Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.09
Liaison Shane Stennes
Submission Date Jan. 11, 2023

STARS v2.2

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

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.75 / 3.00 Carley Rice
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

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.


Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
12

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

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

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
5

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
41.67

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