A case study of governance at a private Taiwanese university before and after the 1994 University Act

Adopting a 'centralist' model for many yers, the Taiwan Government revised the University Act in 1994. The 1994 version of the University Act governing the higher education sector has granted institutions of higher education more autonomy over curriculum, personnel and finance. Meanwhile, the role of the Ministry of Education became that of an administrator instead of an inspector of colleges and universities' affairs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the governance models that describe a Taiwanese private university and the relationship between the university and the Ministry of Education. Bureaucratic, collegial, political, and organized anarchy are the models used as conceptual frameworks to examine governance patters in educational programs, personnel, financial affairs, and the relationship between the university and the Ministry of Education before and after the 1994 University Act. Data were collected through documentation, participant observation, and in-depth interviews with 18 interviewees, including seven administrators, ten faculty members, and an official of the Ministry of Education. The impact of the 1994 University Act can be seen in changes in the types of governance exercised at the university. Except for the organized anarchy model, the bureaucratic, political, and collegial models shed some light on understanding the governance patterns of the university. The governance of educational programs at the university operated under the collegial model while the governance of personnel at the university closely resembles both the collegial and bureaucratic models. Both the bureaucratic and political models reflect the governance patterns regarding financial affairs and external relationships at the university. Generally, the governance operations of the university resemble a hybrid model of on mainly bureaucratic, with increasing political characteristics and some collegial.