University of Idaho
PA-3: Participatory Governance

There are two representative bodies through which students can participate in governance, ASUI and GPSA. 1. ASUI: Founded in 1904, Associated Students University of Idaho (ASUI) is the University of Idaho’s official student body government, elected by the student body. Consisting of a legislative and executive branch, students take a hands-on role in university, local and state policy decisions. In addition to providing funding to more than 200 student organizations, ASUI helps Vandals of all disciplines be engaged leaders of tomorrow to craft a brighter future for Idaho and beyond. President: The president is the liaison between ASUI, students and the State Board of Education/Board of Regents. The position is a representative for ASUI and the entire student body. Vice President: The vice president is the leader of the Senate. The position ensures students living on and off campus are adequately represented and enforces rules and regulations within ASUI. Executive Branch: The executive branch is composed of boards to oversee funding, entertainment, communication, recreation, the Idaho Commons and the Bruce M. Pitman Center. It consists of a Presidential Cabinet, which includes directors of policy, diversity affairs, health and wellness, safety and violence prevention, sustainability, athletics, and finance. Legislative Branch: The legislative branch is composed of 14 senators under the senate pro-tempore. Each senator represents two to three living groups and attends relevant fraternity, sorority and residence hall meetings each month. They inform others of upcoming events and gather topics concerning the student body. They use this information to bring forth legislation representing the interests of all undergraduate students. Senate bills allocate student fees and resolutions represent the opinions of the student body. 2.GPSA: The Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA) supports and promotes graduate student education, campus sustainability, and graduate student life at the University of Idaho. This includes creating programs and assisting graduate students during their transition from student to professional life. The GPSA is committed to providing a collective voice for graduate students to the University and the State. The GPSA body is composed of an executive branch, judicial branch and legislative branch with senators that represent academic departments having graduate programs. GPSA representatives are elected by UI graduate students.

UI Staff Council is dedicated to studying issues, problems, welfare, and working conditions of staff. The committee represents all board-appointed employees from all campuses and centers of the University of Idaho community. The Staff Council mission is to promote the recognition, empowerment, advocacy, and leadership necessary to create a professional work experience for staff members employed by the university. For more information about Staff Council, and goals to recognize, empower, advocate, and lead visit the staff council Strategic Plan 2015 – 2018, mission statement at: https://www.uidaho.edu/faculty-staff/staff-council To provide continuity of membership on Staff Council, approximately one-third of the member positions are filled by election each year. As far as possible, terms of members representing the same group are staggered. For more information on the election process, visit the staff council by-laws at: https://www.uidaho.edu/faculty-staff/staff-council

The Faculty Council first assembled under the leadership of Thomas R. Walenta in 1967 and the Faculty Constitution was ratified by the regents in 1968. In 2009 the Faculty Council formally became Faculty Senate, a more common term used in academia. The senate is empowered to act for the university faculty in all matters pertaining to the immediate government of the university. The senate is responsible to and reports to the university faculty and, through the president, to the regents. Section 3. Faculty Senate. This senate is empowered to act for the university faculty in all matters pertaining to the immediate government of the university. The senate is responsible to and reports to the university faculty and, through the president, to the regents. The university faculty, president, and regents retain the authority to review policy actions taken by the senate. [See 1520 III-3, 1520 V, and 1420 A-1-c.] [ed. 7-00, 7-09] All Faculty Senate positions, including Chair and Vice chair elected to a one year term of office. For more information visit the Faculty Staff Handbook, Faculty Senate Bylaws at: http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/fsh/1580.html

The university heavily engages in a variety of informal mechanisms—some of them information sharing in nature—as well as some more formalized. Examples include: --Advisory boards supporting the energies and efforts of individual colleges; membership varies from local to regional to nationally recognized figures; informs capital project and land use plans --Similarly, the UI Foundation’s board draws from local, regional, national figures; informs capital project and land use plans indirectly --Varying levels of UI leadership engage informally with frequent town/gown informational sharing events, informing UI’s positions/actions/direction; impacts decisions affecting the community --Arboretum Associates is an example where community voices influence the nature of the development of the campus --UI participates in a local Water Advisory Group (influencing water quality standards in the creek) and with the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee (linking with regional water users in understanding the local aquifer and exploring alternative drinking water sources) While many of these are not formal ‘governance’ activities, through these forums, community and local voices and concerns are shared and definitely impact UI’s decision making on a variety of operational and planning topics. Probably the only more formal ‘engagement’ of outside voices is in the form of the Board of Regents, which includes Governor-appointed voices from around the state in overseeing/governing the University of Idaho. The Board of Regents has a very direct impact on institutional governance. The board is established by Idaho Code, Title 33, Chapter 1. For more information on the Board of Regents, visit the Idaho Legislature’s website at: https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title33/T33CH1/

Part 1: Summer Howard, Staff Council Chair and Customer Service Lead, Parking and Transportation Services Part 2: Brian Johnson, Assistant Vice President, Facilities Part 1 Supplemental information about the institution's highest governing body: The Idaho State Board of Education (SBOE) is comprised of eight members, seven of whom are appointed by the Governor, and the voter-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Office of the State Board of Education implements Board policies, and oversees the public higher education institutions and the Board’s executive agencies. As Idaho’s single governing body for public kindergarten through college education, the State Board of Education continually works towards an education system without barriers within the governance structure or committee structure. The State Board of Education has been effective in influencing major reform in education providing critical linkages between K-12 and postsecondary education. Students, Staff and Faculty do not have an elected representative serving on the SBOE. https://boardofed.idaho.gov/board-facts/