Earlham College
PA-3: Governance

All students are eligible to participate in Student Government through voting and seeking office and by applying to be representatives on all campus governance committees. Student government is made up of the following: Earlham Student Senate (ESS), elected representatives who make up the Student Executive Council, a secretary of finance, a recording clerk and co-convenors and representatives from student committees. Appointed positions to the ESS include at-large student representatives, organization representatives and student members of the College's standing committees. Student Organizations Council (SOC), the branch of the ESG that allocates funds (derived from student activity fees) to student organizations on campus. The SOC grants recognition to student organizations, determines the amount of funding each receives and oversees all activities financed through those funds. Student Activities Board (SAB), the branch of the ESG that provides social and cultural activities for the student body and acts as a co-sponsor for organizations that wish to put on larger programs and supports organizations in these efforts. Student Nominating Committee (SNC), the branch of the ESG that nominates members of the student body to participate in College governance by serving on standing committees, such as the Committee for Campus Life.

Governance of all community decision making at Earlham is run through committees and students are represented on committees. The committees related to the areas above are as follows: Establishing organization mission, vision, and/or goals: This is met through several standing committees and occasional ad hoc committees. Establishing new policies, programs, or initiatives: The Curricular Policy Committee guides the policies of the curriculum and has recently worked on policy related to research and immersion experience requirements across all programs. Strategic planning: The college conducts strategic planning via the ad hoc strategic planning committee Existing or prospective physical resources: this is covered under the purview of several stand and occasionally ad hoc committees such as the Runyan renovation ad hoc committee Budgeting Staffing and Financial Planning: These occur through the Budget Advisory Committee Communications processes and transparency practices: Students affect these processes via student government as well as through the Campus Life Advisory Committee

All staff are eligible to participate on the Employee Council. The primary role of Employee Council is to provide another communication link between staff employees and the College and to provide a discussion forum for matters of general concern to staff employees. Employee Council is not intended to replace any regular channels of direct communication between the College and employees nor is it a policy making body. Representatives of Employee Council serve on campus committees such as Budget Committee and Earlham Welfare Committee, and attend Faculty Meetings. The secondary roles of Employee Council are to serve as a staff nominating committee when needed and to allocate Staff Professional Development Funds in response to employee requests (see Staff Professional Development Fund section). Seven Employee Council members are chosen by staff employees annually. The Assistant Vice President for Business Operations also attends all Employee Council meetings and is responsible for appointing a staff employee to Employee Council to serve as secretary, with minutes subject to the approval of Employee Council. Employees may serve on Employee Council for more than three years. Employee Council normally meets on a monthly basis, but may schedule more frequent meetings if a matter requires special consideration.

See descriptions of committees in the student section- staff serve on the corresponding committees referenced in that section.

All faculty participate in faculty meeting- a bi-weekly consensus meeting of the faculty of the college. All faculty are also eligible to serve on a variety of governance committees.

Faculty members serve as Board meeting observers, however they do not serve on the body.

In addition to the committee referenced for students and staff, faculty also serve on the following committees: Curricular Steering Committee The faculty authorizes CSC to plot curricular trajectories and make recommendations to the faculty about creating and laying down programs, majors, and departments in light of the curricular vision adopted by the faculty and the criteria for evaluating and initiating proposals listed above. The committee should have the College as a whole in mind whenever teaching faculty vacancies arise and recommend position allocation in the College’s best interest. Further, the Committee will receive copies of Department and Program five-year reviews and Assessment reports for its information. It bears repeating that in contemplating curricular changes, the Committee should take into consideration position vacancies that are likely to occur in the near future – a five or more year window – rather than making decisions about each vacancy in isolation. This Committee, unless the faculty reaches consensus otherwise, is also charged with initiating a review of the curriculum every ten years.