Understanding Shared Governance

Shared governance distinguishes higher education from most other industries (nursing is at least one other industry sector that employs shared governance). Shared governance makes management of higher education organizations quite different from most of the industries from which most trustees come, and the practice sometimes baffles trustees from the corporate sector. It is also foreign to many attorneys, including attorneys new to higher education. Most trustees are unfamiliar with the concept. Yet successful shared governance is particularly useful in higher education’s recent trying times. To set new trustee expectations, shared governance should be a centerpiece of board orientation and should be the subject of ongoing education.