Ten Principles of a Well-Run University
Recent leadership crises at North American universities (see, for example, UBC , Calgary , Saskatchewan , Missouri , Illinois , Iowa , Texas , and Virginia ) have led to calls for improvement in university governance, management of conflicts of interests, and safeguarding academic freedom. My discussions and exchanges with numerous faculty and higher education experts have identified the following ten principles of a well-run university. From these may flow secondary principles, such as the composition of universities, their committees, and their governing bodies. Perhaps others will find these principles useful as a departure point for discussion and reform. 1. At its core the university is its faculty and its students, by a definition as old as the institution itself. As universities became more complex and granted formal education and degrees, faculties were organized by broad disciplines and were led by the pre-eminent scholars in those disciplines. Thus, deans, vice