"Setting boundaries is the foundation of organizational construction that involves group behavior, people, processes, resources, and goals."[1]Scientific setting up the boundary between administrative power and academic power in universities will help limit the proliferation of administrative power, promote academic power, and help the effective communication and harmony between administrative power and academic power.But how to set the boundary between the two is a question worth studying.It is a realistic, legitimate and feasible plan to set the boundary between administrative power and academic power in university-level colleges.
I. Theoretical Basis of Professors' Governance
Cosen discovered in 1960 that universities showed "a curious duality of organizational structure".Cosen believes that there are two structures at the same time: one is the traditional management structure and the other is the structure in which teachers make decisions on school-related matters within their power.[2] In 1998, American scholar Robert Birnbaum called universities with such organizational characteristics "academic communities."It is also considered that universities have high internal homogeneity, and at the same time have the organizational characteristics of "loose external connection, close internal connection".In such an organization, its members share similar values and objectives, demonstrate equal status for all, and strong loyalty to schools and professions.They place academic work at the heart of university work, while placing administrative responsibility in the service of academic activities.[3]This is a common pattern of university governance, which is called "professor governance".As a kind of university governance model, professor governance is an institutional arrangement of university governance, which is basically born with the birth of university.However, with the development of time, the university governance model of professors gradually has a new connotation.The earliest professors ruled the university, and professors had absolute governing power, including decision-making power, administrative power, and academic power and supervisory power.With the development of universities into the social axis, more and more communication between universities and the external environment, the influence of external environment on universities is increasing.Gradually, the power of professors is withdrawn from the decision-making power of schools, replaced by the board of directors or councils of universities, and administrative power of professors is gradually exercised by the president.The decision-making power, management power, supervision power and advice power remain only the latter two.
Since the Republic of China began to introduce this kind of governance model, representing the school under the leadership of Cai Yuanpei Peking University.But over time, especially since 1990s, Chinese universities have largely abandoned the governance model of professors and replaced it with the "principal responsibility system under the leadership of the Party committee".By the end of last century, along with the practice of building world-class universities, Chinese universities re-examined the "professor-governed" mode of university governance and gradually extended the "professor-governed".However, although the difference between "Professor Governing School" and "Professor Governing School" is one word, they are two different concepts and practices."Professors governing schools" is a kind of governance model, which is an institutional design for university professors to participate in collective decision-making and common governance."Professors study" is a kind of concept, a kind of requirement, is a kind of responsibility and obligation of professors.That is, professors should concentrate on learning, academic, discipline, students, learning style.In the end, "professors study" has been reduced to a concept, which has little significance in the practice of university governance.
However, it is the basic path of scientific development and the goal of Chinese university reform to promote the academic power and restore the essence of academic organization.In the face of the ever-expanding administrative and political power of universities, a series of reforms must be carried out to gradually move toward the academic standard of universities.For this reason, universities must learn from the rational kernel of "professors running schools" and give play to the role of professors in university governance.At present, there is no legal support for the implementation of "professors governing schools" at the university level, and the reform of Chinese universities' academic power should begin with the most autonomous colleges.Taking the reform of college governance structure as a breakthrough, the goal of promoting academic power and scientific development of university is realized by setting up reasonable boundaries of administrative power and academic power.This kind of thinking can be positioned as "professors governing the academy".That is, professors participate in the governance of the college as a group, not only in academic affairs, but also in decision-making and administrative affairs, not only in the publicity of academic power, but also in the constraints.It is lawful and operational for universities to administer colleges by professors.
First, at the legal level, the faculty governs the college has the legitimacy.The foundation of institutional design is legality and legality is the premise of any institutional design in universities.Here, the "law" includes not only the law of higher education at the national legal level, but also government policies and regulations.At present, both national-level laws and policy-level regulations and policies support college-level reform.The Higher Education Law stipulates the governance structure at the university level, that is, "the state-run higher education institutions shall be held responsible by the president under the leadership of the Communist Party of China's grass-roots committee" (article 39 of the Higher Education Law).The University has full autonomy over secondary institutions within the University.The law provides that "university institutions shall independently determine the establishment and staffing of internal organizations, such as teaching, scientific research, administrative functions, in accordance with practical needs and the principle of streamlining and efficiency" (art.In particular, the Outline of National and Long-term Education Reform and Development Plan lists college-level reform as one of the key tasks of modern university system construction.The "Pilot College Reform" will be implemented as an important initiative.Du Yubo, deputy minister of education, said: "The pilot college is a comprehensive reform with innovative talent training system as the core and college as the basic implementation unit."One of its core missions is to innovate the management system and mechanisms of institutions of higher learning.[4]There is no doubt that the college has legal legitimacy to carry out the reform of the college.At present, the "Guidance Opinions on Promoting the Reform of Pilot Colleges" of the Ministry of Education has been deliberated and approved by the Party Committee.In other words, universities have complete autonomy over the management of secondary institutions, and universities can "take charge" of what governance mode.
Second, in theory, the professor governs the academy has advanced nature."A university is a community of scholars and students committed to the cause of seeking truth."[5]" Neither college nor university is a political group (Hooke, 1969; Cohen, 1975).Its duty is not to administer, but to discover, publish and teach advanced learning.Its management is not based on the principle of majority or majority, but on knowledge.[6]Professors are not civil servants. Professors should first and foremost consider themselves scientific researchers and teachers, and the basic job of professors is to make their own choices.It is incumbent upon him, without any external interference, to do everything in his power to take personal responsibility for his scientific activities, starting with the first question he raised for himself.His decision was based on the criteria inherent in his work, which eschews external predictions, immediate confirmations, and final conclusions.[7]"University is an academic community" theory holds that in the academic community, professors have equal status, equal power, and the pursuit of truth as their responsibilities.Any external pressure and control are not conducive to the fulfillment of the mission of the academic community.This theory provides theoretical legitimacy for university professors to govern the college.
Thirdly, at the academic level, it is inevitable for professors to run the academy.With the enrichment of the social functions of universities, the relationship between universities and society is becoming more and more close, and universities are influenced by external environmental factors.Although the power in universities can be divided into academic power, administrative power, political power, student power, etc., in any case, university publicity of academic power is the premise and the main idea.Without the publicity of academic power, there can be no high-quality university production.This essential attribute of university requires that the administrative and political power of university must serve academic power.Professor Tien Chang-lin, a former president of the University of California, Berkeley, once said, "In the United States, there is an understanding that which school has a strong faculty committee will become the most famous school in the future."[8]Giving professors the right to make administrative decisions is tantamount to filling their hunger.Without the right to allocate resources and allocate resources, there will be no real academic power, and without the power of administration, it will be difficult for universities to achieve their goal of serving academic power.The professors' governance is to take professors as decision-making organs of the college and implement the decision-making, management and supervision of all its affairs.Only in this way can the goal of academic power be truly realized power.