SR 19-01 - Resolution on Shared Governance

WHEREAS the Chancellor and the Statewide Academic Senate have agreed that collaboration and mutual respect are key components of shared governance (2), and

WHEREAS the Constitution of the Academic Senate of the California State University Channel Islands establishes that the Academic Senate shall be the primary source of policy recommendations to the campus president on the development and revision of the institutional missions, goals, and strategic plans for the University (3), and

WHEREAS institutional missions, goals, and strategic plans are operationalized through the University budget, and

WHEREAS shared governance allows the academic community to work together to find the best answers to issues facing the University (1), and

WHEREAS faculty representation on a University body is necessary for faculty shared governance and is not necessarily the same as deliberative faculty collaboration, and

WHEREAS shared governance assigns primary responsibility to the faculty for the educational functions of the institution1, and

WHEREAS meaningful collaboration is characterized by openness and transparency, a respect for evidence-based deliberation, and a mutual responsibility for decision-making (2), and

WHEREAS shared governance rests on a network of inter-linked procedures jointly devised, whose aim is to assure the opportunity for timely advice (1), and

WHEREAS there is value to shared governance by faculty participation in budgetary matters (1), (2), (3),

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Academic Senate will practice openness, transparency, and evidence-based decision making among the faculty and with the administration; and further

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Academic Senate will seek to, and expect to, participate in budget decisions particularly decisions impacting the educational mission of the University and Mission Pillars of the University; and further

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Academic Senate will seek to be, and expect to be, consulted on all operational structural changes of the University, particularly those affecting the educational mission of the University; and further

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that all requests for faculty participation in University business shall be made through the Senate Executive Committee, and further

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Academic Senate will expect all faculty representatives on University committees to report to the Senate information that is germane to the interests of the Academic Senate.

Supporting documents:
1. Report of the Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Committee on Governance, Collegiality, and Responsibility in the California State University. Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the California State University, September 1985.
2. Tenets of System Level Shared Governance in the California State University. Attachment to the CSU State-wide Academic Senate Resolution AS-3334-18/FLOOR. November 2018.
3. Constitution of the Academic Senate of the California State University Channel Islands.