Governance Review Task Force

Proposal for a Staff and Administrators Assembly

Saint Mary’s College has long embraced the concept of shared governance. This commitment is expressed in the College’s governance manual which states that while the Board of Trustees and the President bear full responsibility for the governance and operation of the College, all members of the College community participate in the governance of the College in accordance with their rights and responsibilities. All members of the College community share responsibility for the governance of the College.

This statement is in accordance with Catholic Social Teaching which states in the Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops June 1998, that all human beings have a right and responsibility to participate in society and in the institutions that make up our communities and that we have a responsibility to exercise our right to participate in a fair and equitable way for the good of all. [1]

Currently, the College endorses the fundamental concept of shared governance by including faculty and student participation on the Board of Trustees and its committees. The faculty has also established the Faculty Assembly, whose essential function is to articulate, augment and coordinate the faculty’s participation in the governance of the College.

There is, however, no official means for administrators and staff members to exercise their right to and responsibility for shared governance. Therefore, the Governance Review Task Force proposes that the College should recognize a Staff and Administrators Assembly, a body of all staff and administrators whose purpose is to provide participation in the shared governance of the College. While all staff and administrators would be members of the Staff and Administrators Assembly, a Staff and Administrators Council/Assembly, representative of the group as a whole and elected by their peers would both lead and serve the Assembly.

The purpose of this council would be:

To communicate the interest and concerns of the staff and administrators
To participate in the development and review of College policies which affect staff and administrators
To create and nurture a spirit of unity
To represent the Staff and Administrator Council/Assembly
To facilitate and support the operations of the Staff and Administrator Council/Assembly.

One recent situation in which this Council/Assembly could have been helpful is in the announcement last semester of proposed budget cuts. The cuts to benefits were not well received by College employees. The President’s Cabinet could have worked with an organized and representative group of staff and administrators to ensure input into and greater acceptance of any proposed cuts to employee benefits. The President’s Cabinet could also work with a Staff and Administrator Council/Assembly to solve problems such as the future of retiree health insurance or the staffing and maintenance of new buildings. Generally, top administrators could work with such a group in any situation which deserves discussion, feedback and recommendations from staff and administrators.

We propose that members of this council be elected by their peers and that all full and part-time employees who are not members of the Faculty Assembly or the President’s Cabinet and are not student employees be eligible for membership on the council. In order to assure equitable representation among divisions and among staff and administrators, we suggest membership be based on the following employee groups:

1) President’s Office

2) Academic Affairs

3) Division for Mission

4) College Relations

5) Student Affairs

6) Finance and Administration

7) Enrollment Management

The number of representatives in each group will be:

1-20 eligible employees = 1 representative

21-40 eligible employees = 2 representatives

41-60 eligible employees = 3 representatives

60+ eligible employees = 4 representatives

We believe the above numbers should be applied separately to administrators and staff in each employee group to assure equitable representation among them.

Following the above stated guidelines, the membership in the Staff and Administrator Council/Assembly will be:

President’s Office 13 administrators = 1 representative

10 staff = 1 representative

2 total representatives

Academic Affairs 32 administrators = 2 representatives

27 staff = 2 representatives

4 total representatives

Division of Mission 8 administrators = 1 representative

3 staff = 1 representative

2 total representatives

College Relations 22 administrators = 2 representatives

16 staff = 1 representative

3 total representatives

Student Affairs 25 administrators = 2 representatives

26 staff = 2 representatives

4 total representatives

Finance & 17 administrators = 1 representative

Administration 80 staff = 4 representatives

5 total representatives

There will be 21 voting members consisting of 9 administrators, 11 staff members and the Director of Human Resources.

We understand that a change will be made to overall administrative structure which will affect the above numbers. Even though divisions may change, the formula for determining representation will remain the same.

By-laws, length of service, standing committees and specific functions would be constructed in detail by the first Staff and Administrator Council.

Cost benefit analysis. The Staff and Administrator Council/Assembly would require a nominal budget to cover the costs of office operations e.g. photocopies and office supplies. We request the College budget $150 for these costs. This is the same amount allotted to the Faculty Assembly for similar costs.

It is important that the work of this committee be recognized as legitimate work of the College and that staff and administrators be allowed to attend meetings during regular working hours.

Proposal for Revision of Governance Manual

In the Governance Manual currently the various Vice Presidents are responsible for keeping their sections of the Governance Manual up to date. The procedures by which that ongoing review is accomplished are not, however, articulated. In our work we continually confronted the encyclopedic nature of the current Governance Manual. It contains sections that articulate the legal character of the College (Section VIII, Code of By-Laws of the Corporation of Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame and Section II, The Governance of the College) as well as sections that articulate procedures and policies for a number of offices, roles, and functions. This compendium is convenient in some ways, but it risks confusion that raises policies and procedures that might be more prudently kept susceptible to some flexibility and change to the level of constitutional law. In addition, while the Governance Manual covers many aspects of faculty life, the Hourly and Salaried Employee Handbooks also have a certain authority; and the Student Handbook articulates important governance matters, rights, and privileges of students in our community.

It is the conclusion of the Task Force that we need a shorter Governance Manual and more elaborated handbooks for less serious matters of procedure and policy. We did not take on the task of this revision and editing. We recommend that in the next step of the Strategic Plan that revision be assigned. We think it is an important detail that needs to be addressed.

In that revision we especially think that the following matters need to be clarified:

1) What is the process by which changes in governance are effected?

2) Who should be responsible for publicizing and publishing changes in governance?

3) Definitions of procedures in governance need further clarity. For example, what does it mean for the President to “consult with faculty”?

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[1] Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions/Reflections of the US Catholic Bishops. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1998.