Improving Institutional Stakeholder Governance Practices in the University Council: Membership Strategies and Policies

The post-1994 higher education dispensation has witnessed an increase in the number of institutional stakeholder groups striving to become members of university councils within their particular contexts. As such, they are constantly becoming coalitions of powerful constituencies who seek to influence the running of the council to satisfy stakeholder demands across the university and beyond. Consequently, there is a concern whether institutional stakeholder moves to become a part of the council and is bound to improving governance practices in the universities. This article argues that at the level of the university councils, the institutional strategies, policies and articulation with its different stakeholder groups are critical, using data obtained through the use of documentary sources, interviews and surveys. The results show that institutional stakeholders have strong inclinations towards the governance mechanisms of how individuals become members of the university council, calling for greater professionalization of the governance best practises for improving governance in strongly stakeholder-governed university councils and pointing out possible areas of further research.