Final Recommendations

Below are the final recommendations that were developed by the Commission and have been received by the Board of Governors, which voted to operationalize the Faculty Council. The Interim Faculty Council is now working with the Office of the Chancellor to establish the permanent Faculty Council.

Faculty Shared Gov - Draft Recommendations

Faculty Shared Governance Commission Timeline

August 2020 Update

After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, the Commission adjusted its timeline to ensure it could accomplish its work this year while allowing the time necessary for gathering input from stakeholders. This summer, the Commission developed draft recommendations that are now being reviewed by the Interim Faculty Council, the university presidents, and other groups. After incorporating their feedback, the Commission will post the recommendation online in late August so that any and all who are interested can provide comment before the matter goes to the Board for consideration in mid-October. You are encouraged to follow this page for updates during the summer and provide feedback by sending an email to board@passhe.edu.

May 2020 Update

Recognizing how much time and attention the COVID-19 pandemic response has required, the work of the Commission was put on-hold so that everyone could focus on helping students complete the semester successfully. While there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the pandemic, the Commission members are committed to not let this important project fall to the wayside. As such, the Commission has adjusted the timeline of its work and now plans to continue meeting through the Summer in order to recoup the lost time.

Because the Commission has already drafted guiding principles and identified issues that might be addressed by system-level shared governance (posted on this site in March), the group can now turn to crafting recommendations for the Board of Governors to consider in October. The timeline set by the Commission shows that it intends to have draft recommendations to circulate for general feedback from faculty and administration by the time the fall semester starts. That will allow time for the feedback to be integrated with the final recommendations before the October 14-15 board meeting.You are encouraged to follow this page for updates during the summer and provide feedback by sending an email to board@passhe.edu.

March 2020 Update

The Commission has developed the following document that includes draft "Guiding Principles" and a draft list of issues that could be addressed by system-level shared governance. The Commission invites your input on the document to help inform its work to develop recommendations for the board's consideration. Email your thoughts to: board@passhe.edu.

Shared Governance 2-28-20 Draft

January 2020 Update

(Excerpted from chairman's update to the Board of Governors) While we have variations of shared governance occurring at the university level all across the System, the fact is that comprehensive System-level faculty shared governance does not exist right now. The Board has already taken a great step in that direction by adding a faculty liaison to the Board of Governors. He and his faculty colleagues on the Commission are already providing valuable insights.

As for the Commission itself, what matters most in this process is that we listen. So, it is in that light that we spent the fall semester getting organized and then listening and learning. During our workshop this fall, the Commission focused on knowledge-building by listening and learning from each other regarding the issues that are important to the various stakeholder groups. Commission members were provided a System-level orientation around existing governance roles and responsibilities. We engaged deeply in dialogue to better understand each other’s perspectives on shared governance. We also identifed opportunities, challenges, and aspirations that system-level shared governance presents. There was active discussion among all Commission members regarding their own expectations for—and their lived experiences with—shared governance.

As part of the first workshop, we developed a draft “Guiding Principles” document that will serve as the touchstone for the Commission’s work throughout the year as well as a draft matrix of issues that system-level faculty shared governance can address. We believe in the importance of gathering feedback throughout each stage of this process to ensure we are moving in a direction that is beneficial to all. As such, each of our Commission members is currently circulating drafts of the guiding principles and issues matrix with a sample of their stakeholders; gathering some initial feedback to help identify potential problems, any missed opportunities, or additional enhancements we should consider before sharing the documents with everyone for feedback. This phase of our work will be completed in the next few weeks.

Next, the Commission will review the initial feedback we receive and make adjustments to the draft documents before posting them on this website for review/comment by all.