Study Of Inclusive Mechanism Between Academic Power And Administrative Power In The University

As one of the basic conditions conducting all social activities orderly, power is the control force and influence power of the power subjects, and the essence of obtaining and applying the power is to achieve or maintain the definite interests. Nearly 50 years ago, Foucault transformed the understanding cognition of the traditional power, who believed that power is a two-way alternate and multi-directional share impact and integration relationship between the subject and object, rather than the completely one-way repellency from top to bottom, the correct application of the power relations will contribute to reconcile the social contradictions and enhance the social cohesion. The inclusive concept originates from the theory of social solidarity, further embodying the power-fusion idea in the correct application field of social conflict, and it has increasingly been becoming a guiding ideology and mainstream concept to solve social problems of conflict and multiple conflicts of interest in recent years. The inclusive concept advocates that all members of social organizations and stakeholders should be included in process of the economic and social development, possess equitable development opportunities, share the development fruits and promote all members including the vulnerable groups accessible to the integrated or living community together. Its essence is the emphasized and shared governance of equal involvement opportunities of all members of the status, which will become an effective way to maintain and expand the organization interests and multiple interests together. The power inclusive concept is the principle and underlined unity of opposites among multiple subjects and a dynamic, open and complex process. The power inclusiveness must aim at achieving the legitimate interests and organizational vision, clarifying the boundaries of the power operations and regulating the power-cooperation behaviors to maximize the development interests of the organizational members through building an inclusive institutional framework and mechanisms.From the perspective of the historical university development, owing to teaching and learning the advanced knowledge as the root of all university activities, academic power is the starting point of the power in charge of academic affairs in the universities and administrative power is derived from expanding the scale and functions of the universities in charge of the administration affairs. However, since there is full-time administrative staff in the university, and there are differences between academic and administrative staff and at the same time there are contradictions and conflicts between academic power and administrative power.Due to the long-term school-operating system of the administrative management and highly centralization, there are particularly serious phenomena of power conflict and imbalance relationships in the Chinese universities, such as eroded the administrative power, arrogated the academic power space, brimmed the professors group, academic universities not highlighted and voiced, to such an extent as to some scholars have criticized that the biggest drawbacks of the existing university management system are the imbalances between the administrative power and academic power. How to ease the imbalances and crack the password of the university administration have become the theoretical and practical issues to be faced and solved in all circles.However, there are contradictive but inseparable differences and connections between academic power and administrative power which serve together to achieve the functions of the universities. If the relationship is too difficult to reconcile and to fulfill well the university functions of innovative knowledge, personnel training and social services given from the state and society, the legitimacy of the university will be shaken, and the existing foundation of both academic power and administrative power will damnify, in other words, the universities are the inclusive interest bodies of between academic power and administrative power. In the field of the university governance, it is necessary to maintain and expand the link of the benefits, to introduce the inclusive power theory and the institutional change analysis, to construct an inclusive mechanism and the implementation institution of equal participation and mutual respect interests on the basis of exploring the basic laws of the academic power and administrative power, to reduce the power conflicts and save the power costs, to achieve the harmonious development between academic staff and administrative staff, to provide the theory reference point and decision support points of improving the governance structure of the universities.The paper is arranged as follows:Chapter One and Chapter Two are fundamental parts of the research including the definition of key concepts, the relevant literature review, the basic theories and the analytical framework, on these bases of which the research goal and methods of the paper are illustrated.Chapter Three investigates the historical and institutional of the power structure and power operation to the medieval universities and modern western universities. Medieval universities are the guild of teachers and students aimed at vocational training and knowledge transmission, and the academic autonomy and freedom were the exclusive privileges of the universities. In the late medieval ages, however, the universities were excessively involved in religious and secular politics, excluding and blocking new knowledge, finally became the conservative camp. In Germany lecture universities, academic power in an absolutely dominant position, the universities took on an altogether new aspect for emphasizing on scientific researches, developing new disciplines and new technologies. But with the advancement of technology and the times, the negative impacts of rejecting new research and new lectures and not expanding the scale on academic autocracy began to show in the lecture universities, so the university system has gradually become rigid. In late nineteenth century, based on integrating European university models and traditions, American universities added the new connotation of academic power management, formed the structure of the Council co-governance board of directors, presidents and professors, so that internal power balance and interest inclusive become the mainstream of the modern university system.Chapter Four investigates institutional change of the power allocation and power structures of modern Chinese universities since the modern times. In late 19th century, facing warships and cannons, the late Qing dynasty government and many politicians or educators turned on Chinese modern higher education. During the period of Republic of China, drawing on the experience of the western universities system mold, some educators and thinkers such as Cai, Yiqi, Menglin who received the modern concept of freedom and inclusion and built the university management centered by the professorial governance system, the Republic of China in the difficult situation made brilliant university achievements. Since 1949, after the faculty adjustment and thought reform, China founded an university system of quasi-administrative management and highly specialized teaching, administrative power replacing academic power, which reduced the academic contribution and international competitiveness of Chinese universities. In more than a decade, the political, education and academic circles have come to realize the seriousness of this problem, sought the path of analyzing the university administration and improving the governance structure from different aspects.Chapter Five investigates the empirical research of the current situation of the university power operation. The first section summarizes the power conflicts and its performances in the universities, analyses the mechanism of conflict and imbalance, and proposes the idea to construct open and inclusive of modern university system. The second section conducts comparative research on six universities’ charter text firstly approved by the Ministry of Education, verifies an indisputable fact of strong administrative power and weak academic power. The third section carries on questionnaires and interviews to the sample of the universities, further verifies an indisputable fact of suppressed academic power and restricted academic function. The findings show that to establish academic-administrative inclusive institutional system is the common expectation and rational choice of the members in the universities.On the basis of the previous research, Chapter Six specifically elaborates the theoretical basis, logical framework, operating characteristics and institutional practices of the inclusive academic power and administrative power. The first section clarifies that a university is an inclusive interest body of the academic power and administrative power which are different in the division of labor and specific interests, but identical in the fundamental interest and the same goal, constitute theoretical basis of both powers. The second section establishes inclusive framework links between academic power and administrative power, unifying both into the process of achieving the university social functions, explaining the inherent logic of an inclusive framework. The third section disserts the construction and component of the inclusive mechanism, emphasizes the university organization existence and complete property are the basis of the mechanism function, administrative decentralization and academic autonomy are the conditions of the mechanism function, institutional system and execution system of the power are the path of the mechanism function. The forth section emphasizes the interaction between the organization and the environment, the system process and its principles of inclusive institutional system, the impacts of maintenance mechanism and diffusion mechanism and long-term institutional culture innovation.Power problem is the core issue of university governance. The rational allocation of powers, operation specifications and effective control are the key to improving the university governance structure. One important reason for the trend of the administrative management system of the universities is the fact of the unreasonable power configuration structure, the eroded administrative powers and the arrogated academic power space. Power inclusion is equal status and equality of opportunity between subjective powers, an effective way to maintain and expand the university interests together and also is a dynamic, open and complex process. The establishment of inclusive mechanisms and practical mechanisms between administrative power and academic power can promote the co-operative and shared governance in the universities to improve the university governance structure and develop the open and inclusive institutions and culture of the universities.