Meaningful student participation is essential to realizing democratic ideals within the university. However, existing structures for involving students within university governance suffer from a variety of shortcomings, leaving scholars calling for ways to make student participation more inclusive, effective, and thoughtful. To address this…

Among other responsibilities, many college student governments (SGs) are responsible for overseeing student fees as part of their operation (Miles et al., 2008). In 2018 around 32% of SG presidents reported being very or extremely influential on decisions involving student life and student fees (Templeton et al., 2018). At some institutions, SGs…

Within institutions of higher education, shared governance is an essential component to a healthy functionality. Among the many stakeholders at these institutions, students are the largest in number and hold primacy. Participation in student governance establishes a sense of shared ownership over their communities while also providing a unique…

The purpose of this study was to understand and perceive how student leaders, and specifically student body presidents, navigated social power and used influence with institutional leaders in the higher education decision-making environment to achieve the goals and objectives of their presidencies. The foundational texts of higher education…

Shared governance is one of the many distinguishing characteristics of quality in American higher education. As a result, students found their way into the governance structure at many institutions of higher education. No sector was exempt, as students became fairly common features of the landscape of board membership in both public and private,…

Campuses with student trustees often see them as both an efficient way to get a student perspective on issues the board is dealing with and a way to use student trustees' active engagement with student organizations to explain board and administrative decisions to the student body. To maximize the contributions a student member can make on the…

Student governance has existed as an integral part of higher education since the time of the first college in Colonial America. Through a detailed history of each phase of student self-governance--from the earliest literary societies to the present-day student government associations--the struggles of students in higher education to acquire and…

Student governance is one way for students to become involved on college campuses. Student government allows participants to represent the needs of the student body and to voice their concerns to college administrators. In a qualitative study, five presidents of community college student government associations were interviewed. The student…

A major component of the college student experience is the engagement with out-of-class activities. This involvement has been linked to a variety of success indicators, including higher levels of academic achievement, high retention and matriculation, and overall collegiate satisfaction. One of the key areas for student engagement is college…

The purpose of this study was to investigate student participation in collegiate student governance, the impact of that involvement and its influence on career choice for African-American participants, and to enlighten educators about role and value of collegiate student government participation. If participation in student government and…

The racial desegregation of the student bodies of historically white universities in South Africa has had significant political implications for student politics and university governance. I discuss two key moments in the governance history of the University of Cape Town (UCT) critically. The first involves the experience of racial parallelism in…

The thrust of this paper is that while a great deal is being said about student participation in governance, little is being done to prepare them for such participation. The rhetoric has changed but curriculum has not. Until curriculum demands responsible, creative reactions in the classroom, responsible participation in governance will remain…

Reports on a study which reviewed student successes and failures in an on-going student controlled program, where accountability, persistence and continuing commitment were required. Several conclusions are presented and weaknesses noted in these programs, many of which can be seen in faculty and administrative programs, too. (Author/PC)

Described in detail are the governance patterns on 30 campuses, including state, comprehensive, and research universities, independent institutions, and general baccalaureate colleges. The extent to which new forms of governance have realized their objectives is shown, the implications for other institutions are pointed out, and recommendations…

This study used a Delphi survey to examine what undergraduate student government leaders think about increasing student involvement in self-governance activities. Twenty-students from geographically diverse institutions of higher education participated in the three rounds of the Delphi study. They generated a total of 56 different strategies and…