Faculty power within American universities is supported by tradition and reinforced by academic associations organized by field at national and regional levels. Those associations help maintain high academic standards in a field, encourage communication about research, acculturate graduate students and junior faculty, and contribute to the hiring process. They also may serve as guardrails encouraging research in core interests of the field, a barrier circumvented by the proliferation of research centers and institutes that can cross department lines. Academic associations typically pay little attention to the student experience. Periodic accreditation reviews are one of the few opportunities to evaluate universities on support to students, but still, generally miss detailed information on whether student needs are being met. Students and society, benefit from the creative energy of the faculty and their generation and transmission of knowledge. Mechanisms to foster greater faculty involvement around the student experience are encouraged.