TO:	Task Force on Governance
FROM:	College Executive Committee (CEC)
DATE:	July 15, 1993

Here is an inventory of the committees and meetings currently in use at the college.

We have tried to suggest where the major problems or holes are in the current design, usually stated as "questions" for the committee. The most significant problems are these:

• the status and authority of the Campus Community Meeting;

• that some governance mechanisms are needed or appropriate for the campus program, which however is in session only 30 weeks of the year;

• the uncertainty about who runs elections, in general, and the procedures to be followed;

• the unclear boundary between COCOCOM and CEC, which began as an informal group, but whose authority has been growing; and

• the large number of meetings and complex governance design for a small college.

Most of the committees have elected students, staff, and faculty. In most cases, the President's office runs the elections for off-campus students and Community Life Committee runs the campus student elections. A question is whether or not these elected representatives have the responsibility of reporting back to their constituency. Or'should it be the responsibility of the chair of the committee (or some other role)? If neither party does it, there is a communication problem.

Finally, while we believe this is an accurate inventory of what exisits and the major problems, there has not been time to suggest solutions for the problems we have identified. Indeed, given the charge to the Governance Task Force, it may be inappropriate to suggest remedies just now. We do seek the opportunity to make suggestions to the Task Force when the time is right.

Finally, it would be nice if it were possible to portray this structure graphically. Because the design that has evolved is so complex and because so much is in flux, this is probably not a good exercise just now.

Thank you.

I. STANDING MEETINGS, COLLEGE:

Campus Community Meeting -- chaired by students from the Community Life Committee. ¹ Meets at the beinning and end of the semester during the day, more frequently in the past. Other meetings arranged through Community Life Committee. Attendance is less than 20 (except in a crisis), including staff, students, and a few faculty. Agenda, which is set by the Community Life Committee: general policy questions like the Harassment Policy last year or the dorm renovation proposal. No minutes. Consultative only.

Questions

What is the educational mission of this meeting?
What is the real authority of this meeting?
How could this meeting be used to disseminate, collect information?
Who should plan and monitor the agenda? Should it meet at night after dinner (during Pitkin's day)?
What authority, if any, should meeting have for off-campus programs and other college events?

Planning Retreat -- chaired by Academic Dean. Agenda: longrange planning. Entire college community invited including trustees. (Attendance was 55 this Spring, including 20 campus students.) Material produced is compiled and edited by the Planning Committee.

Question

How do off-campus students make their needs known in terms of the college's long range plan?

Staff Meeting -- meets irregularly to discuss staff issues.

Question

The line between staff and administrator is blurred. Some who attend this meeting are really administrators. Should this meeting have a clear mission and structure?

II. STANDING COMMITTEES, COLLEGE:

College Coordinating Committee (COCOCOM) -- chaired by Dean for Administration. Meets weekly for 1 hour during the campus session, as needed otherwise. Agenda: "checkins," coordination for residencies, feedback on budget proposals. Members: all senior administrators and directors including elected students (2), staff (1), and faculty (1). Recomends to CEC/President. Consultative only. No minutes.

Executive Committee (CEC) -- chaired by President. Meets two hours weekly plus a retreat each semester. (Used to be an informal group called "Breakfast Club.") This year we have experimented with collaborative decision-making process where president makes the decision only if there is not a group consensus. Members: Deans (Academic Services, Academic Affairs, Administration)-, VP for Development, Director of Admissions, Chief Financial Officer, Assistant to the President, President. Beginning July, the lead faculty of the Campus Leadership Team will join the group to provide more information on campus program and to increase diversity. Sporadic minutes. Increasingly, the central policy-making body.

Planning Committee -- chaired by President, meets intensively for three months to plan budget or to work on Priorities Plan. Consists of CEC plus student, staff, and faculty elected representatives. Recommends to the president by consensus model. A focused group that recommends to the president. No minutes.

Questions

What is the authority'of COCOCOM? What is its relationship to CEC? (CEC has been a weekly, informal forum for senior administrators to review problems and priorities, but it now appears to be eroding the legitimacy of COCOCOM, a much larger meeting of both senior and middle management.)

Community Life Committee -- chaired by Director of Community Life. Meets bimonthly when the campus program is in session. Agenda: wide range of issues about campus life and activities. ² Members: the student Resident Assistants (3), and elected student representatives from every dorm including 1-2 "at large" representatives for "on-off" students, an elected staff representative, and representatives from the Alliance, the Women's Center, and the Multicultural Center. Recommends to Academic Dean. Infrequent minutes.

Work Program Committee -- chaired by Director of Work Program. Meets weekly for 1 hour. Agenda: administer work program. Members: 3-4 elected students, no faculty or staff. Recommends to Academic Dean, President/CEC. No minutes.

Question

If work program is important, why don't we have erected faculty and staff representation?

Facilities Committee -- chaired by Dean for Administration. Meets weekly for 1-2 hours. Agenda: coordinate ongoing maintenance work, office moves and use of space, and plan major renovations like the dorm refurbishing. Members: faculty (1), students (2), staff (1). Recommends to President/CEC. No minutes.

Publications Committee -- chaired by Director of Admissions. Meets to plan schedule of all college publications. Members: administrators (5), staff (2), no students active. Recommends to President/CEC. No minutes.

Diversity Committee -- chaired by Director of Multicultural Center. Students, staff, president, and faculty. Agenda is to advance multicultural education and promote diversity in students, staff and faculty. Currently subsumes the Goldman Scholarship Committee. No minutes.

Please note: Decisions and recommendations about student academic progress, in particular, and academic policies, in general, are made in the following forums. ³

Faculty Meetings (in several forms):

• "All-faculty" Meeting -- chaired by Academic Dean, meets 3 times a semester.

• Campus Working Group -- chaired by Lead Faculty, meets weekly. Members: faculty (6).

• Core Faculty Meeting -- chaired by Academic Dean, meets bimonthly. Members: faculty (16).

• Lead Faculty Meeting -- chaired by Academic Dean, meets biweekly. Members: faculty (6).

• Off-campus Core Meeting -- chaired by Academic Dean, meets irregularly.

Question

What are the relationships among these meetings?

In theory, these groups recommend to the Dean and seek consultation with other administration groups. On major policy changes, the Dean consults informally with the President/CEC.

Question

Should major policy changes be better documented so that there is systematic review and agreement by other parts of the college?

Learning Progress Group (LPG) -- chair appointed by Academic Dean who also appoints faculty and staff each semester. Meets weekly for two hours. Agenda: Level 3 and 6 reviews; student problems, both off and on-campus students; peer consultation.

III. AD HOC COMMITTEES, COLLEGE:

Hiring Committee -- convened by Dean of Administration, chaired by faculty for faculty hires. Members are student, staff, and faculty members chosen by Dean; composition varies depending upon type of hire. Recommendations are made to department head. Recommendation on salary range made by Director of Personnel with some latitude exercised by Director, Dean or President.

Questions

Should persons reporting to the new role be eligible to serve on the committee (possible conflict of interest)?

Should the administration, the leaders of the college, have the ability to shape the choice of faculty? As it is now, there is usually no choice (unless to reopen the search).

College Personnel Committee -- a committee to be convened this Fall to do the compensation study including staff, students, and faculty representation.

NEASC Task Force -- to be announced. Agenda: preparations for the focused visit next year.

Registrar's Advisory Committee -- chaired by Dean for Academic Services. Meets irregularly to address problems of registration, enrollment, and information flow between offices. Members: Staff and office coordinators (10). Procedural decisions made, policy recomendations to CEC/President. Minutes.

Campus Management Team -- rotating chair. Meets monthly to improve student services for the campus program. Members: Food services, counseling, Community life, campus coordinator, Campus Leadership Team representative, maintenance director, placement director, students accounts, admissions, housekeeping, and Dan. Minutes.

Enrollment Management Team -- Academic Dean, Director of Admissions, and Dean for Academic Services. Monitors student enrollment.

Please note: Goddard has a potential problem with not aving a c ear policy or procedure on staff or faculty discipline other than in the case of sexual assault or harassment. For campus students, the Campus Leadership Team reviews the problem and recommends to the Dean.

For sexual assault or harassment, informal reports come to the senior administration, formal reports in writing to the Dean for Administration who, together with the Dean for Academic Services, reviews the complaint and makes a determination. The appeal, which is final, is to the President.

Question

We really need a policy on other kinds of problems and some sort of Judiciary Committee. (The Sensitive Issues Committee had problems, has not met since 1989 or so, and it was chiefly for students in the campus program.)

IV. STANDING COMMITTEES, BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

The Trustees as a body include two elected student trustees, one staff, and one faculty in addition to its outside members. The President is a non-voting, ex officio member.

Executive Committee -- chaired by Chair of Board. Meets 3-4 times between Board meetings by conference call or in person each semester. Agenda: hears updates by president, plans Trustee meetings, advises president about sensitive matters, may act on behalf of the Board in an emergency. Members: chairs of the three standing Trustee committees plus, this year, two at-large women members appointed by the Chair of the Board to increase diversity.

Academic and Student Affairs Committee -- chaired by Trustee Sanders. Agenda: reviews all academic and student life, especially new programs. Recommends action items to the full Board for approval. Staffed by the Academic Dean, Director of Admissions, and Dean for Academic Services.

College Development Committee -- chaired by Trustee Heglund. Agenda: reviews fund-raising strategy, bylaws, new appointments to the Board, and Trustee orientation. Recommends action items to the full Board. Staffed by VP for Development.

Finance and Personnel Committee -- chaired by Trustee Coleman. Agenda: reviews all financial matters and recommends action items to the full Board. Staffed by Chief Financial Officer and Dean of Administration.

V. AD HOC COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES: (Board and College)

Presidential Evaluation Committee. Not active.

Presidential Search Committee -- chaired by Trustee Sanders. Members: trustees (7); elected students (2), staff (1), faculty (2), administration (1), alumni association (1). Agenda: selection of new president. Recommends a finalist to the full Board. Meets 1-2 times a month.

Visioning/Identity Committee -- chaired by Trustee Heglund. Members: trustees (5); elected students (2), staff (1), alumni association, and faculty (2). Agenda: oversight of the planning process and the Priorities Plan. Recommends action items to the full Board. Not active because Priorities Plan was accepted by the Board.

Governance Task Force -- chaired by Trustee Adams. In addition to trustees (5), elected students (5--3 campus, 2 offcampus), staff (2), faculty (2), alumni (1), and administration (2) members. Recommends action items to the full Board. Meets 1-2 times a month.

In addition, two ad hoc groups were formed by the Trustees over the past three years:

• one consisting of three Trustees to look into the "pasta" event;

• the second, consisting of four Trustees outside the Executive Committee, to negotiate the last year of the President's contract.

Postscript: We believe this is all of them! What have we missed?

1. Not having trained facilitators has been a problem in the past when sensitive issues came up. The Community Meeting is one of Goddard's most important institutions, once chaired by Tim Pitkin, but it has been moribund for several years. There is a strong feeling among students that they should run it and some argue that training is not that important.
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2. Some issues like pet or parking violations regularly fall between Community Life and the Dean for Administration.
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3. Because Goddard is now slowly building up scholarship funds, there will be a need for a scholarship committee.
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