Cal Poly Humboldt
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

There are many methods through which the above stakeholders participate in shared governance and decisions of the institution.
1. Associated Students is a non-profit 501(c)(3) auxiliary organization. It is governed by a Board of Directors composed of HSU students. This group actively advocates for institutional changes that serve to enhance the student environment, allocates student fee dollars to student initiated and led programs and services, and educates the campus community on current affairs that have significant impact to students. They fund and administer student initiated and student led programs and services. Students self-nominate and then are voted into membership by their peers for executive positions, or are designated by executive leadership to serve in committee roles throughout campus. This is the primary body through which governance decisions for and about students are made, and is the group through which student representation is designated for many other boards, committees, and governance structures at HSU. Read more at https://associatedstudents.humboldt.edu/what-is-associated-students
2. Staff Council is a recognized body within shared governance on the HSU campus that provides input and advice on staff matters and perspectives not covered by collective bargaining. This group endeavors to enhance the recognition and worth of each staff member through its community service efforts, create a positive impact on staff culture and morale, seek out and respond to ideas and suggestions, and help to represent staff to the University administration. Staff members are nominated and then voted into membership by their peers. This is one body through which non-academic staff may engage in discussion about decisions that affect them, and is the group through which staff representation is designated for many other boards, committees, and governance structures at HSU. Read more at https://staffcouncil.humboldt.edu/
3. General Faculty is an organization that intends “to assure that the collective knowledge, experience, and judgment possessed by the members shall be as fully utilized as possible in providing students with educational opportunities, in developing university policies and procedures, and in fostering a spirit of unity and cooperation among its members” (Constitution of the General Faculty, Section 1.2, http://senate.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/appendixj-revised_june2016_0.pdf). Membership consists of full time members of the university faculty who hold rank of assistant professor or above, full time librarians, full time coaches, full time counselors, lecturers, librarians, coaches and counselors holding at least a 1-year appointment with time base averaging .4 of full time, FERP faculty, and professors emeriti. The General Faculty exercises its responsibilities to formulate, review, and recommend academic policies for the university to the President and other appropriate agents through its elected delegates to the University Senate.This is the group through which faculty representation is designated for many other boards, committees, and governance structures at HSU. Read more at http://senate.humboldt.edu/faculty
4. The CA Faculty Association is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for the CA State University faculty, including tenure-track faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches. According to CFA Bylaws, the CFA is established to strengthen the cause of higher education for the public good; to promote and maintain the standards and ideals of the profession; to provide a democratic voice for employees in higher education; to provide legislative advocacy; and to maintain collective bargaining agreements covering salaries, working conditions, and other items and conditions of employment. Read more at https://www.calfac.org/item/cfa-mission-statement
5. Collective Bargaining Units represent CSU employees in labor relations and negotiate with the employer regarding the scope of the employment relationship which sometimes relates 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, Unit 13 CSUEU English Language Program Instructors Cal State LA, and Unit 14 CSUEU English Language Program Instructors, CSU Monterey Bay. 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
6. The University Senate of Humboldt State University is the primary organization of shared governance on the campus and the highest governing body at the campus level. In Academic Year 2011-2012 the Academic Senate transitioned to a University Senate, based on San Diego State’s model (most CSU’s have Academic Senates with more restricted memberships; each campus determines the scope of its Senate’s policymaking authority). Perhaps due to our relatively small size in the CSU and our history of attracting long-term faculty and staff members invested in the health and future of what they see as a very special university, the Senate plays an important role in policy-making and in collective conversations about the values, mission, and priorities of the campus. The Senate meets every other Tuesday 3-5pm during the academic year (there are 7 regular meetings scheduled per semester). The University Senate’s membership includes tenure-track faculty representatives from each of the colleges (CAHSS, CNRS, CPS) and the Library, at-large faculty representatives, lecturer faculty representatives, faculty representatives from the Academic Senate of the CSU (the statewide Senate on which faculty from each campus serve), an emeritus faculty member, non-MPP staff representatives, administration (MPP) representatives, such as the Provost and the vice president of Administrative Affairs, and student representatives appointed by Associated Students. In addition, there are seats for a staff labor union representative and a faculty labor union representative, and a seat for the Executive Director of Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The University President serves as a non-voting member (seek this link for the current membership). Read more at https://senate.humboldt.edu/
7. 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 does not routinely have representative members from Humboldt State University specifically. Board committees have authority over educational policy, finance, campus planning, and facilities, among other areas. Membership of the board of trustees is comprised of 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 19 trustees who are generally appointed by the Governor. Of the 19 governor-appointed trustees, two are students, one is an alumni from the CSU Statewide Alumni Council, one is faculty from the Statewide Academic Senate, and the others represent diverse stakeholder groups from across the state. Read more at https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/Pages/default.aspx

While the campus does not host one particular board or Committee that allows any and all community stakeholders to provide input on any open-ended campus matter, there are a number of targeted advisory boards that community members sit on to regularly and routinely provide input on specific topics and decisions. These are comprised of local and regional community stakeholders with the intent that each would serve to give a mechanism for campus to receive, consider, incorporate stakeholder input before making major decisions that will affect local and regional community members.

These targeted councils and Committees include:
o The President’s Native American Advisory Council serves as a communication conduit and assists in developing mutually beneficial partnerships among HSU, the Native American community, and Tribal Nations. The Council provides perspectives and advice on the University's collaborations with Native American communities, tribal nations, and tribal organizations in the region. Council members advise the President on matters of importance to Native communities as they relate to the University and is comprised of local tribal members generally not affiliated with the University. Read more at https://president.humboldt.edu/advisory
o The Equity Alliance of the North Coast is a group formed to provide workshops, information, and opportunities that works to broaden "understanding and improving racial and social equity through education, dialogue, and coaching for organizations and individuals". This group is a multi-year initiative of Humboldt Area Foundation that invites institutions, nonprofits, businesses and individuals to take on the largely unintended racialized inequities that cause harm to so many families and communities in our region, and that keep every member of our communities, no matter their racial identity, from achieving full potential. The President participates in the group, along with a cohort of other HSU stakeholders and a cohort of City of Arcata representatives. Read more at https://www.hafoundation.org/Initiatives/Initiatives-Overview/EquityNorthCoast
• A collection of three foundations at Humboldt State provide another structure through which a variety of stakeholders lend their voices to governance and decision-making at HSU. These include:
1. The Humboldt State University Advancement Foundation exists to support and advance the mission of HSU by securing private support, developing and managing entrepreneurial activities, overseeing philanthropic activities, and managing endowed and other assets as requested by the University. This group is governed by a 14 member board, many of whom are business leaders and HSU alumni; all have a strong tie to Humboldt State University and to the Humboldt area in some way. Read more at https://giving.humboldt.edu/about-foundation/board
2. The Sponsored Programs Foundation is a non-profit corporation formed to advance the welfare of HSU through the development, encouragement, and management of sponsored programs and other special campus programs and their related trusts. This group essentially manages grant funding that comes in to various stakeholders of the campus. The group is governed by a Board of Directors that is comprised of ex-officio campus administrators, elected faculty directors, student representation, and two community directors as appointed by the University President. Read more at https://research.humboldt.edu/board/governance
3. The University Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) auxiliary organization that provides students of HSU with services, conveniences, and amenities requisite to the daily life of the campus through recreation, cultural, and education offerings in the bookstore, dining services, Center Arts, Center Activities, the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, the Student Recreation Center, and the Rec & Wellness Center. This group is governed by a 14 member Board of Directors composed of HSU students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members which meets once per month during the academic year to provide direction on budgeting, facilities management, programs, services, policies, and long-range planning. Read more at https://uc.humboldt.edu/
• Resilience Planning: As part of the University’s efforts to build a campus and community resilient to climate change, the Office of Sustainability has hosted a number of community workshops in which community members participated in identifying and becoming educated on climate change related hazards in the local region. Specifically, in April 2018, the campus and City of Arcata held a meeting that led to the creation of a Report on the Initial Assessment of Campus-Community Resilience (https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/cc_resiliency_assmt_final2_0.pdf). Then in March 2019, the Office of Sustainability brought together campus and community stakeholders to identify and prioritize actions to improve campus-community resilience. Read the summary of findings at https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/bcr_summary_of_findings.pdf. Most recently, the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Deliberative Democracy Initiative and the Office of Sustainability presented an event to educate fifty student participants about efforts, on campus and in the local community, to collectively address and prepare for climate change hazards. Participants provides the campus and City of Arcata Community Development Department with a diverse set of recommendations to strengthen resilience, (https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/climate_resilience_deliberative_forum_report.docx).
• Last, it is common for staff and faculty to sit on governance boards and advisory committees for local, regional and state NGO, non-profit organizations, and public agencies. This crossover relationship between campus stakeholders and other community groups means that the interests of external stakeholders are often organically represented in governance, planning, and policy discussions.

Data regarding the number of individuals on the institution's highest governing body represents demographics from the CSU Board of Trustees and was gathered by Michelle Kiss, MPA who serves as the Board of Trustee Secretariat at the CSU Office of the Chancellor. This information was forwarded for this credit by Chancellor Office Staff and should be requested on an as needed basis as it does typically live in a public place that may be easily accessed.

While the Board usually has 20 appointed members and 5 ex officio members, there is currently 1 vacancy for a gubernatorial appointee. Since there are 25 seats on the board, the total number of individuals has been reported above as 25, even though only 24 are filled at the exact moment of submission of this report. The above demographic information pertains to the 19 currently-held appointed seats only.