Nell’esperienza e nel dibattito internazionali sul tema della governance delle università, è facile ritrovare una crescente attenzione verso strutture di governo board-based (B-B model). Anche in Italia, il legislatore sembra chiaramente orientato a rafforzare sostanzialmente il ruolo del board, indebolendo il senato e garantendo una maggiore presenza di membri esterni nell’organo che svolge la funzione di pianificazione strategica e finanziaria. L’allineamento del sistema alle recenti tendenze internazionali dovrebbe contribuire a migliorare l’efficacia, I’efficienza e I’accountability degli atenei. Allo stesso tempo, però, è necessario considerare con attenzione le nuove questioni correlate a tale evoluzione. I nuovi equilibri di potere che ne deriverebbero, Ie competenze richieste e il diverso ruolo dei membri esterni nel board fanno emergere, infatti, nuove questioni che richiedono la massima attenzione. Il paper presenta un’analisi critica dei processi di cambiamento in corso nel nostro Paese, evidenziando vantaggi e svantaggi della convergenzane verso sistemi B-B e più membri esterni, in ottica comparata rispetto ad alcune esperienze internazionali e sulla base di un’indagine empirica attinente le principali università pubbliche italiane.
Increasing attention in international experience and discussions on university governance is focusing on board-based structures (B-B model). In Italy too, legislators seem clearly oriented toward strength-ening the role of the board considerably, weakening that of the senate and ensuring the presence of more external members in the organism that performs the function of strategic and financial planning. This alignment of the system to the recent international trend should contribute to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of the universities. At the same time, however, it is necessary to understand the new problems related to this change: the new balances of power that would derive, the skills required and the different role of the external members of the board bring up new questions that require the maximum attention. The paper presents a critical analysis of the process of change in progress in our country, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the convergence toward B-B systems with more external members and comparing a number of interna-tional experiences, on the basis of an empirical survey of the main Italian public universities.
Increasing attention in international experience and discussions on university governance is focusing on board-based structures (B-B model). In Italy too, legislators seem clearly oriented toward strength-ening the role of the board considerably, weakening that of the senate and ensuring the presence of more external members in the organism that performs the function of strategic and financial planning. This alignment of the system to the recent international trend should contribute to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of the universities. At the same time, however, it is necessary to understand the new problems related to this change: the new balances of power that would derive, the skills required and the different role of the external members of the board bring up new questions that require the maximum attention. The paper presents a critical analysis of the process of change in progress in our country, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the convergence toward B-B systems with more external members and comparing a number of interna-tional experiences, on the basis of an empirical survey of the main Italian public universities.
