Reflections on shared governance
Governance Happens.
But it happens in the
trenches, not on the
lighted stages of our
society. In recent days student
protesters have challenged the
University system of shared gov
ernance, demanding greater rep
resentation on the University
Senate and administrative com
mittees. These reflections are of
fered to clarify some history and
to encourage all who are interest
ed in improving our governance
to volunteer to serve.
The University faculty began a
process in 1993 to restructure
our system of shared governance
in order to make it more viable
and effective. The newly recon
stituted University Senate,
streamlined and apportioned to
give faculty and students a
broadly based voice, became our
legislative body in 1995. The
University took the unusual step
of affirming that this University
wanted a University Senate
rather than the more common
faculty senate model. It is a fact
that the University faculty at
present has no exclusive forum
to debate its issues comparable to
the ASUO and Student Senate.
This, alone, proves a commit
ment by the faculty to the princi
ples of shared governance.
This year the University Sen
ate, having appointed a small ad
hoc committee of three faculty,
one student and one administra
tor, is working to restructure our
committee system in order to
make it, too, “more viable and ef
fective.” The committee system
has languished about the entire
century, suffering from piece
meal changes, lack of a coordi
nated overview and archaic leg
islation. This work is massive,
but it is important and will be
done. Accusations that our com
mittees are ineffective and a
Commentary
Ann
Tedards
waste of student and faculty time
are sometimes absolutely true.
But not always. Good commit
tees with good leadership can be
and are often very effective. In
1997 the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
an4 Transgender Concerns com
mittee brought persuasive argu
ments to the floor of the Univer
sity Senate in support of
domestic partner benefits.
The senate passed a resolution
requesting that the president of
the University support and advo
cate for this important change. It
happened. This week the Ad
Hoc Committee on a Licensing
Code of Conduct brought for
ward a new University code for
regulating all University trade
mark licensees. The senate vot
ed. The motion passed and will
be made university policy.
The charge has been made that
University committees lack deci
sion-making authority. But com
mittees inherently lack such au
thority. They are places where
issues and concerns are debated
and where consensus is attained.
Committees which have accom
plished good work make good
recommendations and those rec
ommendations are heard and ac
tivated by good leadership.
Anyone who cares about
shared governance should vol
unteer to serve on a committee
and work to make that commit
tee effective. Although conscien
tious efforts have consistently
been made to ensure that the stu
dent voice is heard on standing
and ad hoc committees, it is not
unusual for student seats to go
unfilled either because no one is
appointed or the student(s) ap
pointed do not attend the meet
ings. Not attending meetings be
cause the committee appears to
be a waste of time is the worst ac
tion one can take. If the voices of
all committee members are not
equally heard at the table, fight
for the right to be heard. The
table is the appropriate place for
those arguments. Walking away
won’t help and certainly under
mines later statements that com
mittees are not worth one’s time.
Efforts are underway to revise
the time line for making student
committee appointments and to
provide better orientation for
committee chairs. Both of these
changes should aid in improving
the student voice on committees.
A public demonstration is an
excellent way to highlight an is
sue. Direct communication with
top leadership is another. But
real change happens through the
sweat of debate and orderly pro
cedure. It’s less glamorous per
haps, and certainly takes more
time and investment over the
long haul, but it’s our process.
And it works.
Ann Tedards is an associate professor
and past-president of the University
Senate. Her views do not necessarily
represent those of the paper.
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