波士顿地区三所私立研究型大学教师评议会的比较研究

Case Studies of the Faculty Senate in the Three Private Research Universities in the Boston Area

教师评议会是美国大学普遍设置的教师参与大学治理的机构。通过对美国波士顿大学、东北大学和波士顿学院的案例研究发现,这三所私立研究型大学教师参与大学治理的权力与影响各不相同。三所大学在历史上的一些标志性事件对其教师参与治理产生了深刻影响,行政人员的态度和教师评议会能否代表教师意见等因素也直接影响着教师参与治理的绩效。这三所美国研究型大学的经验说明,大学治理没有统一模式,我国的现代大学制度建设不能仅仅采用制度设计论的思维,还需要遵循演化生成论的逻辑。治理结构的完善并不等于治理绩效的改观,交流与沟通是共同治理取得成功的关键。

The faculty senate is a basic organizational structure for faculty governance in American universities. The author used case study method to examine faculty governance in Boston University,Northeastern University and Boston College. The findings show that there are huge differences on the power and influence of faculty governance body among these universities. Symbolic incidents in the university history has greatly influenced the culture of faculty governance. The function of the faculty governance system largely depends on the attitude of the administrators and whether the faculty governance body can represent the faculty's view more independently.There is no standardized mode for university governance,so that the building of Chinese modern university system should both intentionally design and follow the rule of evolution. The perfection of governance structure does not equal to improving the governance out-comes,communication between faculty and the administration is a key factor for the shared governance.