Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.60
Liaison Jane Stewart
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

Washington and Lee University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.88 / 3.00 Kimberly Hodge
Director of Sustainability Initiatives and Education
Student Affairs
"---" 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 No

A brief description of the institution’s formal participatory or shared governance bodies:

Student self-governance is a tradition of the institution that remains today. Students have the Executive Committee and the Student Judicial Council.

Executive Committee: (Excerpt from the Student Body Constitution)
Adopted May 22, 1905
Last amended March 31, 2017 by a 993 to 110 vote of the Student Body.

Preamble: On May 22, 1905 the students of Washington and Lee University assembled in Lee Chapel to constitute themselves as a self-governing body. At this meeting, the Student Body declared that its goals would be as follows:

The Promotion of College Spirit
The promotion of love for each other and a greater love for our alma mater
The settlement of all affairs which concern the best interests of the Student Body
The attainment of those things which will go to make the University greater in every way
To achieve these ends, the Student Body elected officers and representatives to an Executive Committee charged with the administration of the Honor System and the governance of student organizations. Since that day, this spirit of independence and communal responsibility has sustained an unwavering dedication to the principle of student self-government. This constitution is the instrument through which this principle is preserved.

https://my.wlu.edu/executive-committee/student-government/student-body-constitution

Student Judicial Council:
The Student Judicial Council (SJC) was created by authority of the faculty of Washington and Lee to promote the notion of individual responsibility.

The SJC investigates and acts upon complaints of alleged student misconduct, except for dishonorable acts that involve the general categories of lying, cheating, stealing, or other breaches of trust (which are under the jurisdiction of the Executive Committee); or acts that involve discrimination, harassment, retaliation, sexual misconduct (which are under the jurisdiction of the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Board); or hazing, retaliation associated with hazing, or other violations of University policy by a fraternity or sorority (which are under the jurisdiction of Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Council). The Student Judicial Council's jurisdiction extends to all conduct committed while a member of the Washington and Lee community, including but not limited to study abroad programs, pre-orientation, pre-season athletic practices, campus summer programs and camps, and summer research programs. Students who return to Lexington or Rockbridge County for the purpose of enrolling in classes, even if they do not reside in University housing, are under the jurisdiction of the SJC as well as the other University conduct systems. The SJC is designed to affirm the student's obligation to individual responsibility and to see that obligation fulfilled. https://my.wlu.edu/student-life/policies-and-guidelines/student-conduct/student-judicial-council

Faculty have the Faculty Executive Committee:
FEC acts ad interim for the university and undergraduate faculties when the faculty cannot meet; it receives student, faculty, and departmental petitions requesting exceptions to University regulations on matters not delegated to other University Committees; it originates recommendations to the university and undergraduate faculties relating to matters not delegated to other University committees; it receives a suggested one- and five-year undergraduate calendar from the Registration and Class Schedules Committee and recommends a calendar to the undergraduate faculty; it acts as the faculty's "committee on committees;" and it advises the President and Deans on matters not delegated to the Advisory Committee. The committee will be the point of contact between the undergraduate faculty and the Dean of Admissions about policy regarding undergraduate admissions and practices. The committee's current membership is listed at www.wlu.edu/provosts-office/resources-for-faculty/committees/permanent-committees/faculty-executive.


Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
33

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

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
8

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
24.24

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:
---

Number of people from underrepresented groups serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body.:
3

Website URL where information about the institution’s governance structure is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Eight faculty and one student also attend Board meetings, but are not considered actual members of the Board of Trustees.


Eight faculty and one student also attend Board meetings, but are not considered actual members of the Board of Trustees.

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