Research On The Governance Structure Reform Of University Of Chicago During President Robert Maynard Hutchins(1929-1951)

The university governance structure is the institutional arrangement formed by the various participants in the process of university governance in terms of power and function distribution.It is the institutional basis for the operation of the university,the basis for the effective governance and functioning of the university,and the building of a powerful higher education country Guarantee.To build a first-class university,China is currently in the process of optimizing its governance structure.Therefore,the paper selects the governance structure reform of the University of Chicago from 1929 to 1951 when Hutchins was president.Most of the existing research focuses on the educational experiments of the University of Chicago during this period,and rarely involves the governance structure behind it.And the reforms of this period are an important part of the governance structure of the University of Chicago,which is still playing a huge role today.Therefore,starting from the development of the governance structure rather than the completed governance structure,it is possible to analyze the history of governance structure evolution of a successful institution from a dynamic perspective.Based on the selected topics,this research uses literature research and historical research methods,mainly including the background of the governance structure reform of the University of Chicago,the governance structure reform,the discussion of the reform process and influencing factors,and the analysis of the reform results.Before Hutchins took office as president in 1929,the governance structure of the University of Chicago generally showed the characteristics of centralization at the top and partial power at the bottom.With the weakening of the leadership of the president,the power continued to sink.Facing the problems of inefficient governance and decentralized power at the bottom,the University of Chicago carried out two governance structure reforms from 1929 to 1951 when Hutchins served as president.The first reform streamlined the administrative department,expanded administrative power,and changed the former director’s power fault situation.The second reform lowered the threshold of the council,regulated the operation of the council,and reiterated the limits of power.The conflicts in the reform process mainly focus on two points: the size of power,how to configure power in the governance structure to improve governance efficiency;the problem of power attribution,mainly whether the power of education should belong to the principal or teacher.Therefore,the conflict around power is the main line connecting the reform process and the direct driving force for optimizing the governance structure.Conflicts are deeply affected by the governance model and governance culture of national universities.The governance structure reform carried out by the University of Chicago during this period has laid the school’s current academic organization framework;it has improved the governance structure and the efficiency of governance;it has promoted the University of Chicago towards co-governance,enhanced awareness of rights and responsibilities;and promoted the development of college governance.Through research,it can be found that the fundamental purpose of the school’s governance structure reform is to explore how to realize the value of the university and give full play to its effectiveness.Therefore,although the governance structure reform carried out by the University of Chicago during this period has not been focused on,from the perspective of its value and significance,it still has the significance worthy of consideration and reference.