Lane Community College
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

The governance system is charged with planning and policy development for the college and is made up of 5 councils. Each councils has assigned seats for students, faculty, management and classified staff, each representative has voting rights.

Councils have responsibility for specific college functions. The College Council is charged with overall responsibility for the operation and effectiveness of the system and with specific budget development activities. The governance system recognizes specific stakeholder groups and administration members by giving them specific representational roles and by basing their participation on appointment by a stakeholder group or by the college president. The Lane Community College Employees Federation, Lane Community College Education Association, Associated Students of Lane Community College, Faculty Council, and college administration all have rights to appoint their representatives to councils. The president appoints Executive Team members to councils. Each council works within a charter and scope of work statement, and each acts in accordance with a decision matrix.

Lane Community College highest governing body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice is the Board of Education (BOE). The BOE meets every month and these meetings are public. All community members are allowed to provide comment in the public comment section of the meetings and they can also submit comments in writing, including comments about institutional decisions that affect them. This opportunity is open to all community members regardless to their affiliation to LCC. This allows typical community members with the opportunity to regularly express their voice on institutional decisions that affect them. The BOE also includes a student representative, new this year.

Another example is the Bond Oversight Committee which is responsible with reviewing progress on the projects detailed in LCC's Bond Measures, approved by the voters. The majority of the committee members is made up non-paid Lane County residents that are not employees of the College. This committee reviews the progress of the bond projects and monitors spending, schedules and that the projects are in line with what the voters approved. This committee meetings are also public and all community members have the opportunity to make public comments and listen in on the meetings.

Lane also has advisory committees for all professional - technical programs, these are formally organized committees of non-college employees and are selected from the community to provide expert advice and assistance to Lane Community College's professional-technical programs. The Advisory Committees meet three times per year or at least once a year. These Committees serve as an ongoing partnership between Lane and the local professional-technical community. It is designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills students receive are current with the needs of local employers. Advisory committees are an important resource in helping LCC incorporate community voices in making wise decisions, that will affect the local community, resulting in better education programs for the residents of Lane County.