The Study Of The University Senate's Participation In The University Of Minnesota's Internal Governance(1912-2012)

Under the background of accelerating the construction of first-class universities and first-class disciplines,realizing the connotative development of higher education,and building a strong country of higher education,university governance has become an important reform task and research topic,and it has been concerned widely by government,university,society and all kinds of persons in different educational levels.The government's overall regulation or guidance and the social inspection or penetration generally affects the universities' internal and external governance from a macro perspective.However,compared with the much more stable external governance environment and from the micro level,the universities' internal governance reflects more obvious initiative,complexity and diversity,and it should be given more deeply concerned and studied.Using literature analysis,comparative research,historical analysis and other research methods,this thesis selects a typical public research university in the United States,the University of Minnesota,as the research object,focusing on the participation of the university senate's participation in the universities' internal governance.Mainly from the development history,the organization operation,and the structural function of the university senate,the relationship between the principal and the board of directors,the performance of the 100-year transition in governance,and the factors affecting the participation of the university senate in the universities' internal governance.The thesis clearly shows the internal governance system of the University of Minnesota and the outstanding contributions of the university senate and its constraints.On the basis of a comprehensive understanding of the research case,this thesis analyzes the more than 100 years' development history of the university senate,the contents of the meeting minutes and the seven interviews with the former chairman of the university senate of the university of Minnesota.It comprehensively sorted out the three stages: the establishment period,the development period and the modern period.From the dynamic perspective of historical changes,it has been shown a comprehensive analysis of the university senate's participation in the university's internal governance.Then the thesis mainly focused on the three characteristics:(1)establishing and improving the system construction;(2)safeguarding the rights and interests ofteachers and students;(3)continuing to develop community services.Finally,in view of the university internal and external organization,this thesis deeply analyzes many factors affecting the participation of the university senate in the universities' internal governance.Among these internal factors,the balance of the administrative and academic forces is the rooted ones.The external factors including the government control and support,market inspection and feedback,participation and assistance of higher education intermediary organizations,etc.Compared with the internal factors,external factors appear to be more independent,and has weaker cross-cutting.The government's control and support leads the internal governance of the University of Minnesota through the capital and legal policies.As a relatively neutral third-party force,higher education intermediary organizations exert influence on the university senate's governance from the micro perspective.And the market is more like an invisible big hand,constantly giving real-time feedback,participating in the university within the university senate.In the process of governance subtly.Through the in-depth analysis of the university senate's participation in the University of Minnesota,it is not difficult to find that the board of directors,the senate and the principal group have many solidarity and conflicts,but they are all important participants and promoters of the University of Minnesota governance.In other words,the participation of the senate in the internal governance of the university is also subject to the supervision of the board of directors and the principal group,including other internal and external factors.The relationship between the board of directors,the senate and the principal group should be continuously coordinated,the participation of the teachers and students of the University of Minnesota should be enhanced,and the school management rules and systems should be continuously improved.The good governance of the university is just around the corner.