Academic Governance in the Contemporary University

Dr Julie Rowlands researches from within a critical sociology of education perspective in the areas of governance, higher education systems, academic quality assurance, education leadership and organisational change. Her work has been published in high-impact international journals including the British Journal of Sociology of Education, Critical Studies in Education and Studies in Higher Education. Julie’s findings on academic boards have been used by a number of universities around Australia and internationally as a basis for board member education programs. Prior to her academic work, Julie served as a senior manager in higher education governance for more than 15 years. She is currently a senior lecturer in education leadership at the School of Education, Deakin University, where she is a member of the strategic research centre Research for Education Impact (REDI).

• Part I: Academic governance in context.- 1 The changing nature of the university sector.- 2 University governance within an international context.- 3 What is academic governance?.- 4 Comparing academic governance across Anglophone nations.- 5 The theoretical and policy context.- 6 University governance models.- Part II: Case studies of academic governance in practice.- 7 Changes in the case study academic boards over time.- 8 Academic board strengths and weaknesses.- 9 Academic governance within university power and authority relationships.- 10 The academic board and academic quality assurance.- Part III: Moving forward.- 11 Key issues and challenges facing academic governance.- 12 Strengthening academic governance into the future.