FACCC — Question of the Month

Question of the Month

May 2003

Question: How would you improve shared governance at the district and/or state levels?

Please e-mail responses to Communications Director Keri Goulart, kgoulart@faccc.org by May 31 (use the subject "May Question") Your responses will be published here at www.faccc.org and may be published in other FACCC publications.

Responses:

Mon 5/26/2003 10:01 AM, deborahadahl@hotmail.com (Deborah Dahl Shanks)
How to improve shared governance?

First, and foremost, before there can be any improvement in shared governance, all parties involved must agree on the definitions of "shared governance," the purpose of governance for current and future successes of the colleges, students and employees, and the processes and policies involved in the "shared governance" agreement. All parties must agree on the definitions AND must agree to uphold those agreements once made. Shared governance will never work if the various parties try to change the rules along the way because it suits them issue by issue.

Secondly, the parties of the institution must agree on who is going to come to the table and share in the shared governance process. Who and why do these people have a "vested interest" in governance? The quotation: "Come
to the table all who are able" seems to be a positive statement of true "shared" governance. That includes administrators, classified staff, full-time and part-time faculty and even students. Too often assumptions
are made that part-time faculty and students are "not vested" in the future of the college due to a "lack of contract" or the temporary time they will stay at the institution. Or, there is the paternalistic concern that they do not have the ability, expertise or knowledge to assist in governance. How untrue and short-sighted on all accounts!

Shared governance can only be improved through full collegiality and open and honest dialogue in which all parties are honored and respected for their role in the college community. Research has shown that at those institutions that made a greater effort to include part-time faculty in the life of the college and department/division, the climate was better. Faculty members were more satisfied with the working conditions if they were treated professionally. That includes shared governance. In fact, students and part-time faculty are some of the best people to have involved in shared governance since they are the in the "trenches" every day and see and experience some of the main problems that need to be addressed.

Shared governance has been criticized from both sides of the fence that it is not working, that it has turned into a turf war and power struggle between faculty and administration. It is time that we get back to basics and to the grass roots of shared governance. It is time for administrators and full-time faculty to stop being paternalistic and elitist and to get off their collective high horses and open up the door and dialogue to all who have something to give and share. Then maybe we will have true "shared governance" that will improve the college communities throughout the state.

Wed 5/21/2003 2:58 PM, palmerpamela@hotmail.com (Pamela Palmer)
Sometimes I feel my insitution is a committeeocracy, ruled of the committees, by the committees, and for the committees. With a full-time faculty of only 34, we have 17 standing committees, most of which require representatives from the Academic Senate, the faculty union, the classified union, a student, and a management/administrator. Even with all these existing committees, a new issue arising often results in the formation of an ad hoc committee! The Board of Trustees is the ultimate committee to which this academic hydra answers.

While I am certainly in favor of democratic participation, many of my colleagues are exhausted by all the meetings. We need to streamline and simplify or find more faculty to sit on all these committees. Hmmm, what if we recruited committee members from among the 72 part-time faculty? Naw, they wouldn't be interested. They don't even come to Flex Day. Of course, it might help a little if we paid them for their time

Tue 5/20/2003 9:20 PM, rby2oz@impulse.net (Robert Yoshioka)
I would legislate mandatory participation in governance activities—monitored and penalized if not in attendance—for all full-time faculty teaching at all schools throughout the CCC System.

They are already paid for participation in governance, and so they should all be held fiscally responsible for contributing to the common good by participating in governance activities.

If the Ed. Code were changed to become yet more punitive, we would see: either a wholesale deluge of under-qualified full-time faculty at local and statewide academic senate meetings and serving on the numerous committees in each district that currently go begging, OR, and this is probably more probable, full-time faculty would join FACCC and insist that the Ed. Code be returned to its previous condition...that is...treating each full-time faculty member as a professional educator, and assuming that each and every one of them would do the right thing and voluntarily participate in governance activities, rather than scarfing up on overload classes, working their other full-time jobs, or just not being available...as is generally the case today!

How much longer, part-timers?

Tue 5/20/2003 8:20 PM, eecox@awwwsome.com (E. Estella Cox)
How can 39,000 of the teaching staff in the CCC system be included in mentoring so that these faculty members also learn to improve from the college's wisest and finest?

Tue 5/20/2003 5:53 PM, Hanna@sbcc.edu (Karolyn Hanna)
We have fantastic cooperation between our Academic Senate and our Administrators at Santa Barbara. I wouldn't change a single thing! Thanks for the opportunity to tell everyone what a great relationship we have!!!

Tue 5/20/2003 3:52 PM, bob_miller@wvmccd.cc.ca.us (Bob Miller)
Administrators need to be trained as to what shared governance is and how to work within that system.

Tue 5/20/2003 2:45 PM, mludder@santarosa.edu (Michael Ludder)
Open all district-wide committee assignments to adjunct faculty and pay them for their college service. At SRJC the adjunct faculty are paid for these assignments. We also have elected 5/11 (PTF/FTF) adjuncts on the faculty union board and 4/24 on the Academic Senate.

Tue 5/20/2003 2:02 PM, msnowhit@sbccd.cc.ca.us (Mark Snowhite)
One way to promote healthy discussion about shared governance in the California community colleges would be to have faculty and administrators review Participating Effectively in District and College Governance, a document endorsed by both the statewide Academic Senate and the Community College League of California (CCLC). Discussion of college and district issues could then occur within the context of this document, which clearly delineates roles and responsibilities of faculty and administrators.

Tue 5/20/2003 1:29 PM, suzancraw4rd@cox.net (Suzanne Crawford)
One way to improve shared governance would be to give what often constitutes as the single part-time faculty member (who, please remember, is often representing hundreds of other part-time faculty) a vote in academic senates. I cannot fathom what rational or reasonable excuse those campuses who do not give even this small voice to their part-time colleagues could possibly have for failing to do this.

Tue 5/20/2003 1:27 PM, ohplease@qnet.com (Ralph Brax)
I would actually have the adm. talk to the faculty BEFORE it makes a decision. I would also hold educational sessions for Board members to explain to them what shared governance is. Ralph S. Brax, Senate President-elect at Antelope Valley College.

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