Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.35
Liaison Laurie Husted
Submission Date June 9, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Bard College
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Taun Toay
Associate Vice President
Vice President
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

Do the institution’s students have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a student council)? :
Yes

Do the institution’s students have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
All students are members of the Bard College Student Association, a democratic forum with three main functions: to raise issues and take action on those issues or recommend action by the College, to provide student representation on administrative and faculty committees in matters of concern to the College community, and to administer allocated funds for student-run organizations. Two elected student leaders (Speaker of Student Body and Student Life Committee Chair) are invited to attend and present at each quarterly Board of Trustees Meeting. The presentation is (according to the Student Government constitution/bylaws) an expression of the sentiments of the student body. Additionally, there are reserved student seats on the Sustainability Council.

Do the institution’s staff members have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a staff council)?:
No

Do the institution’s non-supervisory staff members have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
No

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
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Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a faculty senate)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body? :
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which teaching and research faculty are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
There is a faculty representative, elected by colleagues, at all Board of Trustee meetings. In addition, the Executive Committee of the faculty union is often in consultation and dialogue with senior management.

Part 2

Does the institution have written policies and procedures to identify and engage external stakeholders (i.e. local residents) in land use planning, capital investment projects, and other institutional decisions that affect the community?:
Yes

A copy of the written policies and procedures:
SpecialPermitAndProcedureChecklist(1).pdf

The policies and procedures:
Short, medium and long term development on campus has to be planned and approved through the Town of Red Hook as part of the Bard Master Plan under the a Special Permit process. Public comments are solicited as part of that process.

Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which community members representing the interests of the following stakeholder groups can regularly participate in institutional governance?:
Yes or No
Local government and/or educational organizations Yes
Private sector organizations No
Civil society (e.g. NGOs, NPOs) No

If yes to one or more of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which external stakeholders are engaged in institutional governance (including information about each stakeholder group selected above):
We meet and collaborate with the community, both through the Master Planning process with the Town of Red Hook and through college members helping to advise the community on certain projects and planning. For example a micro hydropower project has created a new process for the college whereby we formally sought a variety of community stakeholders and their opinions through two presentations. Despite the project being a federally permitted process, we have voluntarily sought Town and community input. The community concerns and opinions were solicited and incorporated into the Overall Site Assessment document for the micro hydropower project and then brought before a 4 member Bard decision making board.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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