Westminster University - Utah
PA-3: Governance

ASWC is the student government of Westminster College. Students fund its budget with student fees, select its leadership through elections, and benefit from the programming, grants, and services that it offers. There is a 30 member student senate which all students can run for. There are also elected positions available as president, vice president, inter club council president, and chief justice. There are many appointed positions. All students have the ability to vote in elections.

The president sits on the Board of Trustees. There are also many other appointed members that sit on committees and boards that govern the institution, and an appointment process for those positions is currently being worked on and put in place. Elections are held every year in which students are allowed to vote on candidates.

In regards to strategic planning and mission/vision, the college completed a strategic plan this year, in which students were involved at every process. Also, the final strategic plan and vision statement were voted on by the student senate. New policies have placed students on both the curriculum committee and the liberal education committee, which make decisions about changes to academics at the college. There is a student representative on the financial aid and finance committee. Student government plays a large role in the communication and prioritization of programs, and in the coming year they will be working to ensure there is even greater student involvement.

The staff has a Staff Council that is elected by the staff. One of the Staff Councils' many jobs is to place staff onto committees, task forces, and work groups that carry out many of the functions on campus. Some of those committees have governance and oversight responsibilities.

The Chair on the Staff Council is invited to participate on the President’s Cabinet, which has some governance responsibilities.

Staff serve on the Strategic Planning Council and on various steering committees which help shape the vision and goals of the college. An example is in the last strategic plan there were at least 3 all staff sessions to receive input on the vision and goals of the college. Staff are often called on to help establish campus wide policies or initiatives. For example, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety is tasked with helping to draft the Workplace Violence Prevention policy and plan. The Strategic Planning Council is an ongoing work group that helps keep the college moving on its long term strategies and initiatives and has two non-administrative staff on that council. Staff often serve on committees dedicated to sustainability, which include the use and expanding of physical resources. Staff have several members that are non-administrative who serve on the President’s Budget Advisory Committee. This is a work in progress, in which staff council is striving to bring transparency in processes and decision making. Staff are often given freedom to affect their own areas in terms of project generation, sustainability. Staff also receive representation through the staff council to have staff members placed on committees that prioritize programs or hiring committees for new programs.

Faculty have regular all-faculty meetings in which policies for faculty are voted on. Also faculty have a Senate (voted on by the faculty) that represents faculty opinion to the Administration. Faculty itself, according to our bylaws, have governance responsibilities which is why faculty are able to vote on school matters.

Senate Chair and Faculty Chair attend board meetings and the President’s Cabinet.

Faculty have spots on all the committees that establish mission, vision and values, campus wide programs, and long term planning, and have 3 spots on the Strategic Planning Council. Faculty have representation on the President’s Budget Advisory Committee. Faculty are the main driving force for search committees and are part of almost all search committees. Faculty have spots on committees that establish priorities for programs and projects.