ABSTRACT

Numerous universities throughout the world have established top-level advisory boards – informal bodies and councils that the institutional leadership may consult on issues perceived as important. Through a series of qualitative interviews with members of such entities as well as representatives of the institutions appointing them, the article sheds light on how strategic advisory bodies function, and how these entities frame and interact with the institutional leadership. We observe that strategic advisory boards represent a hybrid form of governance installing mutual dependencies between representatives of the boards and the institutional leadership – what we label as a kind of controlled collegiality. While university leadership acts as a gatekeeper controlling access to these boards, once members are nominated the power relations between the actors, become more equal. The study highlights the importance of strategic advisory boards as new elements in higher education governance – working in the shadow of more formal governance arrangements. Here, we argue that the establishment of these boards can be interpreted as a re-introduction of a collegial element in universities exposed to a number of reforms resulting in more streamlined and managerial governance structures.

摘要

世界各地的许多大学都建立了高层顾问委员会-非正式机构和理事会，机构领导可以就被认为重要的问题进行咨询。通过对这些实体的成员以及任命他们的机构代表进行的一系列定性采访，文章阐明了战略咨询机构的运作方式，以及这些实体如何与机构领导层互动以及与机构领导层互动。我们观察到，战略咨询委员会代表了治理的一种混合形式，在董事会代表与机构领导之间建立了相互依存的关系-我们称之为“受控合议制”。虽然大学领导层充当控制访问这些委员会的门卫，一旦成员被提名，演员之间的权力关系就变得更加平等。该研究强调了战略咨询委员会作为高等教育治理中的新要素的重要性–在更正式的治理安排的阴影下开展工作。在这里，我们认为成立这些委员会可以解释为在经历了许多改革的大学中重新引入了大学元素，从而产生了更加精简和管理的治理结构。