The purpose of this paper is to (1) describethe characteristics and governancestructure of higher education at the FederalUniversities in Nigeria, and (2) examine (a)how academic decisions are made, (b) thelevel of academic staff participation inuniversity governance, and (c) the extent towhich academic staff is consulted on keypersonnel issues. The results of theinvestigation revealed that (a) academic staffmembers believed they are consulted onacademic matters through their representativesin the faculty senate, (b) their participationin decisions related to non-academic matters isvery limited, (c) academic decisions related toadmissions criteria and accreditation standardsare made by external bodies, (d) administratorsmake administrative decisions with very limitedinput from academic staff (e) compared to lowerranked academic staff members, higher rankedacademic staff members perceived the governanceprocess to be very effective, and (f) academicstaff members are dissatisfied with the generalworking conditions and the governance process. Overall, the results of this study stronglysuggest the need for improvement in theconsultation process, and more involvement ofthe academic staff in other governance issuesespecially the selection and appointment ofadministrators, including Vice-Chancellors.
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