California State University, Long Beach
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

CSU Long Beach has several formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which students, academic staff and non-academic staff can regularly participate.

Associated Students, Incorporated (ASI) is the official voice of the student body at CSULB, advocating student needs and defending their interests in dealings with faculty, campus administrators and government officials. There are both elected and appointed positions within ASI Student Government. The student body at large automatically become members of the association when they pay their mandatory student fees at the time of registration. ASI student representatives sit on all of the major committees and governing bodies at the university.

The Academic Senate is the governing body for faculty at the university. Faculty are elected to positions within the Academic Senate. The Senate is the mechanism for orderly participation in the protection of academic freedom, policy formation, collegiate governance, the application of "joint responsibility," and in defining the role and mission of the University.

Staff Council provides both academic and non-academic staff with an effective process for participation in campus governance and facilitates communication and cooperation across the campus on issues of interest and concern to staff. Staff members are nominated and then voted into membership positions by their peers. Staff members can also participate in workers’ unions across the university system. For every union on campus, there is an elected union representative. Often these union reps from the university serve and participate in the CSU Board of Trustees meetings and other high level governance opportunities.

As a member of the California State University (CSU) system, CSULB’s highest governing body is the CSU Board of Trustees (BOT). The CSU BOT is a 25-member governance board that adopts regulations and policies for the entire CSU system, but may not routinely have representative members from CSULB, specifically. Board committees have authority over educational policy, finance, campus planning, and facilities, among other areas.

Membership of the board of trustees is composed of five (5) ex-officio Trustees (including the Governor of CA, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the CSU Chancellor), and nineteen (19) trustees who are generally appointed by the Governor. Of the nineteen (19) governor-appointed trustees, two (2) are students, one (1) is an alumni from the CSU Statewide Alumni Council, one (1) is faculty from the Statewide Academic Senate, and the others represent diverse stakeholder groups from across the state.

Public comment is a standing agenda item on every CSU BOT agenda, allowing the community to provide input to BOT members on issues and policies.

More information about ASI Student Government: http://www.asicsulb.org/pages/asi-mission-statement

More information about the Academic Senate: https://www.csulb.edu/academic-senate

More information about Staff Council: http://web.csulb.edu/org/staff-council/

More information on the CSU Board of Trustees: https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/Pages/default.aspx

More information about current membership of the Board of Trustees: https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/meet-the-board-of-trustees