Faculty Member Participation in Decision-making of Universities Essay

Decisions encapsulate and encompass the people and system that make up any institution or organization. The decisions and those making them reflect one another to give an accurate and precise notion of how they want to be perceived generally. In this effect, those that are not accounted for in the decision making process are not reflected in the notion of perception by society. Therefore, I am proposing that the faculty member must be given ample respect and opportunity in the decisions of the university. This proposal shall thus center its attention at the teaching staff members of University of Nottingham in Australia and king Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The main issue that is a stake here is the value and importance of including the decisions of a member of a teaching staff in the overall decisions in the university. The underlying implication here is to ask whether or not the decision of a faculty staff member will be beneficial or detrimental to the university. Moreover, pragmatically speaking, the decision process of any university must take into consideration the ideas and contributions of every staff and school official due to the fact that each of them knows what is happening in the university from their own point of view and at the same time, they will also be affected by the decisions they make. The decision that does not include other related aspects that can be attributed to it such as those that a faculty staff member can bring in making decisions will not be as encompassing as it should be. It is therefore a privilege to make this study and be able to promulgate this stand of revolutionizing the decision making process in the university so that it may truly encapsulate the very nature and purpose of what it really means to make the decisions. And at the same time, this research will draw the spotlight to where darkness has already made its niche; the unheard voices of the teaching staff members. Relevant Theories and Literature People say that making decisions is like speaking prose because they do it all the time knowingly and unknowingly. It is thus hardly surprising that the topic of decision making involves many disciplines, from mathematics to statistics, through economics and political science, to sociology and psychology (Kahneman and Tversky, 2000). Still, there are even some who liken and compare the nature of decision making to that of the game of chess analyzing the complex and multiple implications that it entails (Katsenelinboigen, 1997). While on the other hand, there are those who rely on statistical and mathematical facts administering decision theory (Berger, 1980). The responsibility of decision making and taking decisions are considered the essence of the administrative process as emphasized by Simon (AL Masri, 1989) since it forms an important part of the positions needed by humanitarian institutions including higher educational institutions. Academic sections in university faculties of different specialties are considered a means for satisfying universities basic objectives as 80% of administrative decisions are taken at the level of departments (Athuhaibti, 1981). The academic department, as seen by Anderson, is the academic unit that involves specialists in research, teaching and other academic aspects. Decision making in the administrative sphere consists of three basic pillars. The first one is about the availability of a human person in a position that has its special circumstances. Secondly, it also important to think in those circumstances to find an outlet to them. And lastly, it is vital to think right to be able to ensure an effective outlet or a suitable alternative. In another aspect, if this is seen from a statistical perspective, the decision making aspect of every problem can actually be formalized through an explicit specification covering the available decisions, the items of cost and gain involved in making the decisions and the relevant probability distributions (De Groot, 2004). Therefore, it is of great importance and of considerable value that a teaching staff member in a university’s department to be given the amount of respect in sharing the responsibilities in making the important decisions with regard to the university whether it is in a large scale level or in a small scale level. Such a person must be heard and be given significant attention for the very reason that the person who can make the best, most practical and most meaningful decisions are the very persons who are affected by the issues at hand and also the very persons for whom the decision will be made in the first place. How can anyone make a concrete and feasible decision if the very person making the decision does not even fully understand and feel the root and effects of the very decision itself? Moreover, it must be absolutely imperative that superiors deal with their subordinates under the bases of psycho humanitarian manners. What is essential to comprehend here is the fact that every person must be treated as a human being and not just a mere willing tool carrying out tasks. People must never be treated as a mere object disregarding their moral feelings and existence who are just as affected by the environment and the natural surroundings like everyone else regardless of their race, gender, color, ethnicity, educational attainment, and nationality. As a result, leadership should pay attention to the needs of their subordinates in a serious way. Thus, another essential thing is the value of loyalty. Loyalty here is not lopsided where in one side shall receive all the benefits while the other lifts the burdens of responsibility. The subordinates must be loyal to their leaders, and in the same way, the leaders must be loyal and even responsible for their subordinates. At the end of the day, both sides must work as one and realize that loyalty and responsibility does not only come through carrying out decisions, but more importantly, it is about the successful dialogue and participation in decision making by all. The subject matter of this study shall delve into the necessity and the relevancy of the involvement of the teaching staff members in the decision making process in the administrative arena qualifying and valuing their decision making contributions and capabilities not only for the betterment of the university but for the growth and development of the teaching staff members as well. This will then give credence and moral boosting performance and efficiency to their respective academic fields. This will further create more new and viable ideas that are usually unnoticed and ignored due to the massiveness of certain issues that are encountered in the decision making process. In addition, this will greatly lessen the burden of responsibility and the pressure of infallibility carried by the higher officials. Some institutions and organizations find the decision making process to be so relatively important that computer-based decision support systems have been invented to assist decision makers in considering the implications of various courses of thinking and help reduce risk in human errors (Flyvbjerg, 2006) Study Methodology This research shall depend in studying the subject and issues at hand through an analytical descriptive method. The research method will follow any deduction that takes this phenomenon from psychological and educational aspects as it is in present time for the purpose of diagnosing, revealing and identifying the relationships among its components or among educational, psychological or social aspects (Al-Ghanem, 1988). The focal point in this research method is seeing the interconnectedness and most importantly, the interdependence of every aspect and relationship that the faculty staff member has with the university. Empirical Work With regard to the empirical data that needs to be collected for this research, the primary source to look with respect to this proposal is the system of the university itself. This comprises of knowing who makes the decisions and how these people make them. The university structural hierarchy will give an ample specification of the decision making process in the university. Moreover, the opinions of the faculty staff members and school officials in relation to the decision making process will be a good foundation for this research. It is also of considerable value in tackling this issue by understanding the location and type of universities that will be assesses as well as the country or culture of the faculty staff members and school officials who will be involved. This research will concentrate on two universities as mentioned. The advantage of this is that the research will have a vast and diverse analysis on the matter and will not be limited by the boundaries that are set by the geographical location. The disadvantage of this research might be seen in the inconsistency in any information gathered. This may arise because of location of the universities and also the willingness of people to give truthful and relevant information. It is expected that this research may cause hesitancy to certain people due to the delicate issue it is asserting. Study Importance The importance of this study arises from the fact that it is going to: 1. Highlight the necessity of opening new horizons to a teaching staff member concerning the optimal method of participating in decision making so as to be an active member in promoting administrative work, which in turn also serves as an academic work done by the member himself. 2. Help the teaching staff member in employing and enhancing his various abilities and techniques in fields widening their knowledge aside from teaching, i. e. getting him outside the closed circle of academic work as well. 3. This study will transform and alter the terms of knowing the participation of a teaching staff member in decision making in University of Nottingham and King Saud University. 4. Add new information and recommendations that help and benefit in increasing the effective participation of a teaching staff member in decision making in those two universities. Study Objectives This study aims to identify teaching staff members’ points of view or perception regarding their participation in making decisions in University of Nottingham and King Saud University and in a way that is more defined; this current study aims at the following: 1. Identifying the extent of teaching staff members’ participation or contribution in university decision making in University of Nottingham and King Saud University. 2. Knowing the extent of difference in the points of view of the subjects of the study sample concerning participation in decision making with the difference of study variables. 3. Identifying the degree of importance of teaching staff member in university decision making by perceiving it through three dimensional studies: the academic dimension, the administrative dimension and the financial dimension. 4. Diagnose the obstacles that can lead a teaching staff member not to participate in making university decisions. Let it therefore be stated that this study tries to state out the motives and value of the teaching staff members in participating in decision making process at the level of the University of Nottingham in Australia and king Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the factors that hamper or hinder their participation in an effective and beneficial way. Study Questions: The researcher will discuss his study questions with respect to the objectives mentioned above, therefore, the study will revolve around the following four questions: Question (1) How far or to what extent can a teaching staff member of the University of Nottingham participate in the university’s decision making process from the point of view of the study sample individuals? Question (2) How far or to what extent can a teaching staff member of the King Saud University participate in the university’s decision making process from the point of view of the study sample individuals? Question (3) Are there any statistical differences among the points on view of the study sample subjects concerning the participation extent in university decision making in accordance with demographic variables (gender, nationality, academic degree and experience)? Question (4) Does the degree of extent of a teaching staff member’s participation in university decision making differs towards the three dimensional study: â€Å"the academic dimension, the administrative dimension and the financial dimension† with the demographic variables: â€Å"gender, nationality and the difference in job (administrative and non administrative)? Question (5) What are the obstacles or hindrances that lead the teaching staff member from refraining or from being prevented to participate in university decision making from the points of view of study sample individuals? Conclusion I am therefore optimistic that this research can revolutionize or change the traditional way of how faculty staff members, school officials and universities think and interact in their own school communities. This research can further foster dialogue with regard to the conflicts that may arise between faculty staff members and school officials. This research can also bring about beneficial and better improvements to the university as a whole through having a comprehensive decision making process. This research makes an original contribution in the issue at hand because of the diversity in the information and subjects that are discussed which are not limited to only one culture, system or location thereby filling the gaps of other related researches that have narrowly focused in a limited subject and area. Finally, this research can expand to improving educational systems as a whole and also foster a developmental analysis on faculty staff member or school officials as indivudals. References: 1. Al-Masri, Ahmad Mohammad. (1989) Communications, Decisions and their Effectiveness in Administration, Dubai, Dar Al-Kalam. 2. Berger, James O. (1980) Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis. 2nd ed. Springer Series in Statistics. 3. Best John, translated by Abdullaziz Ghanem Al-Ghanem and revised by Adel Izziddin Al-Ashwal. (1988) Educational Research Methods. Al-Kuwait Institution for Scientific Development, The Directorate of writing, translation and publishing, Al-Kuwait. 4. De Groot, Morris. (2004) Optimal Statistical Decisions. Wiley Classics Library. 5. Flyvbjerg, Bent. (2006) From Nobel Prize to Project Management: Getting Risks Right. Project Management Journal, vol. 37, no. 3, August 2006, pp. 5-15. 6. Kahneman, Daniel and Tversky, Amos. (2000) Choice, Values, Frames. The Cambridge University Press. 7. Katsenelinboigen, Aron. (1997) The Concept of Indeterminism and Its Applications: Economics, Social Systems, Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, and Aesthetics Praeger: Westport, Connecticut.