MEMBERS' VIEWS ON THEIR STAFF ASSOCIATION AND ITS ROLE IN THE DECISION STRUCTURE
| Pages | 200-212 |
| Date | 01 February 1982 |
| Published date | 01 February 1982 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009862 |
| Author | N.F. DUFTY |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL
OF
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME XX, NUMBER
2.
SUMMER
1982
MEMBERS' VIEWS
ON
THEIR STAFF ASSOCIATION
AND
ITS
ROLE
IN THE
DECISION STRUCTURE
N.
F.
DUFTY
The views
of
academic staff
in a
large CAE were sought
on a
number
of
aspects
of
their staff association with particular reference
to its
role
in the
organization's
decision structure. Generally speaking, staff make little
use
of their association
as a
channel
of
communication
or as a
means
of
exercising influence
on
those
committees on which
the
association
has ex
officio
membership. Measures
of
active
and passive participation
are
highly inter-correlated
and so are
levels
of
satisfaction
with
the
association's performance
of its
functions. Discriminant analysis suggests
that participation
in the
association
is
related to staff satisfaction with
the
operation
of decision-making machinery
at the
School rather than
the
institutional level.
Measures of satisfaction
are
positively related
to
staff members' integration with
the
organization, indicating
a
degree
of
incorporation. This seems
a
consequence
of the
situation rather than
any
shortcoming
of the
association
itself. A
general
consideration of the appropriate role of staff associations leads to the conclusion that
they have
a
very limited function.
In
these circumstances participation
in
their
activities
may be
explained
by the
symbolic nature
of
participation
itself.
INTRODUCTION
The article reports some
of the
data from
an
investigation
of the
decision
structure
of a
large
CAE.
Academic organizations
are
unusual,
at
least
in
the Australian context,
in
that employees (teaching staff) have
representation
by
direct election
on
most
of the
major decision-making
committees
and
quite frequently have representation
on
those same
committees through their staff association. Staff members therefore have
three possible downward channels
of
communication
and
upward
channels
of
influence—the normal line
of
quasi-bureaucratic authority,
directly elected members,
and
members nominated
by
their
own
association.
Of
course, staff associations have roles other than those
of
influencing committees,
in
particular
the
negotiations
of
agreements
and
protecting individuals. There
is a
large volume
of
American literature
on
academic unions1,
but
very little
on the
Australian situation.
METHOD
AND
SETTING
Data were collected from
259
academic
staff,
about
60 per
cent
of
those
available,
at the
Western Australian Institute
of
Technology,
a
large multi-
purpose College
of
Advanced Education
in
Perth, Western Australia.
A
NORMAN
F.
DUFTY (Ph.D. Western Australia)
is
Dean
of the
School
of
Social Sciences,
Western Australian Institute of Technology. Dr. Dufty
is
a
frequent contributor to educational
journals.
His
particular interest
is in the
administration
of
institutions
of
higher education.
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