State Authority and Local Campus Governance: Accountability Measures and Performances Standards for North Carolina Community Colleges

Abstract

ABSTRACT ALEXANDER, LINDA BUCK. State Authority and Local Campus Governance: Accountability Measures and Performance Standards for North Carolina Community Colleges. (Under the direction of Carol E. Kasworm.)

The relationship between legislative policy makers and educational leaders is complex and multifaceted. Using a series of legislative acts that established twelve accountability measures and performance standards for North Carolina community colleges, this qualitative case study examined the relationship between state authority and local governance in the context of a policy making environment. This study was a historical examination of five legislative acts that were enacted in North Carolina from 1989 through 2000. Document analysis was conducted for the legislative acts and related documents and the minutes of various committees and task forces. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key administrators of the North Carolina Community College System Office, community college presidents and administrators, and the Community College Fiscal Research Analyst who served as staff to the North Carolina General Assembly; each of these individuals provided particular insight into the relationship and interactions between legislative policy makers and community college leaders. At the core of the college-state relationship is a long-standing debate regarding the level of authority and responsibility which should be assigned to the state versus that which should be assigned to individual institutions. However, an analysis of the policy development examined in this study suggests that the relationship between state authority and local campus governance is much more complex than a mere matter of more state authority and less local autonomy or vice versa; it is not one or the other. Rather, there has been a shift in the policy making environment for community colleges. First, it was determined that there were several factors that influenced the establishment of accountability measures legislation. A common thread for all of these factors was a call for greater accountability with a focus on educational outcomes. Thus, there has been a shift in the policy making environment from measuring success in terms of access to measuring success in terms of educational outcomes. Second, an examination of the interactions between legislative policy makers and community college leaders revealed that with the establishment of the initial accountability measures, a struggle began between legislators, who pushed for increased college-level accountability, and community college leaders, who contended that individual college performance was a matter to be handled by local boards of trustees and local college administrators. In the middle of this struggle was the North Carolina Community College System Office. The legislature’s continued push for increased levels of individual college accountability resulted in the establishment of policy that, from the perspective of community college leaders, had a definite impact on local campus governance. Thus, there has been a shift in the policy making environment from laissez-faire state involvement to interactive state involvement. Third, an examination of the legislative acts indicated that with each legislative act, the legislature made a specific mandate for accountability but left it to the Community College System and individual community college leaders to decide what that system of accountability would be. However, when the legislators were not satisfied with the community college response, they enacted additional legislation. This on-going cycle of legislative action and community college response indicates a shift in the policy making environment from independent institutional policy making to negotiated policy development. The shift in policy making environment reflects the complexity of the relationship between state authority and local campus governance. More importantly, this shift calls for a relationship of mutual support and cooperation between state policy makers and campus leaders.