LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE IN A COLLEGE OF ADVANCED EDUCATION

Abstract

Leadership was the central issue of concern when academic governance regulations were introduced at Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences in 1978. At the time there was considerable debate about the leadership role of Heads which surfaced again in 1981–82 when the authors undertook a review of the regulations. In this paper the authors analyse the review findings and relate these findings to contemporary theory which sees leadership in terms of the nature of the relationships between leaders and followers. They report that in spite of the existence of a uniform set of regulations the leadership styles of Heads of Schools and Departments varied considerably. Nevertheless it was only in those Schools and Departments where discordancy existed in the leader‐follower relationships that dissatisfaction was expressed about the regulations. The authors conclude that regulations by themselves do not determine the quality of leadership and decision‐making even though they may be intended to settle an agreed organization for decision‐making. However, the introduction of regulations can lead to beneficial modifications to hierarchically based superior‐subordinate relationships with more collegial forms of shared responsibility. “A larger slice of the cake isn't enough — we want a share in the ruddy bakery.” (Mrs. Sheila Egan, East Lancs representative at the 1972 National Conference of Technical Teachers, speaking about Academic Government.)

Citation

O'NEILL, A. and WELLARD, R. (1986), "LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE IN A COLLEGE OF ADVANCED EDUCATION", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 122-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009913