Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 62.47
Liaison Kara Holmstrom
Submission Date March 3, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Luther College
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Suzanne Lyndon
Executive Assistant to the President
President's Office
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Part 1

Do the institution’s students have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a student council)? :
Yes

Do the institution’s students have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
1. Student Senate is Luther College's student government organization. Senate consists of 27 student representatives elected each spring, with the addition of 3 first-year representatives elected in the fall. http://www.luther.edu/student-senate/ 2. Three of these student senators also serve as student representatives to the Luther College Board of Regents. The student representatives have a voice but no vote.

Do the institution’s staff members have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a staff council)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s non-supervisory staff members have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
No

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
1) The College Resource Council allows staff and faculty to serve in an advisory role to the administration and Regents in matters of long-range planning, resource allocation, and in the planning of the budget. All exempt and non-exempt staff are asked to nominate staff who have budget center responsibility to two seats on the Council. They are appointed by the administration. An additional staff member is appointed —nominated by the faculty and staff—who holds a position at the college with expertise directly related to diversity. 2) In terms of the Board of Regents, the college's vice presidents and deans and the executive assistant to the president are actively involved in Regent meetings and activities. They have a voice but no vote.

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a faculty senate)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body? :
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which teaching and research faculty are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
1) Three faculty members serve on the Luther College Board of Regents. These representatives to the Board of Regents are the three tenured faculty members elected by the faculty to serve as the divisional members on the College Resources Council (staggered three year terms). The faculty representatives have a voice but no vote. 2) The College Resource Council allows staff and faculty to serve in an advisory role to the administration and Regents in matters of long-range planning, resource allocation, and in the planning of the budget. Four faculty members serve on the Council: a representative from the Faculty Interests Committee plus three faculty elected to serve as divisional representatives (who are also the representatives to the Board of Regents). 3) Luther College has a strong tradition of faculty governance; our bylaws read: "they shall establish the departments of instruction, decide upon courses of study, determine the requirements for the admission to the college and for graduation, nominate candidates for degrees, establish the rules and regulations for the government of the College, and have the power to suspend or expel students whenever it finds such action necessary for the welfare of the college....The Faculty shall elect or authorize the selection of such committees as may be required for the carrying on of the powers enumerated above." Luther has four faculty governance committees: the Faculty Organization Committee; Faculty Interests Committee; Academic Planning Committee; and the Appointment, Tenure, and Promotion Committee.

Part 2

Does the institution have written policies and procedures to identify and engage external stakeholders (i.e. local residents) in land use planning, capital investment projects, and other institutional decisions that affect the community?:
Yes

A copy of the written policies and procedures:
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The policies and procedures:
The Facilities and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Regents has five committee members who are not Regents and not Luther College employees. Four of the five are local residents. The Facilities and Sustainability Committee monitors the stewardship of plant, equipment, and grounds; assesses the college's land stewardship plan; monitors progress on carbon neutrality targets; reviews campus energy efficiency and conservation efforts; recommends property sales or property acquisitions; reviews the deferred maintenance schedule; reviews campus sustainability initiatives; and recommends capital investment projects.

Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which community members representing the interests of the following stakeholder groups can regularly participate in institutional governance?:
Yes or No
Local government and/or educational organizations No
Private sector organizations No
Civil society (e.g. NGOs, NPOs) No

If yes to one or more of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which external stakeholders are engaged in institutional governance (including information about each stakeholder group selected above):
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Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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