Report on the Relationship of the Faculty Senate to the Campus Council and a Description of Campus Council Constituencies[1]
Revised May 29, 2003
Shared Governance and Shared Leadership Differentiated:
The Faculty Senate and the Campus Council facilitate shared governance not shared leadership. Shared leadership is the act of decision-making and is carried on by those authorized to make decisions. Many leadership decisions are embedded in various positions of authority throughout the college. Shared governance is the process by which leaders and decision makers exchange ideas with those affected by decisions. Through the Campus Council and the Faculty Senate input is provide primarily to the Provost in regards to recommending college policies, priorities and procedures to the Provost. The entire college however is committed to a shared governance policy and all embedded leaders are to consider the policy in their areas of decision-making. This report focuses on the faculty Senate and the Campus Council and the constituencies they serve.
The Board of Regents chartered the Faculty Senate to be the primary voice of faculty in the academic governance of the college. All faculty with Board of Regent’s appointments are eligible to serve on the Faculty Senate. The faculty elects twenty-one members at large with half of the Senate elected each year. The Faculty Senate also allows two nonvoting guests to participate but not vote at its meetings – one representing Lecturers, who are ineligible to serve on the Senate and another representing students who are also ineligible to serve on the Faculty Senate.
The Faculty Senate is the chief academic policy recommending and advisory body of the Faculty. It remains the primary vehicle for maintaining and developing the curriculum of the college and advising the Provost on academic policies, The Faculty Senate is also charged with conveying to the Provost a unique faculty view on budgetary matters, planning issues, financial expenditures and campus priorities.
The Faculty Senate elects its own leadership and these leaders represent the Faculty on broad based system policy recommending bodies such as the All Campus Faculty Senate Chair, which brings together the many Senate chairs from across the system. In addition to providing its own input to the Provost, Chancellor of Community Colleges, President of the University of Hawaii or Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, the Faculty Senate is also one of the constituency groups represented on the Campus Council.
The Faculty Senate, the administration and all other identifiable campus interest groups established the Campus Council in 1995. The Campus Council is a constituency advisory group whose twenty-one members represent all organized constituencies on campus.
The Campus Council functions as a recommending and advisory body of the college especially in matters relating to the budgetary priorities of the college. The primary purposes of the Campus Council are make recommendations in matters relating to budget planning and resource allocation and to allow for all campus constituencies an opportunity to provide input and report back to their constituencies. Unlike the Faculty Senate, the campus council does not involve itself in matters relating to curricular development or academic policy except insofar as these raise substantial budgetary issues.
The Campus Council members have the responsibility of insuring that the flow of information upon which priority or preference decisions are made includes the input and the feedback of the constituencies they represent. Through the Campus Council all constituencies on campus are given a chance to provide input and have their input passed on to the Provost.
The Campus Council and Faculty Senate Compared:
Membership:
The Faculty Senate has twenty-one members, all of whom are elected at large by the faculty. The Campus Council has twenty-one members; one is drawn at lot from faculty volunteers and twenty represent specific constituencies at Leeward Community College.
Authority:
The Faculty Senate is authorized by the Board of Regents to be the voice of the Faculty at Leeward Community College. The Campus Council is authorized by the Faculty Senate, the Provost and the constituencies of the college to allow all campus constituencies a voice in the governance of the college and especially in budgetary matters relating to the college.
Charters and Amendments or Changes of Charters:
The Campus Council and Faculty Senate each have a charter. The Faculty Senate Charter can only be changed with the approval of the Board of Regents. The Campus Council may make changes to its own Charter.
Advisory Role:
The Faculty Senate is the voice of the faculty on matters of curriculum, academic policy, budgetary overview and any other issue that it chooses to address. It is the official voice of the Faculty. The Campus Council’s is the voice of campus constituencies, including not only faculty but also administration and numerous other constituencies that are listed and described below. The Campus Council is not intended or charged by its Charter to
advise on curriculum issues. The Campus Council is charged to provide constituency input on issues before the college and especially on budgetary priorities.
Extent of its Advisory Role:
The Faculty Senate represents Leeward Community College on many matters and issues beyond the campus level. The Campus Council functions only as an advisory body on issues at the college and especially on budgetary matters on campus.
Campus Council Constituencies:
The Campus Council has twenty-one members: ten represent faculty constituency groups, seven represent administration, one represents students, one represents members of the Administrative, Professional and Technical employees, one represents the clerical staff and one represents the academic support personnel.
Administration Representatives on the Campus Council:
1. The Provost – Nonvoting
2. Dean of Instruction
3. Dean of Students
4. Director of Administrative Services
5. Director of the Office of Continuing Education
6. Director of Leeward Community College – Waianae
7. Director of Operations and Maintenance
Faculty Representatives on the Campus Council
8. Faculty Senate Chair
9. Chair of Student Services
10. Chair of Arts and Humanities
11. Chair of Social Science
12. Chair of Business Education
13. Chair of Language Arts
14. Chair of Vocational Technology
15. Chair of Math and Science
16. Lecturer Group Representative
17. Faculty at Large – Chosen by lot from faculty who volunteer
Student and Staff Representatives on the Campus Council
18. Academic Support Group Designate
19. Administrative, Professional and Technical Designate
20. Clerical Staff Council Designate
21. Student Government Representative
The Board of Regents chartered The Associated Students of the University of Hawaii at Leeward Community College (ASUH-LCC) to be the primary voice of students in matters of student interest. All credit students of Leeward Community College are members of ASUH-LCC. Students elect their own leaders, including a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer as well as a Senate with up to fourteen members. Student Government has one representative on the Campus Council.
The Clerical Staff Council has been organized since 1975. It is one of the oldest staff constituency groups on campus. All clerical staff at the college are eligible to join the Clerical Staff Council. The purpose of the Clerical Staff Council is to promote and improve communication and mutual understanding among the clerical staff, faculty, staff, students, administration and the community. The Clerical Staff Council has one member on the Campus Council.
The Administrative, Professional and Technical Group
The members of the Administrative, Professional and Technical (APT) classification established the APT Group in 1994 to provide input and advice on campus priorities and to provide a forum for its members to exchange ideas. The groups objectives are: to exchange information relevant to its members, to address their concerns, to participate in Campus Council deliberations and other decision making committees and to provide an interpersonal networking environment for all APT ‘s. The APT Group is composed of members with unique and diverse skills working in partnership with the campus and the community in a wide variety of roles, such as: lab managers, education specialists, student services specialists, media specialists, theatre personnel, human resources staff and fiscal officers. The APT Group has one member on the Campus Council. During the 2001-2002 school year there were thirty-four members in this group.
The Operations and Maintenance Staff Development Group has been meeting since Fall 1999 to discuss staff development needs and issues. This group is in the process of transitioning into a formal Operations and Maintenance group. The O & M membership serves the college in a wide variety of roles such as: security workers, maintenance workers, grounds keepers and janitors. The O & M Group has one member on the Campus Council.
The seven instructional divisions at Leeward Community College each have a Chair. Each of the chairs serve as both elected leader of the faculty of their division as well as
the constituency representative of their respective divisions on the Campus Council. The election and appointment of Division Chairs is one of the clearest examples of successful shared governance at Leeward Community College since it illustrates the delicate interaction of input to administration, i.e., election results, and administrations willingness to listen to and implement that input when the division’s choice is named Chair. The Division Chairs, in addition to teaching some classes, coordinate the teaching assignments, schedules, and workload of the faculty in their respective divisions. The Chairs also oversee the budget, the equipment, and the personnel of their respective divisions.
The Leeward Community College Lecturer Group organized in 1998. Lecturers, also known as adjunct faculty, are teachers who teach on soft money and do not, as do full-time and half time faculty, have Board of Regents appointments. The Lecturer Group is diverse and includes those who teach as few as one section to those who may teach as many as five sections. There are approximately 60 lecturers hired each semester at Leeward Community College. This group is organized to bring concerns germane to lecturers to the attention of the college. They have solved numerous issues over the past few years. The lecturers of the college elect a voting member to the Campus Council and a nonvoting member to the Faculty Senate.
The Academic Support staff includes the college staff that work in the Library, in the Media Center, in the Staff Development Office, in the Assessment Office, in the Computer Center, in the Learning Resource Center, in Electronic Repair, in Duplicating Services, in Graphics, in Video Production and in the College’s computer labs. These workers may be classified as Faculty or Administrative, Technical and Professional Staff or Clerical Staff. They are organized under the leadership of the Assistant Dean of Academic Services. Those who are faculty may be elected to serve on the Faculty Senate. Those who are APT’s may join the APT Group. As a group, they have one seat on the Campus Council.
Leeward Community College operates a branch campus in Waianae. This satellite campus serves approximately four to five hundred students each semester. Its facilities house computer labs, several classrooms, a small library and a learning lab. Due to its unique role as Leeward Community College’s outreach college its director serves as a representative of the Campus Council.
End of report Revised Report accepted by
Mark Silliman, Provost
May 30, 2003
[1] Prepared by the Accreditation Implementation Committee on Campus Council Constituency Roles and Governance, Leeward Community College, to address the recommendation of the October 2000 accreditation visiting team relating to shared governance and the need to define the role of all constituencies on the Campus Council.