Joliet Junior College
PA-3: Governance

Interested students have a variety of avenues for participation as a member of College governing bodies. Primary examples include the Student Government Board, Faculty Advisory Committee and College’s Board of Trustees. Direct participation by interested students begins with submission of a formal application to the Director of Student Activities & Student Life. To promote active engagement and underscore the importance of serving, scheduling availability is an important consideration in addition to an expressed commitment to attend all regularly held meetings. A non-voting alternate student member is also selected.

There are multiple examples of governance opportunities designed to grow and engage our students as seen in the previous response. In each instance student representatives are endorsed by the College Club Council headed by the Director of Student Activities & Student Life. The College Club Council is also responsible for a budget through the Student Development Division that provides funding to support student groups and activities across campus whereas the 21-member Student Government Association (SGA) serves as the student body’s collective voice on campus. Students apply for open SGA seats each academic year. The SGA is structured in the same fashion as a traditional Board also meeting on a regularly scheduled basis.

There is a student representative serving on the College’s Board of Trustees. A Student Trustee is named to the College Board at the start of each academic year. Students interested in serving as Student Trustee to the College’s Board must submit a completed application that includes a 50-signature student petition supporting the applicant in addition to signatures of endorsement from the Vice President of Student Development, Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities & Student Life.

The College Board’s Student Trustee actively provides input and votes on College-wide issues including, but not limited to, annual strategic planning, expansion or upgrading of campus facilities as well as formation of the annual operating budget.

Serving as a governance body within the College, Staff Council provides a means for staff members to actively and consistently participate in shared governance. Formally, this is evidenced through an Agreement entered into by the Board of Trustees of Joliet Junior College and the College’s Support and Technical Staff Council – Staff Council, serving as exclusive bargaining agent for all full-time and part-time support and technical staff employees. Additionally, as valued stakeholders, Staff Council members are encouraged and readily afforded opportunity to engage in shared governance by way of formal College-wide processes including, but not limited to, strategic planning, budget development, personnel searches and ongoing continuous quality improvement initiatives.

There is a consistently applied College-wide application/nomination and election process. See above.

Staff Council assures and promotes staff members’ collective voice as an ongoing and viable part of shared governance. This often entails coordination, communication and collaboration promoting understanding and mutual agreement between Council membership and the College’s administrative leaders with respect to design and implementation of new initiatives. Such was evident in formation of new employee health insurance guidelines resulting from passage of the Affordable Care Act – an example applicable to establishing new policy. Added examples within the relevant time frame include, as part of College-wide participation, involvement in development of the College’s strategic plan – also incorporating physical resources, budgeting, organizational mission and goals. Moreover, staff members prioritize short-term and long-term projects in their respective work areas.

Faculty are very invested and actively engaged in a wide array of campus-wide committees fostering the College’s mission and strategic plan including, but not limited to, the Process Improvement Task Force and Strategic Planning Committee. For example, as part of the College’s ongoing commitment to AQIP, the Process Improvement Task Force transitioned into the College-wide Process Improvement Committee and was given a formal charge. In addition to key administrators, its membership reflects a robust cross-section of faculty from across the College with a mission to create and submit for recommendation to the Board of Trustees the College’s new and updated Education Plan – to be implemented in concert with the new and updated Strategic Plan.

As previously indicated, faculty are represented and engaged in College-wide governance bodies. The Faculty Council serves as the exclusive bargaining agent for full-time faculty members. It is headed by a member-elected President who runs for the position by initially submitting an application, petition or receiving a formal nomination followed by a vote of collective membership. The same applies to Council officers. Adjunct instructors are represented by a separate collective bargaining Agreement. Although engaged in governance, Adjunct involvement is not to the extent of full-time faculty since the majority of Adjuncts are gainfully employed full-time outside of the College or simultaneously serving as an Adjunct instructor at other area college/university campuses.

At the forefront as the nation’s first public community college, faculty continue to be an integral part of the policy and decision-making processes. Although there is not a Faculty Senate, faculty members are actively engaged in governance through their participation in a variety of College-wide committees indicative of having a vital voice as seen in, but not limited to, strategic planning; AQIP action teams – to assure and implement continuous quality improvement processes institution-wide; and development of their respective Department’s annual operating budget. Additionally, faculty are at the forefront of developing new programs and curricula correspondingly conducting outreach with industry and other external partners across the region. Throughout, faculty provide meaningful input into the process of establishing and sustaining the organization’s mission. Additionally, as part of engaging in development of the College’s Strategic Plan, considerations including both short and long-term project prioritization, budgeting, staffing and financial planning directly benefit from faculty participation.

Once on the JJC home page (link above), click on ABOUT and then see the various links under ADMINISTRATION.