Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Oxford Review of
Education.
http://www.jstor.org
THEODOR BERCHEM
In a survey carried out for the OECD some years ago [1], it was attempted to
calculate 'autonomy indices' for institutions of higher education. Fifty-three univer-
sities in 12 European countries were asked to state which, out of a total of 20, typical
decisions of university management (e.g. the creation of a new teaching post, the
determination of admission quotas, or the purchase of a computer) could be taken
by the university itself and which ones would require the approval of an external
body such as a Minister.
For German universities, or, it could be argued, for German legislators, the result
was not really flattering. Whilst British universities could take all 20 decisions
themselves without external approval, West German institutions ranked last but
one, with only 29% formally autonomous decisions. For a second index, criteria were
set somewhat more generously and such decisions additionally counted as autono-
mous, external approval to which was, although formally required, almost always
granted automatically. According to this index, again, West German universities
ranked last but one with a score of 41 points out of a maximum of 100; only
Austrian universities were rated even worse, with 35 points.
I do not think, however, that the question put to me, i.e. whether university
autonomy in West Germany is an illusion or a reality, could be taken just as
rhetorical one and rapidly answered by the verdict 'illusion'.
First, it is true that a German university cannot take many of the decisions
analysed in the survey against the will of the competent Minister, but it is equally
true that the latter cannot take them against the will of the institution either. I do
NOTES