This document discusses three topics for improving college governance and educational strategy: 1) Articulating the mission and purpose of the college by asking why it exists and how it can best serve students and the community. 2) Improving the director/principal selection process, which is one of the most critical actions management takes. It suggests examining current selection processes that may be dysfunctional. 3) Setting the educational strategy, where management must oversee educational quality while also involving faculty expertise. Academic excellence transcends individual departments and faculty cannot be the sole voice in academic decisions.

1. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
College Governance and
Educational Strategy
July 16, 2020
Raj K. Singh, Ph.D.
Professor of Practice
Management Area
A. Gary Anderson School of Management
School of Business
University of California Riverside

2. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Articulating Mission
Management everywhere, working with their
principals/directors, must ask and answer:
 Why do we exist?
 What is our purpose?
 And how can we best serve the community, the state, and
our students, both in the short and long-term?
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3. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Improving the Director/Principal
Selection Process
 Governance for a new era requires that management improve the
selection process.
 College management carry out their responsibilities through the
leadership of the Director/Principal.
 Selecting an effective and innovative director/principal is one of the
most critical actions a management will take.
 Examine current search process which may be dysfunctional and
contributes to the failure of higher education governance.
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4. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Setting the Educational
(1 of 2) Strategy
 Management must also be the primary guardians of educational quality
and excellence.
 Faculty should always have the first word when it comes to the
curriculum, and their expertise must have a central role in shaping
policies on academic quality.
 Academic excellence is an issue that transcends academic
departments and their particular interests, and faculty cannot be the
last and determining voice regarding academic value, academic
quality, and academic strategy.
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5. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Setting the Educational Strategy
(2 of 2)
 Colleges and universities are, first and foremost, educational
institutions, and for management to abdicate their
responsibility to oversee the educational programs would be
as unreasonable and infeasible as directing an automobile
company without ever spending time on a factory floor.
 Provide relevant non-degree education to local community.
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6. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Questions and Comments?
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