Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.01
Liaison Paul Mathisen
Submission Date May 23, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.25 / 3.00 Liz Tomaszewski
Facilities Systems Manager/Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Department
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

Do the institution’s students have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a student council)? :
Yes

Do the institution’s students have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
Regarding item 1 above, the "Student Government Association" has a substantial system of elected officers and representatives for the undergraduate student body, and the "Graduate Student Government" has a similar system for the graduate students. Through these bodies the groups are responsible for aspects involving student life and participate in the overall governance of WPI. Regarding item 2 aboive, the elected presidents of the undergraduate and graduate student government bodies sit on the WPI Board of Trustees. Link to SGA: http://sga.wpi.edu/index.pl Link to GSG: http://wpi.orgsync.com/org/graduatestudentgovernment43823/About Link to announcement of student representatives at Trustee meetings: http://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1502&context=newspeak More information is below. " The Student Government Association (SGA) at WPI acts as the voice for the undergraduate student body and encourages open communication between students and the WPI community. The SGA's mission is to improve the quality of student life at the university, both academically and socially, by addressing student needs and concerns, providing financial structure for WPI's student clubs and organizations, and representing the student body in a professional manner. The Graduate Student Government (GSG) is the governing body of the graduate student population at WPI. Its slogan is ""Promoting Graduate Life,"" and it fulfills this goal by being an effective graduate student voice, communicating with faculty and administration, and providing academic and social functions for new and existing graduate students. Membership in both student governments is determined through annual elections.

Do the institution’s staff members have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a staff council)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s non-supervisory staff members have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
No

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
Staff are appointed to serve on the Fringe Benefits Committee, Wellness Committee and the Human Resources Advisory Committee. As an example, the Fringe Benefits Committee minutes are posted here: http://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/fbc-minutes/

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a faculty senate)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body? :
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which teaching and research faculty are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
WPI operates with a sysem of shared governance between the faculty and administration. All members of the faculty participate in monthly faculty meetings and vote in faculty elections. Among other things, these elections select faculty representatives for a variety of standing and ad hoc committees and also to determine the Secretary of the Faculty. The elected Secretary of the Faculty sits on the Board of Trustees and additional faculty representatives sit on the major committees of the Board of Trustees. Documentation of the governence system is provded here: https://www.wpi.edu/offices/faculty-governance

Part 2

Does the institution have written policies and procedures to identify and engage external stakeholders (i.e. local residents) in land use planning, capital investment projects, and other institutional decisions that affect the community?:
No

A copy of the written policies and procedures:
---

The policies and procedures:
---

Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which community members representing the interests of the following stakeholder groups can regularly participate in institutional governance?:
Yes or No
Local government and/or educational organizations No
Private sector organizations No
Civil society (e.g. NGOs, NPOs) No

If yes to one or more of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which external stakeholders are engaged in institutional governance (including information about each stakeholder group selected above):
---

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://www.wpi.edu/offices/faculty-governance

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.