Shared Governance Mission & Purpose

Procedure 1.0900.1 - Shared Governance Council

Purpose

The purpose of this council is to serve as an advocate and to provide oversight for shared governance at all levels at the College.

Definition

Shared Governance is the balanced participation of administration, faculty, staff, and students in operational planning, decision-making, and implementation relative to how each group may be impacted by the decision.

Guiding Principles

• We will solicit diverse perspectives for institutional decisions and ensure the representation of all affected groups.
• We will communicate openly and with transparency by welcoming an exchange of ideas without risk of reprisal.
• We will foster a culture of collaboration, engagement, and collective investment in the mission of the College.

Procedure

1. Responsibilities:
   1. Foster and model best practices across the College that are consistent with the guiding principles of shared governance, including communication with stakeholders across the College.
   2. Work to ensure standing and non-standing committees maintain required posting of minutes, an active presence on the College website, and other communication necessary to keep faculty and staff informed.
   3. Create and maintain a directory of all committees and other outlets for shared governance on campus in the interest of transparency and to promote participation in shared governance.
   4. Provide guidance and oversight across constituencies. Coordinate with the College Advisory Council to ensure elements of shared governance are consistent and appear in college policies and procedures.
   5. Maintain the shared governance web site and a college-wide committee meeting calendar.
   6. Work with Human Resources and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) to provide training on elements of shared governance.
   7. Develop and maintain an annual self-assessment to be used by all College governing bodies to evaluate and improve upon their use of shared governance best practices.
   8. Jointly organize and conduct an annual summit with the Council to Coordinate Standing Committees for all college faculty, staff and members of standing committees to review CCSC’s “annual assessment and recommendations for improvement and change,” discuss best practices in shared governance and committee procedures, provide training and address any recommendations from Executive Team.
2. Members shall be appointed by CCSC in accordance with Procedure 1.0900.4. Membership of the council shall consist of the following:
   1. Three faculty (Instructional, Librarians, and/or Counselors)
   2. Two part-time employees (one of which must be an Adjunct Faculty)
   3. Two professional employees (includes professional staff and technical staff)
   4. Three career service employees
   5. One administrator
   6. One student
   7. General Counsel (ex-officio, non-voting)
3. The Council shall have the following offices:
   1. Chair
      1. Roles and responsibilities – The Chair shall fulfill the duties of the office as established in Procedure 1.0900.
      2. Term of Office and Election – The Chair shall serve for one year.  The office of the Chair shall be filled by the Vice Chair at the time of Council elections.  If the Vice Chair is unable or unwilling to assume the office of Chair, the Council shall elect a Chair from the membership no later than the last meeting of the Council for the Spring term.
   2. Vice Chair
      1. Roles and responsibilities – The Vice Chair shall fulfill the duties of the Chair in the Chair’s absence or specific duties as the Chair may delegate or assign to them.
      2. Term of Office and Election – The Vice Chair shall serve for one year.  At the conclusion of their service as Vice Chair, they shall assume the office of the Chair.  The election for the Vice Chair shall occur no later than the last meeting of the Council for the Spring term.  The term of office shall begin with the first meeting of the Council for the following academic year.  
   3. Secretary
      1. Roles and responsibilities – The Secretary shall take, maintain and distribute meeting minutes and fulfill other duties as may be assigned by the Chair.
      2. Term of Office and Election – The Secretary shall serve for one year. The election for the Secretary shall occur no later than the last meeting of the Council for the Spring term.  The term of office shall begin with the first meeting of the Council for the following academic year.  
4. The General Counsel and the Chair will coordinate the forwarding of council recommendations to appropriate parties within the College.
5. The Council shall meet no less than two times a year. In the absence of a serving chair, the General Counsel shall have the responsibility of convening the first meeting of the academic year.
6. A liaison shall be elected annually from the voting membership to serve on the College Advisory Council.
7. The Council and members will operate in accordance with Procedure 1.0900. 

Procedure 1.0900 - Standing Institutional Committees

This Procedure is Under Review

Purpose

Seminole State College (the College) is committed to utilizing various institution-wide standing committees to support effective planning and decision making within the College. Institutional committees shall provide support for strategic priorities and appropriate procedures for college-wide operations. The purpose of this procedure is to identify the College’s standing committees and to provide a general framework for committee responsibilities and processes.

Procedure

1. The following are standing committees and councils at Seminole State College:
   1. Academic Calendar Committee
   2. Council to Coordinate Standing Committees (CCSC)
   3. Curriculum Committee
   4. Employee Benefits Committee
   5. Employee Excellence Committee
   6. Environmental Health, Safety and Security Committee
   7. Equity Committee
   8. Library Committee
   9. Shared Governance Council
   10. Speaker Series
   11. Sustainability Committee
   12. Technology Advisory Committee
   13. Technology Enhanced Learning Committee
        The purpose and membership of each committee and council is described and listed in the institutional procedure relating to that specific committee.

2. Committees and their working units are defined as follows:

1. Committee: A body of persons assigned by procedure and membership and delegated to consider, investigate, and take action and report on some matter; a committee has a sustained presence that is seen through regularly scheduled meetings.
2. Subcommittee: Organized for a specific purpose to continue an aspect of committee work and whose members may or may not stem from the standing committee.
3. Task Force, Ad Hoc, Work Group: A temporary grouping of individuals for the purpose of accomplishing a definite objective, with members that may or may not stem from a standing committee. These groupings typically remain active for less than one year.

3. Except where membership is defined by job title or another term length is noted, all faculty and staff members serve three-year terms that are staggered with appointments being made each year for the following three years. For purposes of committee assignment, the year begins on the first day of the Fall Term and runs through the last day of Summer Term. Members may be re-appointed to serve more than one term. All part-time employee and student representation on committees will be specifically described in the committee procedure. All other committee membership shall be comprised of full-time faculty and staff.
4. The Council to Coordinate Standing Committees (CCSC) will coordinate the Standing Committee appointment process (see Procedure 1.0900.4).
5. Committee chairs will be determined according to each committee’s procedure. Elected committee chairs should be elected at least every three years.
6. Duties of Chairs and Co-Chairs. The committee chair and/or co-chairs will receive an orientation packet with information on the college-wide committee procedures annually from the CCSC. The committee chair and/or co-chairs will:
   1. Establish meeting times and locations.
   2. Create and distribute an agenda in a timely fashion.
   3. Conduct meetings in an orderly manner, allowing appropriate participation of all individuals present.
   4. See that minutes are written, approved, distributed promptly and posted to the Web.
   5. Ensure that a clear consensus or vote is taken on action items.
   6. Act as a mentor or assign a mentor to new committee members who are unfamiliar with the committee or the College’s governance.
   7. When utilizing a co-chair, announce to the committee members how chair/co-chair duties will be divided.
   8. When serving as co-chairs, communicate regularly with each other over the construction of the agenda and other relevant work.
   9. Collaborate with the committee in evaluating committee effectiveness for the year and submit the standing committee annual assessment to the appropriate College leader and CCSC annually by June 30.

7. Duties of Members. All committee members will:

1. Attend meetings regularly.
2. Keep their constituent groups informed of committee actions. This includes informing the appropriate employee council (for example, CSEC, PTEC, or Faculty Senate) of pertinent committee business. If more than one committee member is represented by an employee council, then those committee members shall designate a liaison to the appropriate employee council.
3. Complete assignments associated with committee work in a timely fashion
4. Perform their duties in a courteous and professional manner.

8. Attendance at committee meetings and participation in electronic communication is required. After a committee member has missed two meetings, the committee may request that the absent member be replaced. The committee chair will contact their CCSC liaison to inform them of the open committee seat. The CCSC liaison will then bring the vacancy to the attention of the CCSC committee chair. CCSC will recommend a replacement according to CCSC procedure.
9. Ex-Officio Members. All standing committees may elect to request ex-officio members by title in their committee description. All others in attendance at meetings are guests or visitors. Ex-officio members:
   1. May serve a committee by providing information and advice as deemed necessary by the committee
   2. Do not vote on committee action
   3. May not serve as committee chair/co-chair.

10. Each committee shall meet in accordance with their procedure. Meetings may be face to face, via e-mail, by conference call, or by other electronic/digital means.
11. A quorum shall exist when a majority of voting members is present.
    1. During the meeting, voting shall be by voice unless a written ballot is requested by any member of the committee
    2. By a majority decision of the committee, a vote may be conducted electronically. When conducting an electronic vote, members submit their vote to the committee chair in a manner that follows the spirit of an in-person written ballot (for example, votes shall not be cast via a “reply all” email). All voting must remain open a minimum of 24 hours occurring within College business days. Results of a vote may be announced immediately following the close of the voting period. 
12. Agendas and minutes.
    1. Agendas:
       1. Agendas will be distributed to all committee members and others in attendance and posted to the Standing Committee Web page.
       2. Any member of the committee may request to have an item placed on the agenda prior to the scheduled meeting time. The chair/co-chair will decide to add the item, defer the item, or decline the item with an explanation to the member.
       3. Any non-member may request to have an item placed on the agenda by contacting the committee chair/co-chair or applicable constituent representative member. The chair/co-chair will decide to add the item, defer the item, or decline the item with an explanation to the member.
    2. Minutes:
       Minutes will be posted to the College’s Standing Committee Web page by the recorder determined by each committee.
13. By June 30 of each year, each committee chair will collaborate with the committee to complete the Standing Committee Annual Assessment.
    1. The assessment will be forwarded to the appropriate College leader and CCSC for review.
    2. The College leader and CCSC will follow up on assessment recommendations as appropriate
    3. Following approval by Executive Team, each committee’s Annual Assessment shall be posted to the Standing Committees website.
14. Changes to the standing committee structure will be accomplished in accordance with the Procedure on Procedures 1.0001.