Academic deans and presidents' perceptions about the state of college governance was studied. A total of 99 higher education institutions were randomly selected from 9 different types of schools, based on the Carnegie classification. In general, academic deans perceived college governance as undergoing transformations. Most deans perceived college governance as being bureaucratic, somewhat collegial, and political to some extent. Some schools, primarily those that were heavily unionized, were clustered around the bureaucratic framework. Presidents perceived academic governance to be rooted in the principles of shared governance. Variations in perceptions were found across institutional categories. Some presidents, mostly from two-year colleges and liberal arts II institutions, indicated that college governance resembled the bureaucratic model. Overall, research I institutions were mostly associated with the collegial model of organization. Research II universities operated primarily within the bureaucratic and collegial models. While doctorate-granting I institutions were characterized as collegial and bureaucratic, doctorate-granting II were predominantly organized around the bureaucratic model. (SW)