51吃瓜 maintains clearly delineated governance roles and lines of authority that promote integrity, accountability, transparency, and collaborative decision-making.
The shared governance structure at the College is supported by two primary governing bodies:
The Faculty Senate鈥檚 role is to lead the proper academic governance of 51吃瓜. Academic governance is broad with multiple overlapping domains, and is intended to be viewed through the lenses of academic oversight, academic quality assurance, observance of process, collegial and scholarly discourse throughout the College, free speech, academic freedom, and the preservation of these mentioned. The Faculty Senate plays a critical role in the total governance of the College which is parallel to, but distinct from, management, administration, and operation of the College. The Faculty Senate also runs in parallel with, but is entirely distinct from, the Faculty Federation, which attends to matters of labor relations and work conditions.
The Staff Senate鈥檚 role is to lead, with the Faculty Senate, in the proper internal governance of 51吃瓜. Institution-wide, participatory and shared governance is a broad concept, with multiple overlapping domains. The Staff Senate should be guided by mindfulness to organizational quality assurance, observance of process, respect-filled discourse throughout the College, free speech, wise resource allocation, prudent and intentional decision-making, and the preservation of these ideals mentioned. The Staff Senate plays a critical role in the total governance of the College, which is parallel to, but distinct from, management, administration, and operation of the College. The Staff Senate also operates in parallel with, but is entirely distinct from, the two staff collective bargaining units, both of which address matters of labor relations and work conditions.
Supporting the work of the Faculty Senate, there are two committees:
The Academic Standards Committee will be empowered by the Faculty Senate to make recommendations to the Faculty Senate for consideration and approval, or, will be empowered to make executable decisions in its proper purview in the following areas: processes, procedures, and formalized practices related to academic standards; academic integrity; transfer of credit; awarding of academic honors; matters pertaining to online and distance education; processes, procedures, and formalized practices related to student attendance, admissions, testing-and-placement, course waivers, and academic probation. The Academic Standards Committee also explores and provides written position statements concerning academic excellence, academic quality, educational best practices, pass茅 practices, and delineating professional obligations to both 鈥渢he academy鈥� and students.
- Curriculum Committee
The Curriculum Committee will be empowered by the Faculty Senate to make recommendations to the Faculty Senate for consideration and approval, or, will be empowered to make executable decisions in its proper purview in the following areas: review and approval of new academic programs (for-credit certificates and degrees); review and approval of new courses, pre-requisites, and the impact such changes would have on other academic areas; review, evaluation, and determination of course numbers, course descriptions, credit hours, lecture/lab hours, etc. for extant courses; evaluation of syllabi for coherence, institutional syllabus-format conventions, and for appropriate measurability of course learning outcomes; oversight of general education courses and the general education program鈥檚 compliance with state mandate鈥檚; review and approval of academic program outcomes/goals.
Supporting the work of the Staff Senate, there is one committee:
The purpose of the Workflow and Work Process Committee is to assist the College administration in identifying, determining, and advancing the best work processes and work flow practices for serving the needs of students, faculty, and staff at the College. The Workflow and Work Process Committee also assists the College administration in making informed decisions for office and departmental reorganizations when such reorganizations appear necessary. Such concepts for re-organization may arise from either the administration or from the Workflow and Work Process Committee. Effective work flows are the heart of the operations at any organization, and not all work processes are equally effective given the people in place, resources available, timeframes allocated for the work, and external pressures being placed on the organization.
The Workflow and Work Process Committee consists of a representative group of active professionals who live with the processes and consequences of work flow decisions every day. The Workflow and Work Process Committee is an invaluable resource of experience and ideas, where new concepts for improved processes are examined thoughtfully, holistically, and with the students always in mind. Additionally, the Workflow and Work Process Committee is mindful of the gifts and passions of current employees and how to utilize these resources to the best effect at the College as it modernizes and remains competitive as an enterprise. A paramount governance principle for the Workflow and Work Process Committee is the understanding that 51吃瓜 is not a business, with 鈥榳idgets to be sold,鈥� but 51吃瓜 must utilize business practices to execute its mission successfully.
Several committees report directly to the College Executive Team due to their work being more operational in nature:
The Instructional and Administrative Technology Committee (IATC) provides leadership, communication, and expertise concerning the use of computer technology and its software throughout the institution. The IATC generates ideas and reviews formal and informal proposals that concern the use of technology in teaching and in how work is conducted in the various offices at the College. Examples include prioritizing desktop computer distribution; properly outfitting and modernizing classrooms; reviewing policies, practices, and expectations that impact technology use; and procuring significant software and hardware systems. (Defining what a significant procurement is will require common sense informed by prior practices and a mindfulness on future precedents that are set.) Formal and informal proposals will most often originate from the IT department and Executive Team, but may certainly also originate from within the Committee itself. This committee has oversight over hardware and software that support online and distance education functions at the institution.
The Institutional Effectiveness Committee provides leadership, communication, and expertise concerning the use of data, researched information, and best practices in the work of the College. The span of work for the Institutional Effectiveness Committee is large and highly diverse. Institutional Effectiveness is a complicated, broad, and modern concept in higher education originating from offices of institutional research and embracing principles of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). Anything that embraces such as systematic and systemic information-based decision-making in the organization, assessment, quality enhancement, or accreditation, is theoretically within the domain of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee. Because of the broad nature of its influence, institutional effectiveness as a concept and as a governance committee must necessarily engage in constant communication with practitioners within the College to ensure its own effectiveness. The Institutional Effectiveness Committee generates ideas, makes recommendations to the Executive Team, vets ideas from other sources both formal and informal, and conducts work to ensure that the College builds a culture of information- and data-based CQI.
The purpose of the Academic Assessment Committee is to lead, govern, operate and educate others about programs and initiatives related to the assessment of student learning. The Academic Assessment Committee serves as both a forum and a work-production committee. This committee has governing authority to make recommendations and decisions concerning the assessment of student learning.
The Space Planning and Utilization Committee鈥檚 (SPUC) role is to assist the College in maximizing the effective use of its indoor facilities and spaces at 51吃瓜. The SPUC plays a critical role in vetting ideas for facility use that emerge from the Executive Team or are raised within the SPUC. The strength of optimal use of space. The SPUC will be a source of many creative concepts concerning pending/possible renovations, the strategic use of office, student, and classroom space, and identifying new space for new programs and initiatives. An important role for the SPUC is to conduct research, or recommend research to be conducted by the Director of Facilities and Operations (or its equivalent) on the difference in estimated costs associated with various options for the use of space. Additionally, the SPUC will serve as an important communication vehicle between administration and the users of various spaces to reduce rumors, misunderstandings, and unwise inchoate ideas. The SPUC does not, currently, participate in vetting outdoor space utilization.
Several other committees outside of the general governance structure, include:
- Artificial Intelligence Taskforce
The Artificial Intelligence Taskforce advises the administration and governance entities on the use and study of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching, learning, research, and all other applications.
- Strategic Enrollment Group (SEG)
The SEG monitors daily enrollment reports and class fill rates to maximize enrollment. The group is primarily focused on admissions, retention, and completion initiatives across the institution.
- Safety Committee
The Safety Committee is a collaborative group of faculty, staff, and administrators dedicated to promoting a safe, secure, and healthy campus environment through proactive planning, policy development, and continuous assessment of safety practices.
- Other committees outside of the official governance structure include the Budget Committees and the Promotion and Tenure Committee. The Office of Academic Affairs coordinates committee schedules and maintains a centralized repository of minutes to ensure transparency, accessibility, and continuity in decision-making across all governance bodies.
