Tensions and Challenges of Being a New Senate President
Leadership Institute, 2011
Facilitators: Phil Smith and Lesley Kawaguchi
1. Divided campus; small groups working at odds with each other.
Suggestions: Consider holding a senate retreat before the start of school. A
retreat can be an opportunity to do team-building with senators and committee
chairs.
Senate president must take on the role of neutral party and mediator.
Establish a positive constructive reputation by being fair and responsible. One job of
the senate president is to identify the will of the faculty as a whole; work to
understand the different viewpoints so that you can identify what points are shared
in common.
2. Lack of participation.
Suggestions: As senate president, reach out to senate and faculty colleagues.
Try to talk to faculty individually; be on the look out for issues that the faculty
member feels passionate about and use that to help him or her make a connection to
a committee or initiative that is capable of addressing that issue. In a sense, one of
the roles of the senate president is to help match emerging college issues with the
best and most appropriate faculty “talent.”
When you notice a senator has provided excellent service while working on a
committee or task force, publicly acknowledge their time and contribution during a
senate or other committee meeting. Limit suggestions and criticism to private
conversations.
Study current participation patterns of faculty. Again, consider holding a
senate retreat, which can also count for flex (professional development) time.
Having food at certain meetings and events can often create a sense of camaraderie
and facilitate participation in senate events in the long run.
3. Shared governance processes; how to revive shared governance.
Suggestions: If a college, for whatever reasons, has retreated from its historic
commitment to shared governance, the senate president will need to reassert that
the senate is an entity with a legal role in the college’s decision making processes.
To “jumpstart” shared governance in these circumstances, it might be useful
to first point out the functional benefits of a properly operating shared governance
process. Although shared governance is often maligned as “getting in the way of
progress,” it’s actually the fastest way to get to an optimal solution that is best for
everyone at the college. Current and past presidents in the room relayed that many
of the most vexing problems that they had to deal with occurred when shared
governance processes were by passed. Shared governance really is the best vehicle
for accomplishing the college’s business (otherwise you end up with a “hot smelly
mess”!).
4. Establishing credibility with faculty during leadership transition; reconciliation
after divisive election.
Reminders: It is important to remember that you ARE the duly elected senate
president; you have the authority by virtue of the democratic process as established
by your senate constitution and by-laws. At the beginning of your term, you may
not feel like the president. In such cases, it is important to act “as if.” It comes with
time. Also, remember that, by virtue of your position, you will be “in the know” more
than anyone else and that will become clear to others that you know the most about
a situation.
5. Adjunct faculty roles in the senate.
Discussion occurred over how to include adjunct faculty in senate processes
and whether or not adjuncts should have full votes for senate officers. Two models
were shared: (a) several colleges had constitutions in which adjunct faculty could
vote for and run for any office and (b) a few colleges had constitutions in which
adjunct representative positions were part of the structure of the senate itself. In
general, attendees felt that full, inclusive adjunct voting and participation had
worked for their senates.
6. Who does the senate work for/report to?
The Senate is an independent faculty body whose authority is in the
Education Code and Title 5. The Senate consults collegially with other constituent
groups (board of trustees, administration, students, unions, etc.), and it doesn’t
work for or report to a particular administrator or constituency. Be sure to have
clear processes for how that consultation is done.