Shared governance in higher education refers to structures and processes through which faculty, professional staff, administration, governing boards and, sometimes, students and staff participate in the development of policies and in decision-making that affect the institution. The campus governance leader (CGL) the head of your campus governance body, an important component of a college’s shared governance structure.
While the administration and governing board of the institution are compelled to consider the campus governance body's resolutions and recommendations, they are not required to accept or implement them. After the submission of resolutions, the CGL should work with the administration to assure their acceptance. If conflict arises, ongoing conversations are the best means to arrive at the best possible result. Thus, rejection of resolutions or recommendations should occur rarely and then only for specific compelling reasons which should be communicated to the governance body. Rejection of resolutions, however, is not the best possible result and should be only a last resort.
The campus governance body takes different forms at different community colleges within SUNY. Some colleges have a body of the whole (in which, for example, all members of the faculty and all members of the professional staff have a vote). Other colleges have a faculty senate, in which elected senators from among the faculty each have a vote. Still other colleges have a college-wide senate, in which elected senators from among various constituencies (faculty, professional staff, support staff, and students) each have a vote. The structure of your college's governance body is described in its bylaws.
Regardless of the structure of shared governance at your college, the faculty shall participate in the formulation of the policy relating to student health, scholarship, standards of admission, attendance and discharge of students, curriculum and other study programs, the granting of degrees, student activities, extra-curricular activities and student discipline. The faculty shall also present recommendations to the president regarding (a) the instructional budget, and (b) appointments, reappointments, tenure, special salary increments, promotions and leaves of absence of members of the instructional staff. (N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 8 § 605.1).
While many understand the principle of academic freedom in relation to intellectual pursuits, pedagogical decisions, and the advancement of knowledge and learning, academic freedom also provides for the faculty right to participate in shared governance and to inform and critique institutional policies. In fact, SUNY Board of Trustees policy for all SUNY institutions establishes the right to academic freedom and the SUNY Board of Trustees regulations for community colleges specifically establishes that faculty has a right and a responsibility to speak on policies related to the institution. The vehicles by which community college faculty participate in this right and responsibility are the local shared governance system and, at the state level, the Faculty Council of Community Colleges.
Labor unions are concerned with the “terms and conditions of employment” of their members and of workers in general. Unions negotiate labor contracts (collective bargaining agreements or CBAs) with employers on behalf of their members, and educate their members about labor issues. CBAs often include provisions regarding salaries, benefits, working conditions, job security, grievance procedures, and guidelines for hiring, firing, promotions. Once signed by both sides and ratified by a vote of the membership, these contracts are legally binding on both sides.
Any provision in the CBA is the province of the union leadership and can only be changed through negotiation and legal agreement between management and elected union leadership. A shared governance body cannot negotiate contractual language with either management or the union, but shared governance may have a legitimate interest in the academic implications of labor agreements. Similarly union leadership may have a legitimate concern with the labor implications of any action taken as a result of decisions made through a shared governance process.
Those roles are distinct, though not entirely unrelated, and some matters may appropriately touch both. For example, reassigned time or stipends for governance service, workload recognition, academic freedom protections, and procedural safeguards connected to faculty participation in institutional decision-making may appropriately appear in a collective bargaining agreement without transferring academic authority from the faculty governance body to the union. Indeed, contractual language that protects the conditions under which governance can function is not inappropriate; in many cases, it is one of the ways institutions preserve the integrity and continuity of shared governance.
For that reason, we recommend clear, consistent communication to the campus community about where different issues belong, how the roles of governance and the union differ, and where they appropriately intersect. A truthful and shared understanding of these distinctions would help reduce confusion, strengthen institutional practice, and support healthier collaboration among faculty, administration, and union leadership.