Research On The Institutional Change Of Board System In Yenching University

With the popularization of higher education,university governance has increasingly become a hot topic of social concern.As an important part of modern university system,university board system provides a platform for schools,government and society to join university governance.In just a few decades,Yenching University has gone from an unknown school to a well-known institution of higher learning,which is inseparable from its ever-changing board system.An in-depth study of the institutional changes of the board of directors of the university can provide corresponding reference for the reform of university governance in China.Through the text analysis of the existing documents such as Yenching University’s archives,newspapers,periodicals and memoirs of school-related people,this paper adopts the method of case study to sort out the changing process of Yenching University’s board system in the historical context,and analyzes the reasons for the changes by using the policy changes under historical institutionalism and stakeholder theory to explore its impact on school governance.According to the research,the institutional change of the board of directors in Yenching University has roughly experienced three stages:church mastery--laymanparticipation--co-g overnance.Yenching University was originally registered in New York State to run a school in China,so its board of directors system is presented in the mode of "western trustee department—Chinese school board".The power of school governance is mainly held by the trustee department far away from the other side of the ocean,and the school board is only responsible for conveying policies,and religious forces are in power;In the second stage,the right to run the school began to be transferred to the school board,and the trustee department became the main institution for raising funds;In the third stage,through the adjustment of the internal organization of the school board,the government,the school and other multiple forces have joined the school governance,forming the principal(school administrator)responsibility system model under the board system.Tracing back to the evolution of the board system in Yenching University,the influence of path dependence and Non-Christian Movement on the original board system in the main historical time;macro-policies and related variables within the school shape the direction of institutional change;At the samc time,actors with subjective initiative have added help to institutional changes.The change of the board system has improved Yenching University’s position in running a school in China,broadened the social resources of the school,and gained university autonomy in a special era.A careful study of the institutional changes of the board of directors in Yenching University shows that the government,the church and the school all participate in the board of directors with existing purposes.However,in practice,the religious power is gradually marginalized and the government power is increasingly formalized,which makes the school power a central force,leaving an independent space for the school’s growth.This also has implications for the current university governance:create a cooperative and independent relationship between the government and the university,build a multi-participation governance subject,and postpone the selection of a forward-looking school leader,so as to give full play to the role of the board of directors governance mechanism and optimize the university governance system.