Overall Rating Reporter
Overall Score
Liaison Michelle Rodriguez
Submission Date Jan. 25, 2023

STARS v2.2

San Diego Mesa College
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete Reporter Michelle Rodriguez
Professor
Political Science
"---" 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:
Students:
The Associated Students (AS) is the representative body of the students in the shared governance process at Mesa College. We are fellow students who have been elected or appointed to positions with the AS. The AS provides students with practical leadership experience in the areas of budget/financial planning, parliamentary procedures, and in the development of programs and services which are designed to meet student needs. The student leaders and the staff of the Student Affairs Office encourage you to get involved and take part in the many leadership opportunities available at Mesa College.
Academic staff:
Mesa College has a very active Academic Senate that meets twice each month during the fall and spring semesters. We have fully invested and extremely involved faculty participants.
The Senate serves as a forum for faculty to discuss issues that impact the faculty and our students. Senate resolutions that address these issues are brought forth by the Senate Executive Officers to the appropriate District and College committees for consideration.
The Senate is composed of full-time faculty senators representing every department at the college and five adjunct senators representing part-time faculty.
The Mesa College Academic Senate also seeks the support of the State Academic Senate in professional and curricular matters.


Non-academic staff:
The Classified Senate represents all classified professionals at San Diego Mesa College in the shared governance and decision-making processes throughout the college, district and state. Some of the Senate's areas of focus include:
Representing classified professionals in participatory governance and decision-making issues not related to collective bargaining and/or contract negotiations.

Supporting and promoting professionalism of classified professionals.

Encouraging individual and collective leadership, contribution, and professional development among classified professionals.

Appointing classified representation within the committee framework as part of the democratic processes prevalent at Mesa College and the San Diego Community College District.

Providing a centralized method of effective communication throughout the college community.

Collecting and disseminating relevant governance information to classified professionals.

Part 2. Campus stakeholder representation in governance

Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
15

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:
5

Number of non-academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
5

Part 3. Gender equity in governance

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
12

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
80

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?:
No

A brief description of the campus-community council or equivalent body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them:
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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:
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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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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.