Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.70
Liaison David Gibson
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Hampshire College
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.50 / 3.00 Steven Roof
Dean of the School of Natural Science
Natural Science
"---" 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:
Students elect a fellow student to serve on the Board of Trustees as a full voting member. https://www.hampshire.edu/offices/members-of-the-board-of-trustees

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

Do the institution’s non-supervisory staff members 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 staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
Hampshire staff are engaged in governance in two ways: 1. A Hampshire staff member serve on the Hampshire College's Board of Trustees for a 3-year term as a full voting member. This position is open to both supervisory and non-supervisory staff. From the Board of Trustees Election Guidelines (https://www.hampshire.edu/presidents-office/board-election-guidelines): "The board of trustees is committed to involving faculty, students, and, staff throughout its governance structure and operations. This includes having members from each constituency serve in each of the following capacities: • Trustee • Trustee Alternate (a student position) • Member of the Academic Affairs Committee • Member of the Advancement Committee • Member of the Buildings, Grounds, and Environmental Sustainability Committee • Member of the Committee at Hampshire on Investment Responsibility (CHOIR) • Member of the Enrollment Committee • Member of the Finance Committee • Member of the Student Life Committee" 2. Staff Advocacy Committee The Staff Advocacy Committee (SAC) advises the college administration on issues of importance to the staff. The committee works to provide staff input to college decisions and strategic planning efforts, and to suggest ways to improve communication between staff and the administration. SAC meets twice a month and consists of eight elected members, the staff representative to the Board of Trustees, and a Notetaker. Please see "Bylaws of the Staff Advocacy Committee" included as "Additional documentation".

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:
ALL Hampshire faculty members can participate in governance through Faculty Meeting. Indeed the Faculty Meeting has explicit responsibility to maintain the academic curriculum. Since there is full participatory governance, Hampshire does not have a separate representative body. Faculty also elect a Board of Trustees member to serve a 3-year term as a full voting member. https://www.hampshire.edu/offices/members-of-the-board-of-trustees

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?:
No

A copy of the written policies and procedures:
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The policies and procedures:
No written policies, but we do engage with local residents when considering land-use decisions that might affect them. For example, prior to installing our 20 acres of ground-based PV arrays, we held an open meeting with residents and a meeting with local toen officials. Also, when placed land into a conservation land trust, we worked with a local land trust agency and local town officials.

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 No
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):
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Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://www.hampshire.edu/offices/board-of-trustees

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Bylaws of the Staff Advocacy Committee.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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