Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.33
Liaison Michael Amadori
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Hobart and William Smith Colleges
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 3.00 Michael Amadori
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability
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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

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:

The William Smith Congress (WSC) and the Hobart Student Government (HSG) are the voice for the student body. WSC and HSG act as liaisons between students and the administration, provide funding for student organizations, and represent students on committees across the campus. Students are elected by their peers to serve on these two representative bodies, as well as junior trustees on the Board of Trustees. William Smith Congress and Hobart Student Government meet weekly.


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?:
No

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:

The Administrative Advisory Committee has a mission to provide a forum for discussion of policy; to develop and communicate recommendations to Senior Staff, the President and the Trustees; and to facilitate communication among administrative staff, and between administrative staff and other members of the Colleges community.
https://www.hws.edu/offices/pdf/aac_bylaws.pdf

Staff members are a key part of governance at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and take part in many decision-making processes. The co-chair of our Climate Task Force is Carolee White, vice president for finance. The Task Force is responsible for major financial decisions the Colleges will be making for how we will achieved carbon neutrality by 2025. Monthly, Rob Flowers, vice president for campus life, holds a meeting with all the directors in Campus Life to engage in conversations and get staff input regarding decisions that Hobart and William Smith Colleges are considering. This includes adding additional residence halls, revamping our college store, and renovations to create a new student center. Each semester, associate vice president for campus safety, Marty Corbett, meets with staff members from Campus Life, Res Ed, Athletics, and our facilities department to plan and update our parking policies, move in / out procedure for students, and student discipline hearing. Lastly, we have recently announced the hiring of a new president, Joyce Jacobsen. The search committee included several staff members including: Cathy Williams, Vice President for Communications and Marketing, Deb Steward, William Smith Director of Athletics, Lou Guard, Vice President and General Counsel.


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? :
No

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 faculty, adjunct to full professors, have the right/ability to participate and vote in Faculty Meetings where major policies and Bylaw (faculty governance) decisions are made. Elections for membership on major committees, as the Presiding Officer of the Faculty, and as the Secretary of the Faculty, are made formally through the Faculty Meetings. All faculty who are “regularly appointed in tenure-track and ongoing positions are eligible for service as officers of the faculty.” The Parliamentarian is the only officer of the faculty appointed by a committee and, while the Ombudspersons (also officers of the faculty) are elected through Faculty Meetings, only tenured faculty can hold that position.

While no teaching or research faculty sit on the HWS Board of Trustees, there are five major faculty governance committees that do meet with the Board of Trustees regularly during Board meetings. Those five major committees are (1) the Committee on the Faculty—CoFac, (2) the Committee on Academic Affairs—CoAA, (3) Committee on Tenure and Promotion—CoTaP, (4) Committee on Standards (CoS), and (5) the Committee on Committees (CoC).

There is also faculty representation on many of the Board of Trustees committees, including: financial affairs, compensation, honors, and academic affairs.


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:
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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

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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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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