Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.81
Liaison Austin Eriksson
Submission Date Nov. 29, 2021

STARS v2.2

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

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.75 / 3.00 Sarah Johnson
Sustainability Program Analyst
Institute for Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which the following stakeholders can regularly participate in the governance of the institution?:
Yes or No
Students Yes
Academic staff Yes
Non-academic staff Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal participatory or shared governance bodies:

There are multiple bodies through which the above stakeholders can participate in shared governance of the institution.
Students:
CSUN Associated Students (AS) is the primary advocate for students at California State University, Northridge. AS provides meaningful programs and services designed to enhance and create a spirited learning-focused campus environment.

AS is also the official seat of student governance for the campus. The Student Government division represents the student body, advocates its needs and defends its interests in dealings with faculty, campus administrators and government officials.
Read more here: http://csunas.org/files/Student-Government/AS-Constitution-Spring-2017.pdf

Faculty:
The CSUN Faculty Senate shall act in lieu of the entire Faculty on all matters not reserved for direct action by the Faculty in the Bylaws subject to review by the Faculty in meetings called in accordance with Article II, Section 8.

The composition of the Faculty Senate includes the faculty officers, statewide academic senators, chairs of standing committees, the president of Associated Students, the president of the Association of Retired Faculty, senators-at-large, and a number of Senators elected by the Colleges, Library, Student Affairs, and Athletics.The Senate meets monthly
Faculty By-laws can be found here: https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/Bylaws.pdf

The Executive Committee shall set the agenda for meetings of the Senate and meetings of the Faculty. They shall review all policy recommendations, monitor membership, and oversee activities of the Standing and Advisory Committees. They shall oversee and conduct the nomination process and elections for the Senate and the Faculty. They shall act for the Faculty, the Senate and the Standing Committees of the Senate on those matters requiring Faculty action or consultation during the intersession, special sessions or summer months.

There shall be constituted each year an eleven-member Executive Committee consisting of: the President of the Faculty, the Vice President of the Faculty, the Secretary of the Faculty, the senior representative of the CSU Academic Senate, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (non-voting), and six members of the teaching faculty elected by and from the Senate.

CSUN faculty are also represented by the California Faculty Association (CFA).
CFA is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for the California State University faculty. In that role, CFA negotiates a contract with the CSU administration for the faculty, promotes academic freedom, upholds faculty rights, delivers financial protection for faculty, and promotes faculty participation in the governance of the CSU and of CFA. CFA is affiliated with Service Employees International Union (SEIU Local 1983) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
More info: https://www.calfac.org/cfa-northridge/

Staff:
Collective Bargaining Units represent CSU employees in labor relations and negotiate with the employer regarding the scope of the employment relationship which can relate to governance matters. Current bargaining agreements for the CSU are organized as follows:
Unit 1 Union of American Physicians and Dentists
Units 2, 5, 7, and 9 CSU Employees Union
Unit 3, CA Faculty Association
Unit 4 Academic Professionals of CA
Unit 6 Teamsters Local 2010
Unit 8 Statewide University Police Association
Unit 10 International Union of Operating Engineers
Unit 11 Academic Student Employees

Employees are elected to leadership positions within each bargaining unit. Read more at https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/faculty-staff/labor-and-employee-relations

System-wide governance body:
The CSU Board of Trustees is a 25-member governance board that adopts regulations and policies governing the entire CSU system. This group governs the CSU system as a whole and is the highest governing board for the system, but may not routinely have representative members from CSUN 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.

For more information on the CSU Board of Trustees, please visit: https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/Pages/default.aspx

For more information about current membership of the Board of Trustees, please visit: https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/meet-the-board-of-trustees


Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
24

Number of students representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
2

Number of academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
1

Number of non-academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
0

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
12

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
50

Website URL where information about the institution’s highest governing body may be found:
Does the institution host or support one or more formal bodies through which external stakeholders have a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them?:
Yes

A brief description of the campus-community council or equivalent body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them:

Northridge Vision Community Council
Chair: Chris Sales (CSUN Emeritus Faculty)
The City of Los Angeles, the Northridge East, West and South Neighborhood Councils, Cal State University Northridge and the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce have developed a campaign to establish a vision and develop a strategic concept plan for the community of Northridge and Northridge Business District.

The vision considers community goals, the existing Northridge Community Plan and business/tenant mix, local and regional demographics, the potential for public and private redevelopment, and prior initiatives. The vision also focuses on the Cal State University Northridge campus as the hub of the community—how best to develop the “University Village” personality and synergies between the university’s Performing Arts Center - The Soraya, and a walkable “village” area of the business district.
The Council meets monthly and is open to all community members to share feedback about CSUN and community-related projects and operations.
More info: http://mulhollandinstitute.org/NorthridgeVision/indexnorthridge.html


Number of people from underrepresented groups serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body.:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s governance structure is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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