Lafayette College
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

The highest governing body is the Board of Trustees. The Board invites officers or representatives of the President of the Alumni Association, the Clerk of the Faculty and the Student Government President as it deems advisable to attend Board meetings to participate in discussion but not to vote. These individuals prepare reports the Trustees read in preparation for on-campus meetings and often prepare presentations or provide updates on campus issues at Board meetings.

Students have input on the College's mission through student representatives on both Faculty and Trustee committees and meetings as well as Student Government's formal and informal meetings with the Trustees, Faculty, and Administration.

All faculty at Lafayette are invited to monthly meetings of the faculty, where business is conducted (including the adoption of policies, strategic plans, and other academic standards) following parliamentary procedure. However, while all faculty are invited to attend, only non-visiting Instructors, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, Professors, and Librarians with professional status may vote. Further, those faculty have the right to speak repeatedly to an issue, a right not extended to other attendees of the meetings, though in practice this right has been offered to all in attendance.

Non academic staff are represented by the Administrative Staff Council, who are elected by their peers. The council holds meetings with cabinet level leadership and are representative of staff concerns across the institution. There is also a union organization on campus that represents secretarial and trade related employees that works directly with the administration to negotiate relevant policies and compensation.

Lafayette engages with several community groups on a regular basis. The position of Assistant to the President for Board and Community Relations serves as a conduit for external stakeholder engagement with the college. Specifically, this employee of the college works with members of the community on the development of strategic town gown relations and relevant programming and policies that impact the community and institutional relationship. As part of this work the college annually hosts a town hall meeting where members of the community are invited to discuss the state of the college and issues related to community engagement between the college and external stakeholders.

https://studentgovernment.lafayette.edu
https://sites.lafayette.edu/admincouncil/
https://news.lafayette.edu/2019/08/22/lafayette-names-community-members-to-partners-forum-planning-committee/