Abstract
The California Community Colleges were legislatively mandated to adopt a collaborative style of institutional governance called shared governance. Two years after the implementation date identified in Assembly Bill 1725, the mandate had not been fully implemented by the colleges. The response to the formal implementation of shared governance is counter to the trend of acceptance of participatory governance. The literature survey revealed that in order for significant long term change to occur in the governance style, change must take place within the culture of the organization. A questionnaire was used to collect data about elements within the organizational cultures of the California Community Colleges. The population that was surveyed included all of the Faculty Senate Presidents and Chief Executive Officers at 106 community colleges in California. This study compared the colleges that have and have not implemented shared governance and discovered that the colleges reported a higher rate of participation in shared governance than they had reported to the state regulatory agency. The study found there was a significant difference in the perception of the strength of the organizational cultural elements between the two types of colleges. These differences existed between the Faculty Senate Presidents and the Chief Executive Officers at the colleges that have implemented shared governance. The study identified differences in the perceptions of the strength of the organizational cultural elements between the Faculty Senate Presidents and Chief Executive Officers at the colleges that have not implemented shared governance. The study indicated that the Chief Executive Officers more definitively perceived the strength of the organizational cultural elements than did the Faculty Senate Presidents. Recommendations include a movement away from the use of legislative mandate toward a system that encourages and supports the establishment of participatory governance. The reform efforts should include organizational development of the college cultures. This development should involve the assessment, identification, and strengthening of an organizational culture that is supportive of shared governance. Training should be offered to the faculty and administrative campus leaders in the areas of participatory governance, leadership, and organizational culture.