Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 71.07
Liaison Michael Chapman
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

Nova Scotia Community College
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.63 / 3.00 Christabell Pinchin
Secretary, Board of Governors
President's Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Shared governance bodies

Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which the following stakeholders can regularly participate in the governance of the institution?:
Yes or No
Students Yes
Academic staff Yes
Non-academic staff Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal participatory or shared governance bodies:
NSCC Board of Governors:

Explained in Part 2, includes: 2 students, 1 academic staff member, 2 non-academic staff members

Students:

Student Association (SA):

The SA is governed by an elected student executive committee (made up of a president, VP Finance, VP Communications, VP Services and VP activities) and various class and program representatives. The SA helps students work together to improve student life by creating opportunities for balanced lifestyles, promoting health and wellness, and encouraging campus-wide communication and participation. The mission of the SA is to organize activities and events (both on campus and off), provide important programs to encourage student growth and offer great services that make their learning environment more supportive. The SA also serves to input into the overall strategic and policy direction of the College and is stated in the SA’s Common Constitution.

https://www.nscc.ca/services/student-life/student-association/index.asp

Academic Staff:

The Nova Scotia Community College Academic Union (NSCCAU):

The NSCCAU is the collective of unionized faculty and professional support employees who work for the NSCC. The Union promotes the well-being of the faculty members and students so that the people of Nova Scotia will be well and efficiently served. It gives academic staff members a voice to discuss policies formulations, decision-making processes, and assess and discuss program development and renewal.

There is an elected President, VP Faculty, VP Professional Support, VP Member Engagement and Public Relations, and VP Administration. There are also representatives from each campus on the committee.

NSCCAU Committees include: faculty duties committee, college union committee, finance committee, economic benefits professional support, economic welfare faculty, pensions and benefits committee, faculty and professional support conference committee, communications committee, Learning College Portfolio Committee (LCP), LCP professional support, NSCCAU By-Laws committee, learning leave faculty committee, learning leave professional support committee.

https://nsccau.ca/

Non-academic staff:

The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) represents the non-academic staff members of NSCC. NSCC employees make up a Local. College employees are elected in their Local to represent them at other levels of union. There are also elected representatives at both a Regional Council and an occupational council. The NSGEU facilitates the implementation of employment systems, policies and practices within NSCC. It ensures the non-academic staff at NSCC are paid a fair wage, have good benefits, and have a safe workplace.

https://nsgeu.ca/

Part 2. Campus stakeholder representation in governance

Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
18

Number of students representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
2

Number of academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
1

Number of non-academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
2

Part 3. Gender equity in governance

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
6

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
33.33

Website URL where information about the institution’s highest governing body may be found:

Part 4. Community engagement bodies

Does the institution host or support one or more formal bodies through which external stakeholders have a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them?:
Yes

A brief description of the campus-community council or equivalent body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them:
The Nova Scotia Community College has a formal structure to facilitate engagement with the several local communities that we serve. Each of the 13 campuses has a Principal reporting directly to the Vice President of Campuses and Communities.

Community engagement is truly part of NSCC’s business model. Campuses are located strategically across the province to carry out the College’s mission to “Build Nova Scotia’s economy and quality of life through education and innovation ”. To do this campus principals are fully integrated within their respective communities. This includes hosting a variety of activities including annual community earth days, industry consultations, local education accessibility campaigns, municipal committees, First Nations group consultations. Feedback from this engagement is reported back to the VP of Campuses and Communities in a monthly report. The VP, in turn, tables these reports with the College Executive Team and the Board of Governors to inform institutional decisions such as programming, delivery models, financial aid, capital projects, accessibility, etc.

Attached is a summary of this relatively new VP position, and a description of the organizational structure. This is a high level formal structure designed to engage with community, and to give community and other external stakeholders the opportunity to participate in NSCC’s decision making process.

Optional Fields 

Number of people from underrepresented groups serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body.:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s governance structure is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.