University of St. Thomas
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

In 2005, the University of St. Thomas adopted a system of shared governance, in which the university's Board of Trustees, its administration, and its faculty work together to fulfill the university’s mission. Though united in aim, each of the partners nevertheless has its own field of responsibility in which it exercises its specific expertise and competence for the common good of the university.

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG), a body elected by students, holds regular meetings and takes up a wide variety of issues related to student life at the university. USG is comprised of 40 student leaders representing different class years, student groups and initiatives on campus. USG regularly meets with the president’s senior staff at a monthly breakfast. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, USG representatives also met with trustees over lunch at every Board of Trustees meeting. https://www.stthomas.edu/usg/

The Staff Council serves as a forum for communication and collaboration and as an advisory body that considers and makes recommendations regarding, or otherwise seeks to address, matters of common interest to its constituency, with the goal of advancing the mission of the University of St. Thomas.

The Faculty Senate meets once every two weeks and is responsible for establishing university-wide academic standards and policies in accordance with the university’s mission, and with particular attention to the common good of the university.

The Adjunct Faculty Council meets monthly throughout the school year, with the exception of summer. The Council consists of representatives from each of the university's colleges and schools and regularly consults with the university's administration on matters of governance and issues affecting adjunct faculty.

The university works closely with the West Summit Neighborhood Advisory Committee (WSNAC), which the St. Paul City Council established in 2004 to collaborate on issues of interest to the University of St. Thomas and the St. Paul residential neighborhoods that surround it. A St. Thomas trustee, the chief of staff, a student neighborhood senator and an assistant dean of students serve on WSNAC, and the director of neighborhood relations co-chairs it. The committee, which also has members from four neighborhood organizations, reports on its work annually to the St. Paul City Council. Additional information is available on the WSNAC website: http://wsnac.net/home/

The university’s primary campus in St. Paul straddles two of the city’s 17 district councils, and the university is active in both. A representative from St. Thomas serves on the board and on the transportation committee of Union Park District Council, which advocates for affordable housing, density along transit corridors and multi-modal infrastructure, among other initiatives. St. Thomas also regularly attends Macalester-Groveland Community Council’s transportation and housing & land use committees and collaborates with those groups on cycling promotion, chemical-free green space and more.

While faculty members, students and staff do not have an elected representative on the Board of Trustees, faculty serve on Board of Trustees committees for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs.

St. Thomas undergraduate students also have the opportunity to serve as one of two student representatives on three of the university's Board of Trustees committees: Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Audit/Finance.

A member of the university's Board of Trustees and an undergraduate student both serve on the West Summit Neighborhood Advisory Committee.