University Governance From The View Of Higher Educational Reform

Today , we are in an era of globalized knowledge economy and reform is one of the only unalterable characteristics of this age. If we say that life origin is the base and original theory of looking on and studying university and market logic has gradually shown with the rising and development of free trade and market tide, then governance is a thought we must have while dealing with university affairs with the coming of a globalized era and civil society. These three dimensions all linked with one another. The idea of people-oriented and academy-guidlined runs through the whole progress of historical development of university.Since the 1990's (only about ten years till now), Public Governance is not only favored by theorists, but also becomes the direction of reformation in countries all over the world. Its main content is introducing the theories and measures of Business to the Public Sectors, emphasizing efficiency, quality, equity, performance evaluation and so on. Governance becomes a world-wide trend in both Public Sector and the field of education. "University Governance" abroad has its theories and practice for a long time, accumulating much experience.Under the background of global governance changing, China seizes opportunity and enters a new period of highly economic development. The thought and practice of government reformation in the market-oriented western countries and its success in the public administrative reform of our country tell us in no doubt that, as a producer of quasi-public goods, the higher education reform in our country could learn from the New Public Management, particularly the theory of Governance, starting an innovative way which suits the special conditions of our country. In fact, Public Governance not only affects our government's transition in governance, but also has impact on the universities and higher education in our country, due to the theory itself and the great changes it brings. At the same time when Governance thrives and is introduced to our country, especially from the early 1990s, scholars in our country discuss hotly about whether our education should be industrialized, marketed and privatized. Since the late 1990s, a lot of schooling models, which are quite different from traditional public schools, appear. A series of unprecedented market-related reforms begin in our higher education, including the boom of private universities, the transition of public universities and etc. Until now, reforms are just beginning and disputes are continuing. Because of the complexity and sensitivity of the relations among government, market, university and society, people demonstrate caution and prudence while discussing or practicing the industrialization, marketing, and privatization of the higher education reform. Now, from the view of pedagogy, there are many suggestions about the effectiveness of higher education management, but lots of them are shattered, lacking a whole and comprehensive theory system. However, by relying on Public Governance to discuss and decide how to improve the quality of higher education can avoid the common fault of Game Theory—too scattered. Meanwhile, the theoretical study of University Governance in our country lags far behind the need, especially the lack of clear strategy guidance on the introduction and specific use of tools. This paper attempts to discuss the possibility and necessary of the extension of Governance Theory to the field of education, constructs the theoretical frame of University Governance from the view of higher education reform, sums up experience both abroad and domestic and makes empirical analysis and system design on our higher education reform. The innovation point of my dissertation is that it focuses on the real problems and their causes from the view of "Governance", and by learning from the reform results of western higher education, it puts forward proper ways of university governance which conform to the special conditions of our country. There are six chapters in this paper. The first is the introduction, which summarizes briefly about the reform of higher education and the origin of the application of Governance to the higher education field, the current research status, research purpose, issues to explore, the innovation point and the total design of the paper. The second chapter is about the common theory of University Governance, which analyzes the connotation, characteristics, limitations, theoretical base and main motivation of University Governance. Chapter three focuses on the history of University Governance in our country, reviewing the several institutional changes of higher education and pointing out the current status of the reform of higher education in our country, that is, the achievements, difficulties and their causes. Moreover, it analyzes the risks and resistance of University Governance in our country. Chapter four is about the University Governance from international perspective, analyzing the University Governance in such countries as America, Britain, Australia and so on. It introduces the specific use of Public Governance in the practice of western education management and the relevant experience. Chapter five is filled with cases and demonstration, focusing on the use of Governance and its application, specifically, the reflection on the policy of poor student support based on Public Governance. Chapter six is about the arrangement of University Governance in our country. It makes strategical suggestions about University Governance and brings forward the ethical observation, structure design , citizen participation, coordination system, finance arrangement and direction of University Governance, aiming to demonstrate several key points of innovation and administrative transition of our higher education. The last chapter is the tag, that is, governance is the prerequisite and basic way of the development of university and the future higher education is a definite way of living of human being. The governance of university must conform to certain market logic and its purpose is the improvement of the right of choosing of both students and their parents and the main aim of it is the construction of a civil society.To sum up, the writer focuses on marginal cross of Higher Education and Public Management, exploring the inner disciplines from the perspectives of Governance and main interests, trying to broaden the study of higher education, offering references for future higher education policy-making to advance the transition in governance of universities, rebuild the universities and finally realize the ideals and mission of our universities.