Top Down or Bottom Up? Leadership and Shared Governance on Campus

Faculty on several small liberal arts campuses (e.g., Rollins College in Florida and Transylvania University in Kentucky) voted no confidence in their presidents-who, they claimed, had made major decisions involving academic programs and personnel without full faculty participation. Meanwhile, large-university presidents have been under siege from their boards of trustees (e.g., at the Universities of Virginia, Oregon, and Texas), as well as from their faculty (e.g., at New York University), in ways that undermine their leadership and employment. As the number of college faculty in tenure track positions at four-year institutions has declined below 50%, the concern about losing the faculty's voice in decision making is increasing.