A qualitative study of the perceptions of select faculty senate leaders on the role of faculty and administrators in the decision making process at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This study addressed the perceptions of select faculty leaders regarding seven governance topics including: (a) the purpose of education, (b) the role and values of faculty in campus decision making, (c) trends regarding involvement of the faculty in campus decision making, (d) trends regarding administrators in campus decision making, (e) feelings of the role and values of campus administrators in the campus decision making process, (f) external influences on trends in decision making, and (g) perceptions of how the campus has been influenced by the trends.; The data were collected from eight University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign (UIUC) faculty members. All participants are tenured and involved in campus governance. Data were collected in three, one hour, open-ended interviews. The data were analyzed and eight case studies were written. The data were also compiled to answer each of the research questions.; The findings show that the four female faculty members believe collegial governance has lost equilibrium towards a more administratively driven decision making paradigm. They believe faculty members have lost or given up the influence they once had on institutional affairs. This loss of influence is based upon a coopting of power by administrators who are primarily meeting the short term financial and political needs of the institution. The decisions made in this hierarchical model are impacted by numerous external forces. These four participants are pessimistic about the future.; The men in this study believe there is equilibrium between the traditional values of collegial governance and campus administrators. The male participants shared many of the same issues as the female participants, including concerns about corporate values, a shift in campus decision making power and external influences. However, the men trust the system of governance at the institution and do not see the future of higher education negatively as a result of conflicts in the decision making process.