Emory University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

The Board of Trustees governs the university by establishing policy and exercising fiduciary responsibility for the long-term well-being of the institution. The board and its Executive Committee act on recommendations from board committees, university officers, and the University Senate. 

Emory University’s Board of Trustees has been in existence since 1915. Until 1918, when a full board of 30 members was elected by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the petitioning incorporators served as an interim Board of Trustees. By custom, several positions on the board are filled by active bishops of the United Methodist Church.

The board composition includes up to 45 active trustee positions. Each serves a six-year initial term; four-year renewable terms may follow.

While only Board members vote, students and faculty counselors sit on several standing board committees including Academic Affairs; Audit and Compliance; Campus Life; Emory Development and Communications; Finance; Investment; Real Estate, Buildings, and Grounds; and Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center.

The University Senate is composed of faculty, staff, and students. Its members include Ex-official members from the University Administration; Members of the Faculty Council; Executive board members from the Employee Council, Student Government Association, and Graduate Student Government Association; Faculty and Student Representatives from each School; and representatives of Alumni, Librarians, Staff, and Academic Deans. The Senate considers and makes recommendations regarding all matters of general University interest, including matters referred to it by the President or Board of Trustees; reviews all new policies and changes to existing policies; submits recommendations to the President on any matter affecting the interests of the University; and makes recommendations regarding Honorary Degree recipients.

https://www.senate.emory.edu/  

Students

The Emory University Graduate Student Government Association (GSGA) is the governing body for all graduate and professional students at Emory University. The GSGA is comprised of an executive board and legislature of appointed or elected representatives from each of the eight graduate divisions. The GSGA President and Executive Vice President are elected in annual graduate-wide elections. Other Executive Board positions are appointed by the President and Executive Vice President and approved by the Legislature. GSGA has both programming and advocacy functions and is tasked with improving the quality of Emory graduate students' lives and education. The GSGA President is a member of the University Senate and the Board of Trustees’ Campus Life Committee during her/his term.

https://emory.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/graduate-student-government-association 

The Emory University Student Government Association (SGA) advocates for the undergraduate students of Emory University, acting as the official voice of the undergraduate student body and representing undergraduate interests in all matters. It enacts legislation to promote the general welfare of the undergraduate student body, manages and distributes more than $1.7 million in Student Activity Fee money, and leads and develops initiatives on campus. It collaborates with the GSGA on matters of university-wide importance. The SGA consists of three separate and equal branches: the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The President and Executive Vice President are elected by all undergraduate students, and Cabinet Members, Justices, and the Secretary are appointed by the President and approved by the Legislature. Legislators are chosen differently depending on the undergraduate division which they represent. The SGA president is a member of the University Senate and the Board of Trustees’ Campus Life Committee during her/his term.

https://emory.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/student-government-association

http://lead.emory.edu/sga/index.html

Academic staff
The University Faculty Council serves as the chief representative body of Emory faculty and includes elected and appointed faculty members who represent all nine of Emory’s schools and colleges. The Faculty Council considers and makes recommendations to the president concerning the academic affairs of the university; reviews all changes in existing policies or the establishment of new policies related to matters of general interest to the University faculty; monitors and reviews the terms and conditions of faculty employment, the state of facilities, policies that affect scholarship and teaching, budgetary commitments, the general financial condition of the University, and the relationship between faculty and administration; and considers suggestions and addresses problems and concerns raised by any recognized faculty group.
https://facultycouncil.emory.edu 

Faculty Counselors are members of the Board of Trustees’ standing committees. Standing committees help to carry out the work of the Board between full Board meetings. At least one Faculty Counselor sits on the following committees: Academic Affairs; Audit and Compliance; Campus Life; Emory Development and Communications; Finance; Investment; Real Estate, Buildings, and Grounds; and Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center.
https://secretary.emory.edu/board_of_trustees/committees.html  

Non-academic staff
Established in 1970 by the president of Emory University, the Employee Council facilitates communication between Emory employees and university administration and serves as an advisory body to the president. While it is not a decision-making body concerning university policy, it provides information and ideas to those in decision-making positions, representing an employee perspective to the administration. The Employee Council recommends change to the Emory administration when appropriate; facilitates communication between the administration and employees at all organizational levels regarding university policies, practices, and programs; and fosters closer working relationships between organizational areas and groups of employees.

Members are selected from all organizational areas and employee levels throughout the University, from Academic Affairs to University Administration to Libraries & Information Technology. The President, President-elect, and immediate Past President of the Council serve on the University Senate as ex-officio members. The Council also selects six representatives for the Senate and three members for Senate standing committees.
http://www.employeecouncil.emory.edu/ 

The Clifton Community Partnership is an initiative started by Emory to provide a framework to discuss common quality-of-life issues within the Clifton community – the area within three miles of Emory's core campus. Its goal is to engage local audiences, including civic leaders, business leaders, local governments, employers/employees, and residents, in a productive community dialogue. In convening neighborhoods, businesses, institutions, and civic partners, CCP endeavors to develop a shared vision for the future and work toward it together. Advisory board members representing each stakeholder group, as well as the Emory University administration partners, can be found at http://www.cliftoncommunitypartnership.org/about/advisory-group.html

The CCP focuses on four areas that will have a significant and positive impact on the community: Live Locally, Walk Anywhere, Commute Creatively, and Enhance Vibrant Neighborhoods. These four priority areas in part guide Emory's decisions to encourage more sustainable commute options (e.g. regional public transit options, Cliff Shuttle routes, etc.) and implement pedestrian enhancements (e.g. Emory in partnership with the PATH Foundation is expanding multi-use trail networks on campus and connecting campus to surrounding neighborhoods)

Data reported were current at the time of submission.

Although neither students, academic staff, nor non-academic staff hold official positions on Emory’s highest governing body (the Board of Trustees), there are student and academic staff representatives on many of the Board of Trustees’ committees. Committees serve to create policy and conduct the work of the Board between full Board meetings. It seems it would be important to showcase the students and faculty who are invited to committees; however, this credit appears to ask only about the central Board. Committee members have been included in the calculations for this credit for this reason. Committee members are listed here: https://secretary.emory.edu/board_of_trustees/committees.html 

Emory's Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support provided the numbers for "Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women" and "Number of people from underrepresented groups serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body."