Читать книгу The Law of Higher Education - William A. Kaplin - Страница 23

Early in the study of higher education law, attention should be given to the governance of higher education, that is, the structures and processes by which higher education institutions are governed. As more fully explained in Section 1.3 of this book, the concept of governance can be divided into two categories: internal governance (that is, within the institution) and external governance (that is, external to the institution); and external governance, in turn, may be further divided into two subcategories: public external governance (that is, by government) and private external governance (that is, by private associations).

A focus on governance is important to the student of higher education law because, as also explained in Section 1.3, “[g]overnance structures and processes provide the legal and administrative context within which issues and disputes arise” and “the framework within which parties seek to resolve problems and disputes.” Since the structures and processes for higher education governance differ markedly from those for elementary and secondary education, the basic boundary line in the “Education Law Universe” (Section A above) is equally applicable to matters of governance. Similarly, the boundary lines between public and private higher education institutions, and between private secular and private religious institutions, also indicate parallel distinctions in the governance of higher education. Thus, just as the law may vary from one sector to another of the education law universe, the governance structures and processes may vary as well. Whenever one is analyzing a legal problem or reading a judicial opinion, therefore, it is helpful to begin not only by determining the sector of the universe within which the problem or case falls but also by identifying the particular governance structure or process from which the problem or case arose and through which it might be (or might have been) resolved.