Promoting the Medical University’s Governance: Content Analysis of Decisions Made by the Medical University’s Governing Bodies

BACKGROUND: Decisions made by the governing body of a university would overshadow university governance. This study aimed to analyze the quantity and quality of decisions made by the three governing bodies (Board of trustees, Board of Chancellors and University council) of a medical university in Isfahan, Iran. METHODS: A mixed qualitative and quantitative approach was employed, with the quantitative part in cross-sectional format and the qualitative part in content analysis format. In the quantitative part, the number of meetings and resolutions of the governing bodies were collected through Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. In the qualitative part, the content of 3121 resolutions that were selected using stratified sampling method was analyzed. RESULTS: The results indicated the defensible numbers of meetings and resolutions of the boards of trustees and chancellors. The governing bodies’ resolutions were mostly operational in domain, administrative (boards of trustees and chancellors) and educational (university council) in nature, financing (board of trustees) and providing services (board of chancellors and university council) in function with the aim of responsiveness. The share of specific and single-department resolutions was greater compared to others. CONCLUSION: Better monitoring and evaluation of the activity of governing bodies, redirecting the decisions made by governing bodies, reminding the position of the governing bodies and revising their duties and responsibilities are recommended for better governance of the medical university.