University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

UMN Senate Governance includes 5 Senates: University Senate, Student Senate, Faculty Senate, Civil Service Senate & P&A Senate.

University Senate
The University Senate is composed of 251 elected senators and 26 Senate Consultative Committee members. This includes faculty, civil service and P&A staff, and student representatives from the University of Minnesota Crookston, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Minnesota Rochester, and University of Minnesota Twin Cities campuses. The president of the University of Minnesota chairs the University Senate, and the vice chair is a faculty member.

Student Senate
The Student Senate is the University of Minnesota's internal governance body representing all students at the Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester, and Twin Cities campuses. Each senator that serves on the Student Senate is charged with representing students within the University of Minnesota system as a whole. The Student Senate works to ensure a student voice in system-wide University decisions of policy and process.

Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate at the University of Minnesota comprises of faculty and eligible academic professional representatives from the UMD, UMM, UMR, and UMTC campuses and concerns itself with faculty welfare, educational, and research matters.

Civil Service Senate
The Civil Service Senate is part of the larger University Senate governance system, which includes the University Senate, Faculty Senate, P&A Senate, and Student Senate. It is a 50-member body that represents Civil Service employees at the University of Minnesota. Members are elected by Civil Service employees throughout the University. The Civil Service Senate's responsibilities include but are not limited to matters concerning the employment conditions of Civil Service employees.

Through its executive committee (the Civil Service Consultative Committee) and subcommittees, the Civil Service Senate works in the areas of: benefits and compensation, communications, and the Civil Service Employment Rules. Each year the Civil Service Senate strives to become more involved in University governance, and continues to support the University's mission of teaching, research, and service.

P&A Senate
The P&A Senate is the voice of around 6,500 Academic Professionals and Administrators (P&A) at the University of Minnesota. The senate is an elected representative body that acts on behalf of all P&As, and enables P&As, through shared governance, to exercise their right to participate in the University's governance.

The senate is an advocate for P&A views on University planning, governance, resource allocation, and all other University of Minnesota policies and practices. We are key partners in University governance; to that end, the senate works in four primary areas: benefits and compensation, communications, outreach, and professional development and recognition, as well as providing representatives to relevant University committees and task forces.

P&As work in all 20 job families throughout the University system. P&A job functions include conducting research, teaching students, directing programs, counseling faculty, staff, and students, managing budgets, overseeing departments, and reaching out to citizens in all 87 Minnesota counties. In 1980, P&As constituted six percent of the University employee population. Currently, P&A make up about 25% of University employees.