COMMISSION UPDATES:
March 2020
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.pdf
January 2020
(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.
The Commission seeks to strengthen faculty shared governance for Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education by recommending consistent, high-level expectations for its universities and the design and operationalization of a body that works at the system level to enable effective consultation in regard to system-level strategy planning, budgeting, policies and other matters as may be deemed appropriate. (The Commission is specifically
not asked to make recommendations about the practice of shared governance at the university level.)
The Commission will:
- actively engage faculty, union leadership, administrators, trustees, and Board members in a dialogue to develop a shared understanding of the purpose and scope of shared governance in the context of the State System
- learn from the current state of faculty shared governance as it is practiced both at system and university levels
- learn from the current state of faculty shared governance at other university and college systems, focusing especially on those where faculty are organized by collective bargaining units—engaging external expertise where appropriate
- maintain a commitment to transparency and frequent communications among stakeholders and offer quarterly reports to the Board leading to recommendations.
COMMISSION MEMBERS
Members will be appointed by the chairperson of the Board of Governors, except for the faculty members who will be elected by the faculty (see section on Interim Faculty Council). The Commission will consist of 11 members that include:
|
Commission Chair
|
Don Houser, BOG Leadership and Governance Committee Chair
|
|
BOG Member-at-large
|
Noe Ortega, PA Deputy Secretary of Education
|
|
Faculty (IFC Member)
|
Francisco Alarcón, Professor and Dept. Chair, IUP
|
|
Faculty (IFC member)
|
Nancy VanArsdale, Professor, East Stroudsburg
|
|
Faculty (IFC Member)
|
Matt Girton, Professor and Dept. Chair, Lock Haven
|
|
Faculty (APSCUF Rep.)
|
Jamie Martin, Statewide APSCUF Vice President
|
|
University Trustee
|
Bobbi Kilmer, Mansfield University COT Chair
|
|
Administrator
|
Guiyou Huang, President, Edinboro
|
|
Administrator
|
Tom Ormond, Provost, Shippensburg
|
|
Administrator
|
Sharon Picus, Interim A&F Vice President, Kutztown
|
|
Administrator
|
Laura Delbrugge, Dean, Clarion
|
