Shared Governance

Share (v.i.): to participate.

Govern to steer, guide. [from Latin gubernare (Greek kubernaô)]:

BoR Policy 1-10.3

[T]he faculty has primary responsibility for such fundamental academic areas as curriculum content, subject matter, and methods of instruction and research.

BoR Policy 1-10.2

The duly authorized organization [of the faculty] shall have the responsibility to speak for the faculty on academic policy matters such as:

a. policy determining the initiation, review, and evaluation of proposed or authorized research, instructional, and academic programs;

b. budget planning and implementation policy;

c. student-faculty relations policy;

d. policy for the evaluation of faculty and campus academic administrators;

e. the improvement and establishment of a canon of professional ethics and an effective means of professional maintenance of those ethics, including faculty self-discipline

f. other subjects affecting academic policy subjects referred to it or them by the ... Chancellor, or by request of the appropriate faculty organization.

Principles of Shared Governance

1. Principle of Autonomy

All members of university committees, councils, working groups, etc. who speak for the faculty on matters of academic policy (those specified in BoR policy I.10.2) should be appointed by, or with the approval of, an independently elected body of faculty representatives.

2. Principle of comprehensiveness

In addition to the Chancellor all Deans should have an independently elected body of faculty representatives who en-sure the faculty’s responsibility for all matters of academic policy (those specified in BoR policy I.10.2) is carried out and with whom the Dean consults on the matters touching these responsibilities.

Gloss: "Independently elected"

"Independently elected" means by a process in which all and only the faculty in the unit have an oppor-tunity to participate and to be chos-en through a procedure that is con-ducted by the faculty themselves.

3. Principle of communication

There should be as much opportunity as possible for communication between parties sharing responsibility for governance, to include

(1) informal discussion and

(2) formal consultation.

Gloss: “Discuss”

"Discuss" means to hear only an informal expression of opinion from the faculty or from individual faculty members; (also applied to formally expressed opinions from administratively selected committees.)

Source of this and the next gloss: AAUP/ACAD "2001 Survey on Higher Education Governance"

Gloss: “Consult”

"Consult" means to go through a formal pro-cedure or established practice which enables the faculty (as a whole or through authorized representatives) to present its judgment in the form of a recommendation, vote or other expression sufficiently explicit to record the position or positions taken by the faculty. This explicit expression of faculty judgment must take place prior to the actual making of the decision in question.

Corollaries of the Principle of communication

• Timeliness: Consultation cannot pro-perly be carried out in too short a period of time.

• Stability: Consultation cannot properly take place over a fluid (continually changing) proposal.