Gli Atenei francesi alla ricerca di una nuova identità

The aim of this essay is to describe the path accomplished by French universities from the Napoleon period, characterized by Imperial Universities, to the Loi sur les libertés et résponsabilités des Universités of 2007.As a consequence of this evolution, French universities have become protagonists of the higher level of education, insulated from political power and they have implemented governance skills in order to meet the new needs of education within Society. Hereby the variation of governance implemented on French universities, in order to perform the current mission – such as the offer of a cultural and professional education targeted on the requests of the employment system and able to favor competitiveness in the Market – is questioned. The French governance model experiences, in addition to a growth of Universities independence from political power, the establishment of a substantially presidential structure, strongly influenced by the role of the Président – the Italian “Rettore” – who significantly affects universities governance processes. This model partly emulates the current trends throughout Europe, characterized by a significant concentration of powers on the Dean, provided with a combination of management and policy functions, a central role in the governance balance within University and the ascendancy on collegial bodies decisions, due to his management powers. Nonetheless, the increasing independence of Universities, has never allowed these institutions to actually renovate themselves internally, since the French higher education system, probably due to historical tradition, still requires an intense public regulation and maintains a specificity highly related to its past history.