This came out of the table group discussion that we had at Spring Conference. It is a summation of the ideas that we discussed at the table: We need to create a council system that allows and fosters the potential for “authentic participation”–being able to participate as an individual bringing your own background, perspectives, ideas, and visions to conversations without being expected to represent any group and without fear of retribution of any type. This includes having clear job descriptions that allow/include space for all employees who want to participate in the council system to participate, as part of their job. This would make the council system truly inclusive and allow PT and classified employees to be more fully involved and engaged without needing “approval” from their managers, deans, or colleagues. Moving councils to a more inclusive policy would move us away from union-appointments and members by position, both of which come with implied power structures and representational expectations. We also need clear delineation between policy and procedure and a clear sense of who is going to do implementation if it is not going to be the councils who create the policy. This will help clarify who “owns” decisions, increase accountability, and will also help make transparent some of the power structures that are clearly in place but currently “hidden” by the structures on campus.
Should College Council be overarching group of councils OR a separate group organized by core themes and mission rather than operational?
Consider faculty senate model.
Fewer councils with greater and expanded participation.
Organize councils around core themes and mission rather than operations.
Encourage employees to attend Board of Education meetings.
Decision making structures are clear and well-communicated
Spring Conference - Faculty (8) Focus Group
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May 8, 2018
Vision – You can “See” Governance
Communicate across all levels across the college [TRANSPARENCY]
Mobilizes the collective intelligence of the college community/work units [INCLUSIVE]
Creates the best learning environments for our STUDENTS
ALIGNS with statutes and laws that govern the institution
It is PARTICIPATORY – you can see your individual and collective contributions in the decision-making
Governance bodies are DECISION-MAKERS
Bring back the SHARED in governance
Model and its implementation instills CONFIDENCE and TRUST
I had the pleasure of being a part of this Spring Conference break out group. Basically I gathered from one of the tables, that the governance councils are not working as they stand. They did feel that the Faculty and Learning are working well. This survey is really a great idea. Everyone that are a part of the councils would really like to be able to come up with solutions, and to have them implemented in a timely matter. A feeling of time-waster and also of not seeing anything happen was main frustration. I was impressed with just how impassioned everyone was and how they really wanted to have a vehicle for achieving each of their visions.
This came out of the table group discussion that we had at Spring Conference. It is a summation of the ideas that we discussed at the table: We need to create a council system that allows and fosters the potential for “authentic participation”–being able to participate as an individual bringing your own background, perspectives, ideas, and visions to conversations without being expected to represent any group and without fear of retribution of any type. This includes having clear job descriptions that allow/include space for all employees who want to participate in the council system to participate, as part of their job. This would make the council system truly inclusive and allow PT and classified employees to be more fully involved and engaged without needing “approval” from their managers, deans, or colleagues. Moving councils to a more inclusive policy would move us away from union-appointments and members by position, both of which come with implied power structures and representational expectations. We also need clear delineation between policy and procedure and a clear sense of who is going to do implementation if it is not going to be the councils who create the policy. This will help clarify who “owns” decisions, increase accountability, and will also help make transparent some of the power structures that are clearly in place but currently “hidden” by the structures on campus.
Should College Council be overarching group of councils OR a separate group organized by core themes and mission rather than operational?
Consider faculty senate model.
Governance should be focused on academic policy. Consider faculty senate model.
Fewer councils with greater and expanded participation.
Organize councils around core themes and mission rather than operations.
Encourage employees to attend Board of Education meetings.
Decision making structures are clear and well-communicated
Vision – You can “See” Governance
Communicate across all levels across the college [TRANSPARENCY]
Mobilizes the collective intelligence of the college community/work units [INCLUSIVE]
Creates the best learning environments for our STUDENTS
ALIGNS with statutes and laws that govern the institution
It is PARTICIPATORY – you can see your individual and collective contributions in the decision-making
Governance bodies are DECISION-MAKERS
Bring back the SHARED in governance
Model and its implementation instills CONFIDENCE and TRUST
Abandon the input model
I had the pleasure of being a part of this Spring Conference break out group. Basically I gathered from one of the tables, that the governance councils are not working as they stand. They did feel that the Faculty and Learning are working well. This survey is really a great idea. Everyone that are a part of the councils would really like to be able to come up with solutions, and to have them implemented in a timely matter. A feeling of time-waster and also of not seeing anything happen was main frustration. I was impressed with just how impassioned everyone was and how they really wanted to have a vehicle for achieving each of their visions.