Students as citizens of their university: Student involvement in programme prioritization

Higher education is a rapidly changing environment for policy creation and administration. Since the 1960s students have been included in governing bodies and are viewed as central to the development of a democratic organizational culture at universities. However, many student activists and leaders do not feel their interests are being represented appropriately or adequately within the university. Through an examination of the literature on organizational culture and citizenship, and the use of a brief example from a university in Canada, I posit that students are not core contributing members of the organizational culture of the university and are not included in a significant manner in governance. As a result, they are not ‘citizens’ of universities and are instead seen as ‘clients’. This could have potential impacts on student reactions to changing administrative practices such as programme changes and fee structures.