation. We cannot simply classify the administrative power and the academic power by personnel position. The appropriate separation of the two powers is to realize better cooperation between the two powers. And it can perfect the power governance system in the university and accelerate the return of the academic nature.