From the Foreword:
"As a former dean and department chair, now professor, I highly recommend Understanding University Committees to my colleagues. After 45 years in higher education (35 years in academic administration), I assumed I effectively practiced the craft of meetings and committee work. Now I realize this is not the case!
Reading David Farris's book gave me new insights and platforms for practice. It is the first book to examine committees as a unique phenomenon. He researched and illuminated the morass of meetings professors live by, and enlightens us with new perspectives on what is frequently unnoticed and often left in the dark for us to discover on our own. Astutely, the author also wisely consulted the business literature on teams and group dynamics to embellish his search for effective conditions for committees.
Now, more than ever, universities need this fresh perspective, as the role of faculty and campus government has changed dramatically over time."
Walt Gmelch, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Leadership Studies
University of San Francisco
"Farris paints an apt picture of campus committees through their more ideal state based on carefully executed roles, clear expectations, well-crafted planning, able leadership and organizational support to their more dysfunctional state based on politics, power, incivility, deviant and discriminatory behaviors. At their best, they provide sound governance, institutional social learning, and an incubator for future leaders. And like many social processes, they are better able to meet this promise when carefully designed-as outlined through the research in this book- and when they encounter some 'luck'."
Adrianna Kezar, PhD, Wilbur Kieffer Endowed Professor and Dean's Professor of Leadership
USC, Director of the Pullias Center (pullias.usc.edu) and Director Delphi Project
"Understanding University Committees is a highly useful combination of practical examples and relevant theory on the functions of committees and how they can be most effective. The book is certainly timely, given the new challenges to university governance, and will reward administrators and sometimes-reluctant faculty alike."
Peter N. Stearns, Provost Emeritus and University Professor
George Mason University
"Committees are central to the life and governance of a university. While we may at times dread them, they are quintessential in our culture of shared-governance, critical in the social dynamic of an institution, and effective mechanisms of leadership development and professional advancement. Having worked with David Farris for seven years at George Mason University, and having witnessed his many contributions through numerous committees, I can't think of a better person to illustrate how committees can serve institutions and its members more effectively."
Angel Cabrera, President
Georgia Institute of Technology
"Dr. Farris has made a significant contribution to understanding the critical importance as well as the sometimes mysterious role of committees in shared governance in higher education leadership and management. As high level as committees of the governing board to the daily mundane operational and academic committees, these bodies are the communication neural synapses that allow for shared governance and accountability within the complex governance and administrative structures that are the foundation of colleges and universities today. I commend David for his research and understandable and relatable work and recommend this book to anyone who aspires to maximize their effectiveness in higher education leadership and management."
Lawrence D. Czarda, Ph.D.
Greensboro College
