Abstract：Faculty governance of American universities is essentially the professors' democratic participation in the management of university affairs. The following four factors contribute to its success: university autonomy creates preconditions, tenure system provides strong support, professor committee is the organizational guarantee, and open-minded principals are the important pushers. Some inspiration can be drawn from faculty governance of American universities: giving more autonomy in running a university, reforming the teacher appointment system, improving the professor committee system, and bettering principals' understanding of the concept——faculty governance.

Keyword：faculty governance;American universities;experience;implication;