How Universities Work by John V. Lombardi (review)

The complex inner workings of how American universities operate are the focus of John V. Lombardi’s book, How Universities Work. The book offers insight into university operations by covering a wide range of topics including budgeting, research, and management. Lombardi’s perspective comes from years spent in high-ranking leadership positions in some of the country’s most respected universities. He has had a long and distinguished career as a successful, argumentative university president at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Florida, and Louisiana State University.

Yet in some respects this immense knowledge and experience does not translate into new ideas or a nuanced analysis of university operations. Instead, the book serves more as an introductory text, reinforcing what has previously been written about universities in general and research universities in particular.

The small 220-page text is a brisk walk through higher education. This brief volume is fragmented into 16 chapters that fall short of describing any particular area in detail. Each chapter addresses a broad topic such as management, teaching, research, or measurement. Although the book generally covers all of the core areas in describing the ins and outs of universities, its brevity means that it all too frequently misses opportunities to add to the knowledge base of higher education.

From his outset, Lombardi argues that the role of research in universities is paramount. In Chapter 1, he defines universities as organizations with two “related, but closely linked” (p. 2) independent structures, which he describes as the academic core and the administrative shell. The academic core is comprised of groups of faculty guilds, which are typically organized by discipline (e.g., history, physics, medicine, law, etc.). Lombardi describes faculty guilds as the most important component of the university because they “define and create the university’s academic substance” (p. 2).

By contrast, the administrative shell is composed of administrators who have the role of managing and governing the university. Although they serve an important function in the university, Lombardi contends that individuals in the shell “do not actually do the work that makes the university valuable” (p. 7). While faculty guilds carry out tasks related to teaching and research, the administrative shell is responsible for distributing the resources that support the work of the guild. Lombardi depicts an environment in which faculty and administrators operate in separate spheres within university campuses—one in which research and the creation of knowledge is a top priority.

Lombardi makes no secret of the often unspoken but well-known idea that research is almost universally privileged above teaching and service in academia. To illustrate his point, the author relates a short vignette of a recently graduated PhD student who asks his senior colleague (Lombardi), “How do I get tenure?” The author responds, “Our rules say you have to be excellent in two and at least good in one of the three categories of faculty work: teaching, research, and service.” He continues:

“You do all of them, but you recognize the differences. You can be a good teacher tomorrow by preparing well today. You can provide good service by participating today. But you can’t have good research results by the fifth year. . . . Resist the reinforcement of super teaching and the siren song of community service; instead, do the research.”

(pp. 65–66)

Lombardi’s discussion in the case above is typical of his candid tone throughout the text. In many ways, the straightforwardness of the author’s voice and presentation must be appreciated, but at times this trait seems to overgeneralize the complexity of how research universities work.

Lombardi adds that universities are enterprises that act as their own primary customers. That is, despite providing services/value to those who pay, the relationship between buyer and seller does not follow a direct exchange. Rather—again speaking specifically about research universities—Lombardi explains that universities market the strength of their faculty and...