In September 2007, the new legal regime of the Institutions of Higher Education (RJIES), Law nº 62/2007 of 10 September, introduced a new framework of options for models and governance structures in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Portugal. The external environment of change, common in Europe, where the IES adapt their actions to the strategic challenges of the 'Lisbon Declaration', is on the agenda. The framework of options for models of governance and management, which are increasingly discussed in terms of competitiveness, reduce benefits and disadvantages compared with comparative private institutions. If in the European context, the conception and design of governance models are generally converging, blurring the differences between the management model of private and public institutions, to what extent does the implementation of the model result in immediate visible changes at institutional level? In Portugal, most public HEIs have opted for the traditional model, having already their statutes approved and published in the Diário da República. Only three institutions have opted for the foundation model. This institutional research aims to analyse, based on Clark's methodology, changes in public HEIs at operational and management level, aiming for an entrepreneurial university. For this purpose, the study is based on the analysis of institutional options that HEIs face, i.e. the possibility to choose between the traditional legal framework (public law) and a new legal and organizational framework (public foundations operating under private law) based on the analysis of the Statutes now adopted. It is also looking to integrate the perspective of the external elements that complying with the law recently were included in the top governance bodies of public universities: the General Council. In this article we make a critical analysis of governance models provided for in each of the statutes of the public HEIs, while also referring to the foundation model.
higher education; university; governance models; management
