Fitting Form To Function

NACADA Journal

As a higher education professional, I found this book to be tremendously valuable. Weingartner's dispassionate yet lightly humorous look at the structure of a university makes this book a great resource to consult whenever day-to-day operations become confusing....This would be a fabulous addition, as a balance to the more theoretical texts available, to the reading list for a higher education administration class. This book examines the organization and functions of the major departments and offices within a college and university and offers explicit advice on the best way to integrate the two to achieve efficient governance. Rudolph H. Weingartner offers a new, analytical view of the structure of colleges and universities - explained with the help of 27 'maxims' in his latest book. The book is organized according to function....Weingartner does not advocate the traditional departmental structure as the ideal but as the most practical organizational solution available. The author uses 27 maxims as guidelines for improved effectiveness. Fitting Form to Function reveals all the wisdom Weingartner has amassed in his long and successful double career as a philosopher-administrator. The book is unique in its combination of the common sense of experience and the rigor of philosophical analysis. Weingartner's maxims catch and summarize his approach beautifully. Above all, at a time when many doubt the possibility of creative and enjoyable administrative careers, Fitting Form to Function gives one reason to believe that the idea of thoughtful and practical educational leadership is not a contradiction in terms. This is a superbly readable and usable little book. A college president, provost or dean - yes, even a department head - will find much here to assist in marshaling the centripetal forces that are needed to make a university a viable, productive and progressive home for learning and discovery. Page by page, Rudy Weingartner's analysis of the organization of academic institutions rings true. His nuts-and-b

Booknews

Weingartner (philosophy, U. of Pittsburgh) draws on his long experience administering departments and colleges to offer advice on the organization and function of higher education institutions and how the two can be integrated. Among the organizational elements he examines are reporting structures, types of committees, the faculty senate, academic departments, and collaboration between the administration and faculty. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)