Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 79.55
Liaison Lindsey Kalkbrenner
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2020

STARS v2.2

Santa Clara University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 3.00 Molly McDonald
Chief of Staff
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:
Students
The Associated Student Government (ASG) is the representative body for undergraduate students addressing their needs, interests, and concerns. ASG is comprised of an Executive Cabinet, Student Senate, Judicial Branch, Community Development Committee, and Public Relations Committee. Student Senate meetings are held every Thursday evening and are open to all students. The ASG Student Body President provides updates at the scheduled Board of Trustees meetings.

An undergraduate student is appointed and serves on the Academic Affairs Committee, a committee engaged in formulating policies, procedures and guidelines that relate to academic affairs.

The Associated Student Government (ASG) President, ASG Senate Chair, two appointed undergraduate students and one appointed graduate student serve on the Student Affairs Committee, a University policy committee that formulates and recommends major policies and program initiatives that affect student life.

Several other committees and advisory boards at SCU include student representation. For example:
Dining Service Advisory Board: 1 undergraduate and 1 graduate student representative
Parking and Transportation Committee: 1 undergraduate and 1 graduate student representative

Non-Academic Staff
The Staff Senate is the representative body for the staff assembly. The Staff Senate President serves on the University Coordinating Committee, a governance oversight committee, and the University Budget Council (defined below). The Staff Senate provides updates at scheduled Board of Trustees meetings.

A Staff Affairs Committee with seven appointed staff, the acting head of Human Resources, and the elected Staff Senate Vice President serve to formulate, review and recommend policies and initiatives pertaining to staff members.

Two appointed staff also serve on each of the Student Affairs Committee (defined above) and the Benefits Committee (defined below). Staff members may also serve on the Planning Action Council (defined below) at the discretion of the University Coordinating Committee and the University President.

Academic-Staff
Representative bodies for teaching and research faculty: Faculty Senate Council, Faculty Affairs Committee, Academic Affairs Committee, Planning Action Council, University Budget Council, Benefits Committee, and Research Committee.

The Faculty Senate exists for faculty to express their opinions on academic and professional matters and to facilitate participation of faculty in forming policies. The Faculty Senate President provides updates at the scheduled Board of Trustees meetings.

A Faculty Affairs Committee formulates policies, programs and procedures pertaining to the responsibilities and compensation of the faculty.

The Planning Action Council promotes and oversees planning at the University level.

The University Budget Council develops the annual macro budget in the context of long-range financial planning.

The Benefits Committee advises and facilitates communication between the Department of Human Resources and the University community concerning benefits issues.

The Research Committee supports faculty scholarship at the University.

See above for the description of the Academic Affairs Committee.

Part 2. Campus stakeholder representation in governance

Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
45

Number of students representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
0

Number of academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
0

Number of non-academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
0

Part 3. Gender equity in governance

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
9

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
20

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 Neighborhood-University Relations Committee (NURC) was established in 1990 and created a forum for on-going communication and problem solving among Santa Clara City officials, neighborhoods, property owners and Santa Clara University officials and students.

NURC meetings are held three (3) times annually on Monday evenings during the Santa Clara University academic year. Meetings are open to the public. Agendas are posted online, at the City Clerk's office and are also available through the Planning Division at 408-615-2450Call: 408-615-2450.

https://www.santaclaraca.gov/our-city/government/city-committees/neighborhood-university-relations-committee-nurc

Academic programs and administrative divisions rely on advisory boards/councils to stay connected to industry partners, non-profit organizations with shared interests, as well as governmental organizations and educational institutions. Membership on these advisory boards/councils includes employees or leaders from each stakeholder group above. Examples include representation from our local Diocese, our city, our county, schools, local public and private businesses, and local non-profit organizations.

The following are a few of our advisory boards that have external stakeholders:
http://law.scu.edu/about/law-advisory-board/
https://www.scu.edu/business/about/advisoryboard/
https://www.scu.edu/cas/about-the-college/leadership-board/
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/about-the-center/people/advisory-board/
http://www.scu.edu/governance

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:
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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.