Keene State College
PA-3: Participatory Governance

The highest governing body at Keene State College is the College Senate (see https://dept.keene.edu/senate/). The Keene State College Senate is the policy making and legislative body for Keene State College with regard to all matters that impact on the quality of academic life. Four students serve on the College Senate, one each is also a part of each subcommittee of the Senate including the Senate Executive Committee. The four students that serve on the Senate come from the Student Assembly (Keene State College's elected student governance) in two ways. First, students are elected from the whole student body to serve on the Student Assembly. The Chair of the Student Assembly is appointed by default to the Senate and the Senate Executive Committee. This is written in the Student Assembly By-Laws. The remaining three students are elected by their peers on the Student Assembly to serve on the Senate.

The Keene State College Senate is the policy making and legislative body for Keene State College with regard to all matters that impact on the quality of academic life.Staff are represented on the Senate and have their own council governing bodies. Members of these councils are elected by their own staff constituency. Council's exist for: Professional and Technical Staff (PAT): http://www.keene.edu/administration/councils/pat/ Operating Staff (OS): http://www.keene.edu/administration/councils/os/. Members of the PAT and the OS Councils are elected by their peers. Once on the respective Councils, Council members may self-nominate to serve on the College Senate. The Councils then elect the Senate members from the self-nominees.

The Keene State College Senate is the policy making and legislative body for Keene State College with regard to all matters that impact on the quality of academic life.Both adjunct and tenure track faculty are unionized and as such the union has representation on many of the the decision making bodies of the campus. On the College Senate 20 of the 29 seats are for faculty. 19 are for full-time faculty and one is for adjunct faculty.Faculty are selected to the College Senate in two ways: (1) Six Senators are nominated and then elected from their peers within each of the Schools on campus (e.g., Arts and Humanities, etc). (2) Twelve at-large faculty Senate members are elected from their peers -- they self nominate and then are elected from a process where all faculty vote.

Keene State College's Mission and Values Statement places a premium on "Civic engagement and service to the community." Therefore engagement with the greater Keene Community is central to all that Keene State does. The City of Keene is a small rural community of 23,400 people. Keene State College is an active an integral part of the community and we seek to engage the City in "town-gown" partnerships. We value our Keene Connections. Keene State, for example, participates in city government and in the local Chamber of Commerce. Similarly, we engage stakeholders from the City in critical Keene decisions and decision-making committees. This is done through a nomination process, where, depending on the topic at hand, Keene State College leaders will brainstorm potential City of Keene Stakeholders. Once a list of likely candidates, leadership -- usually the President -- will reach out to the nominee with a formal invitation to participate. This ethic is reflected in most of the policies and plans that guide the College.Two examples of policy documents that discuss engagement with external stakeholders include: 1) Keene State College Strategic Plan: http://www.keene.edu/administration/councils/planning/strategic-plan/ 2) College-City Commission Report: https://www.keene.edu/administration/president/assets/documents/keene-college-city-commission-report-recommendations/download/ In addition, the Keene State Master Planning project engaged the community extensively: http://www.keene.edu/administration/mp/ In the case of the first two documents, the Directors, Assistant Vice Presidents, and Vice Presidents were consulted for potential stakeholder nominees. These were presented to the President and the President's cabinet for approval and a formal invitation was issued by the President.

Three examples of the way Keene State College engages community members include: 1) Keene Alumni Association: http://www.keene.edu/alumni/association/: This group of alums informally participates in setting College directions and governance approaches primarily through topical committees. They are a governance advisory group. 2) College-City Commission: Group of College and City leaders that meet monthly to discuss issues of mutual importance and make decisions. This group arose from a difficult time in City of Keene and Keene State College relations. The Commission actively engages City leaders in decision-making processes that result in strategic plans that are used to set College policies. See: http://www.keene.edu/administration/president/keene-college-city-commision/ and http://www.keene.edu/administration/president/assets/documents/keene-college-city-commission-report-recommendations/download/. 3) Keene Endowment Association: Makes decisions regarding how the Endowment is invested, including the decision to develop a socially just and environmentally sustainable investing option. The Association is a charitable 501(c)(3) organization that was founded in 1957 to accept gifts for the College for investment or accrual, to empower educational excellence. The Board of Directors collaborates with College administration to ensure the alignment of KEA and College purposes. See more at: http://www.keene.edu/administration/advancement/kea/

This section was originally compiled by Kim Schmidl-Gagne, Program Manager for Diversity & Multiculturalism Initiatives/NEASC. It was updated and reviewed by Cary Gaunt, Director of Campus Sustainability.