Communication; *Staff Meetings IDENTIFIERS Communication Patterns; *Faculty Governance

A study revealed that many faculty and administrators believe most decisions are made in informal meetings that occur at times other than in the formally convened and formally conducted business meetings. The concept of meeting is expanded to include any gathering of members of an organization who assemble together informally and deliberately in an attempt to solve the problems of the organization. Brought together are small group communication theory and a language and social interaction perspective, in order to formulate a model of shared governance that draws attention to the reciprocal nature of networks of committees with the less defined and understood networks of individuals interacting with other individuals in focused gatherings to accomplish goals of shared governance. The communication model of shared governance offered in this study provides a starting point for examining informal meetings in the university setting. Contains 29 references and a figure representing the communication model. An appendix provides a sample diary entry for meetings. (EF) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document