Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 61.15
Liaison Ashley Woolman
Submission Date April 8, 2022

STARS v2.2

Western Colorado University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Kevin Alexander
Associate VP
Academic 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 Yes

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

Graduate and undergraduate students have the Student Government Association (SGA). SGA's mission is to better serve the students and make sure that all students are involved with the decisions Western makes. SGA acts as the official voice of the Associated Student Body and protects the rights and privileges of the student body. Faculty have Faculty Senate, which consists of elected representatives from each department of Western and is the primary body through which faculty participate in the shared governance of Western. Staff has Mid-Managers for participatory governance, which is represented in cabinet. Non-academic staff also participates in the Board of Trustees.


Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
11

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:
1

Number of non-academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
1

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:
45.45

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the campus-community council or equivalent body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them:

Western hosts multiple stakeholder forums that are open to the public and allow community members to provide feedback. The School of ENVS hosts a spring community forum for stakeholders to provide feedback on environmental research priorities. In the fall of 2022 a community forum was held to gather community input on sustainability planning for the next ~30 years. A community forum was held in spring 2022 for a new housing project in order to receive feedback, answer questions, and address concerns.

In addition to these community forums, there are many avenues for community members to provide feedback on institutional decisions through a variety of local groups, which include: Gunnison City Council (student member), The One Valley Leadership Council (valley wide long range planning commission apt by county commissioners),
Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (previously tourism association/now run the ICELab), The Gunnison Valley Community Foundation (like Western's foundation but for the community), The Keystone Group (5 major employers in the valley for SP).


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.