Shared Governance Workshop
Day One: What exists today and how
we got here
Pre Shared Governance
• Superintendent Reed Buffington (1961-1981)
• Faculty Senate
• Student Government
Changes up to 1988
• 1972 Board of Trustees lose most of their
power to tax local residents without vote of
residents
• 1975 Rodda Act: Allows for Public School
Teachers Unions (Faculty Senate stops
representing faculty on labor issues)
Faculty Union Rights 1975
• Not everything is negotiable. Critical job issues that are
within the legal scope of bargaining include compensation,
hours of work, safety matters, class size, evaluation and
disciplinary procedures, health care, access to personnel
files, preparation time, seniority, transfer rights, a grievance
procedure with binding arbitration to settle major disputes,
discrimination, job assignments, and early retirement.
• Issues not within the scope of bargaining include a district’s
staffing needs, the district budget process, matters
affecting employees outside the bargaining unit, the timing
of layoffs, an advisory committee formed by the employer,
and access to information unrelated to union
representation.
1988-92
• Assembly Bill 1725 gives staff groups a say in
governance
• Chabot Faculty help write the bill (Larry Toy a
Astronomy Faculty member in instrumental in
it’s drafting)
• 1989-1992 The Shared Governance 1.0 Era
Starts
• LPC becomes independent and District
created 1990-91
What is Shared Governance?
• AB 1725 (1988)
• Faculty, staff and students(have) the right to
participate effectively in district and college
governance and
• The right of academic senates to assume primary
responsibility for making recommendations in the
areas of curriculum and academic standards.
• Education Code Sections 70901 and 70902
Faculty Senate Authority
Title 5 Section 53203 Academic Senates
• The governing board shall adopt policies for
appropriate delegation of authority and
responsibility to its academic senate.
...providing at a minimum the governing
board or its designees consult collegially with the
academic senate when adopting policies and
procedures on academic and professional matters.
Academic Senates
Title 5 §53200
• "Consult collegially" means either:
• 1. Relying primarily upon the advice and
judgment of the academic senate; or
• 2. Reaching mutual agreement between the
governing board/designee and representatives
of the academic senate.
Academic Senate
“Rely Primarily”
• Rely Primarily: recommendations of the senate
will normally be accepted (by the local board);
• only in exceptional circumstances and for
compelling reasons will the recommendations
not be accepted;
• If not accepted, board/designee communicate
its reasons in writing, if requested
Academic Senate
“Mutual Agreement”
• Mutual Agreement: If agreement not reached,
existing policy remains in effect unless exposure
to legal liability or substantial fiscal hardship.
• If no policy or existing policy creates exposure to
legal liability or substantial fiscal hardship board
may act if agreement not reached
• if good faith effort first only for compelling legal,
fiscal, or organizational reasons
The 10 + 1 Faculty Senate purview
(the range or limit of authority)
*Merriam Webster’s Definition
• Title 5 SECTION 53200 DEFINITIONS
• Academic Senate means an organization whose primary
function is to make recommendations with respect to
academic and professional matters.
• Academic and Professional matters means the following
policy development matters:
• 1. Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites.
2. Degree and certificate requirements.
3. Grading policies.
4. Educational program development.
5. Standards or policies regarding student preparation and
success.
The 10 + 1 Faculty Senate purview
(the range or limit of authority)
*Merriam Webster’s Definition
• 6. College governance structures, as related to
faculty roles.
7. Faculty roles and involvement in accreditation
processes.
8. Policies for faculty professional development
activities.
9. Processes for program review.
10. Processes for institutional planning and
budget development.
11. Other academic and professional matters as
mutually agreed upon.
Our Board Policy 2015
Collegial Consultation with the Faculty Senate
(10+1)
• The Board will "rely primarily" on the Academic
Senates in these "academic and professional"
matters:
• 1. Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites
and placing courses in disciplines;
• 2. Degree and certificate requirements;
• 3. Grading policies;
• 4. Faculty roles and involvement in accreditation
processes including self study and annual reports
Our Board Policy 2015
Collegial Consultation with the Faculty Senate
(10+1)
• The Board will reach “mutual agreement“
with the Academic Senates in these
"academic and professional" matters:
• 5. Educational program development
• 6. Standards and policies regarding student
success
• 7. District and college governance structures
as related to faculty roles
Mutual Agreement cont.
• 8. Policies for faculty professional
development activities
• 9. Process for program review
• 10. Process for institutional planning and
budget development
• (No mention of “Other academic and
professional matters as mutually agreed
upon.”
Staff
Title 5 §51023.5
• Governing boards adopt policies and procedures that
provide staff opportunity to participate effectively in
district and college governance.
• formulation and development of policies and
procedures, And processes for jointly developing
recommendations that have or will have a significant
effect on staff.
• Board shall not take action on matters significantly
affecting staff until the recommendations and opinions
of staff are given every reasonable consideration.
Board Policy on Staff participation
• Board Policy 2017 Staff Participation in
• 1. Chabot College: See Shared Governance
and Collegial Consultation Process
Students
Title 5 §51023.7
• Governing board adopt policies and procedures that
provide students opportunity to participate effectively
in district and college governance on formulation and
development policies and procedures and processes
for jointly developing recommendations that have or
will have a significant effect on students.
• Board shall not take action on a matter having a
significant effect on students until recommendations
and positions by students are given every reasonable
consideration.
Students Continued
• Polices and procedure that have a “significant effect on students”
include :
• (1) grading polices
• (2) codes of student conduct
• (3) academic disciplinary policies
• (4) curriculum development
• (5) courses or programs which should be initiated or discontinued
• (6) processes for institutional planning and budget development
• (7) standards and polices regarding student preparation and success
• (8) student services planning and development
• (9) student fees within the authority of the district to adopt
• (10) any other district and college policy, procedure or related
matter that the district governing board determines will have a
significant effect on students
Board Policy on Student participation
• Board Policy 2018 Staff Participation in
• 1. Chabot College: See Shared Governance
and Collegial Consultation Process
Chabot College
• SHARED GOVERNANCE AND
COLLEGIAL CONSULTATION PROCESS
• Revised 2006
• http://www.chabotcollege.edu/governance/Chab
ot%20CollegeSharedGovernance%288-1506%29.pdf
APPROACHES TO SHARED GOVERNANCE
• Colleges may approach shared governance in
these fundamental ways:
• 1. Administration operates the college with
advice from the college’s constituents. The input
of the constituents is received via a committee
structure.
• 2. The college divides itself into areas of
responsibility, each of which is exclusively
managed and controlled by certain
constituencies.
• 3. Everyone governs the entire college.
APPROACHES TO SHARED
GOVERNANCE (Cont.)
• Chabot College chooses to utilize the third
approach, where everyone governs the
college.
• The fundamental philosophy is one of
openness.
• This means that all governance committees
and councils conduct open meetings.
APPROACHES TO SHARED
GOVERNANCE (cont.)
• Each body has a core group of representatives
who are appointed.
• Anyone, however, may attend most
governance meetings and participate.
Decision making formats
• There are two classic schools of administration
and management:
• Traditional organization is a hierarchical order
with subordinates. This model is often described
as a pyramid and has the advantages of
maintaining a central focus on goals and making
decisions rapidly.
• An open model encourages broad participation
and ownership. At times, participants in this
model can lose focus, and decision-making can be
slow.
Decision Making Formats (Cont.)
• Chabot College merges these models, resulting in
a structure somewhat like an hourglass.
• The top of the hourglass represents the
governance structure, forming a funnel for ideas
and recommendations.
• The ideas and recommendations, gathered at the
top, filter to the middle of the hourglass.
• The middle, or “waist” of the hourglass, consists
of the College Council, the College President, and
the Board of Trustees.
Decision Making Formats (Cont.)
• The base of the hourglass consists of the
traditional administrative structure of the college.
• It is used to carry out the decisions reached. On
occasion, the administrative structure may wholly
develop and carry out a decision due to the need
to respond quickly.
• When this occurs, the College Council will be
informed and given the rationale for the action.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES
• All constituencies have the right and
opportunity to express their opinions.
• Anyone having an opinion about a position or
idea brought to a committee, council, senate,
etc. meeting is expected to express it in the
open forum.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES (cont.)
• Many College committees, councils, etc.
operate on the principle of consensus.
• These Committees do not record votes and, in
fact, usually do not take votes at all, except for
the occasional straw poll.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES (cont.)
• When a committee or constituency is given
the responsibility for developing a
recommendation, or if a committee or
constituency is generating a recommendation
of its own, it will be done with the following
understandings:
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES (cont.)
• All recommendations must focus on how Chabot
College can serve more students and serve them
more effectively.
• Decisions anywhere in the organization affect the
college’s quality and resources.
• Governance groups who are providing
recommendations must give due consideration to
the resources available to implement the
recommendation with quality results.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES (cont.)
• Governance bodies must establish a timeline
for reaching their recommendations. The
timeline must be responsive to the needs of
the college.
• If recommendations are not produced in a
timely manner, then responsibility for the
recommendation may be placed elsewhere in
the organization.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES (cont.)
• The governance body will identify the
stakeholders of the issues under consideration
and actively invite their participation in
forming any recommendation.
• Stakeholders must be given the opportunity to
participate in discussions that will form the
basis for making recommendations affecting
them.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES (cont.)
• The President will normally review the
recommendations of governance bodies and
constituencies with College Council prior to
final action.
DECISIONS BY CONSENSUS
• Consensus decision-making is a process that
does not involve Robert’s Rules of Order or
other such rules for committee work.
• Governance bodies must realize that
consensus decision-making takes time and
requires a commitment to open discussions.
GENERAL OPERATIONAL RULES
FOR ALL OPEN COMMITTEES
• Open meetings mean that any individual may join and
fully participate in the meetings of the Governance
groups designated as having open meetings.
• The Committee for the subsequent year will be formed
in the spring (approximately April) of the previous
academic year. New appointees take office on July 1.
• The Chair, or co-Chairs, of the Committee, if not
designated, will be elected by the core representatives
in the spring term and take office on July 1.
GENERAL OPERATIONAL RULES
FOR ALL OPEN COMMITTEES (cont.)
• Following the vote for Chair, all open meetings
will be conducted via the consensus model.
• Agendas for all open meetings must be posted
and distributed by 9:00 a.m. the day before
the meeting.
• Minutes, for meetings that have them, will be
distributed one day after their approval.
GENERAL OPERATIONAL RULES
FOR ALL OPEN COMMITTEES (cont.)
• Representatives of various governance groups,
identified as core representatives, bear the
primary responsibility for both informing their
constituency of the committees’ work and
informing the committee of the constituency’s
position on matters under deliberation.
• It is not the Committee Chair or College
Administration’s responsibility to inform
constituency groups of matters under
deliberation by the governance structure.
GENERAL OPERATIONAL RULES
FOR ALL OPEN COMMITTEES (cont.)
• Chairs of Committees, unless designated, shall
not normally serve for more than three
consecutive years. Chair may mean Chair or coChair.
• Changes to this document must be proposed to
the College Council and ultimately approved by
the College President and President of the
Academic/Faculty Senate.
• Specifically if a committee wishes to change its
charge, representation, or reporting
responsibilities, this process must be followed.
Shared Governance Committees
(Mentioned in Document)
1.
2.
3.
4.
College Council
Academic/Faculty Senate
Curriculum Committee
Distance Education Curriculum Support
Committee (Now Called COOL)
5. Associated Students of Chabot College (Now
Student Senate of Chabot College)
6. Classified Senate
Shared Governance Committees
(Cont.)
7. Institutional Planning and Budget Council
(IPBC) (Now PRBC and Includes Program Review
Committee)
8. College Budget Committee
9. Institutional Technology Committee (Now
Called Technology Committee)
10. Facilities Committee (Now Called Facilities
and Sustainability Committee)
Shared Governance Committee
(Cont.)
11. College Safety and Security Committee (Now
Called Health and Safety Committee)
12. College Enrollment Management Committee
13. Staff Development Committee
14. Faculty Prioritization Committee
15. Academic and Student Services Council
(Now Called Academic Policy Committee)
Defunct Committees
1. Program Review Committee (Moved into
PRBC)
2. Marketing & Recruitment Committee
(Defunct? Not on list of committees on
website)
New committees (not In Document)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Basic Skills
Chabot Foundation
Public Art
Accreditation Steering
SLOAC
Equity
???
Other governance committees, etc.,
mentioned in the Document
1. Academic Division Meetings
2. Student Conduct and Due Process Formal
Hearing Committee (Not listed on website)
3. Student Grievance Committee (Not listed on
website)
4. Academic Fairness Committee (Not listed on
website)
Governance Committee Membership
• Memberships are outlined in committee
charters not in document
• Types of memberships:
• Representational: (Senates: Example: Faculty
Senate 1-20 rule)
• Divisional: Faculty Reps, Administrator in
Charge of area and Classified Reps based on
areas (Health and Safety, Facilities, Academic
Policy Council)
Governance Committee Membership
• Noah’s Ark: 1 or more from each governance
Group (Old IBPC, Staff Development)
• Interest Group Based - usually divisional as
well: (Basic Skills, Technology)
• Leadership Committees: (PRBC, College
Council)
Where do we go from here?
• Need a revised and up to date Governance
Structure
• Need a revised and “up to date” Governance
Process (How do the committees work
together, who reports to whom??)
• Need a Structure and Process that works but
lessens the workload stress on EVERYONE!
• Need a Process that everyone can understand
and works (no “work arounds” needed)
Where do we go from here?
• Need a process that is supportable with
college resources.
• Need a Process to evaluate and improve our
new governance system
• What else do we need?