Fewer Faculty Involved in Presidential Searches

Oct 19, 2021, 5:23 PM

(From Chronicle of Higher Education) Fewer college faculty participate in college presidential searches than did 20 years ago, according to a new American Association of University Professors (AAUP) report. The survey of 396 respondents showed a 93% drop between 2001 and 2021 in the share of institutions with faculty members on the presidential search committee. The AAUP, per its joint statement on governance of colleges and universities, maintains that the faculty should participate meaningfully in the selection of a college or university president.

The report highlighted these other takeaways on the state of shared governance:

Faculty representation on a search committee is also more common at public colleges and universities (75%) as opposed to private institutions (42%).
Nearly 90 percent of institutions have a faculty senate or council, a jump of 15 percentage points since the AAUP’s 2001 survey.