Many of the political processes and issues facing those who seek to be effective leaders in postsecondary institutions are timeless. In fact, political processes attendant to higher education governance and leadership are similar to issues discussed by Machiavelli, when he wrote The Prince for the reigning Medici in fifteenth-century Florence. We note that Machiavelli's secular and pragmatic approach to statecraft shocked many of his contemporaries.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsFrank R. KemererFrank R. Kemerer is professor of education law and administration, North Texas State University. J. Victor Baldridge is senior research sociologist, Higher Education Research Institute, Inc., Los Angeles.J. Victor BaldridgeFrank R. Kemerer is professor of education law and administration, North Texas State University. J. Victor Baldridge is senior research sociologist, Higher Education Research Institute, Inc., Los Angeles.

Campus presidents and faculty union chairpersons agree that the primary ac complishment of academic unions to date is the regularizaron of personnel proce dures through a grievance system, even though faculty unions have come about primarily because of a desire for higher salaries and more job security. Evidence with regard to salaries and job security re mains mixed. Interestingly enough, cam pus personnel directors report more facul ty terminations at unionized than at non unionized institutions.* And while it has long been assumed that unions would quickly kill off faculty senates, this hasn't happened. In fact, the demarcation lines between senate and union activity are clearer now than five years ago at most in stitutions with a history of collective bar gaining. At the same time, power con tinues to flow off the campuses, mainly to state legislatures and executive agencies, in much of American higher education, with collective bargaining a major con tributing force. These are some of the key findings of the latest phase in a continuing study of academic governance and faculty collec tive bargaining in higher education that we started at Stanford in the early 1970s. We have combined a follow-up of the earlier survey research with new case studies, extensive contact analysis, and a survey of personnel directors at all higher education institutions conducted by the College and University Personnel Associa tion. The results of the initial study were reported in Unions on Campus and Policy Making and Effective Leadership (Jossey Bass, 1975 and 1978, respectively). We are currently compiling all the study results into several research reports and a new book on decision making in higher educa tion. While generalizations are increasingly

(1980). Policy Making and Effective Leadership: A National Study of Academic Management. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 225-228.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJ. Victor BaldridgeJ. Victor Baldridge is senior research sociologist, Higher Education Research Institute, Inc., Los Angeles.

££~I~t is only by careful economies, in addition to sources of J^ income, that the liberal arts college will be able to survive the financial pressures of the next few years.1 Millet's words, a quarter of a century old, seem equally pertinent today. In the first part of this decade, Cheit found that the average increase in operating expenditures for colleges and universities was 8.1 percent.2 The corresponding increase in operating revenues per full time equivalent (fte) student was 4.8 percent. The resulting gap between expenditures and revenues was labeled the cost-income squeeze of this new depression in higher education. Increased costs, not lower revenues, were the primary difficulty. Higher costs were due largely to four factors: inflation, labor-intensive educational technology, increased responsibilities, and enrollment growth. Inflation hurts colleges just as it does other institutions. The cost of the specialized resources used by educational institutions increases at a faster rate than the consumer price index. Thus, general inflationary pressures serve to increase institutional expenditures, and this trend is reinforced by the extra increases in the specialized resources colleges need. Public support diminished for colleges and universities in the early 1970s. The financial situation of colleges deteriorated, and an oversupply of faculty undermined the academic job market. Dozens of small liberal arts colleges closed their doors and many that remained

Forty-nine private liberal arts colleges received grants from the Exxon Education Foundation to improve their management procedures. Research was conducted to determine the success of the management innovations, and the impact of the process on the college's management. About half the colleges had innovations that completely failed because of staff turnover, inadequate administrative support, or other causes. In the other, more successful group the research showed a number of positive impacts of the projects: (1) Management Information Systems were quite useful in providing comprehensive management data, in analyzing “hot spots” of trouble, and increasing sophistication of administrators; (2) Management by Objectives projects increased administrative and faculty morale and insured more adequate planning, and (3) combinations of both MIS and MBO projects produced the strongest positive impact. Both types of projects, however, failed to link planning with budgeting, a major flaw.

Contrary to the views of several contemporary observers, American higher education is not becoming more homogeneous but more diverse. Institutions of higher education vary widely in their organizational structure, goals, and governance patterns. To compare these diverse institutions systematically, the Stanford Project on Academic Governance established a typology with eight broad categories. These categories vary systematically on many features: environmental relations, professional task, and institutional complexity. The different categories of institutions, reflecting diverse organizational features, have different professional autonomy for the faculty.