Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 70.01
Liaison Rebecca Walker
Submission Date April 13, 2022

STARS v2.2

Southern Oregon University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Rebecca Walker
Sustainability Manager
Facilities, Management, Sustainability and Planning
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Shared governance bodies

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:
ASSOU- Associated Students of Southern Oregon University
As the student government of SOU, the Associated Students of Southern Oregon University (ASSOU) fights for issues that matter to students on campus, in the community, in the state of Oregon, and nationally. ASSOU is committed to making students’ lives better through social organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter registration.

Staff Assembly
Staff Assembly is composed of 27 members elected by staff representing staff departments across campus.

Faculty Senate
Faculty Senate is composed of 24 members elected by the faculty who have the sole authority and responsibility to act for and on behalf of the faculty.

Part 2. Campus stakeholder representation in governance

Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
14

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

Part 3. Gender equity in governance

Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
6

Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
42.86

Website URL where information about the institution’s highest governing body may be found:

Part 4. Community engagement bodies

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:
Southern Oregon University works very intentionally to engage community members and local stakeholders in university planning and shared governance bodies. The university's Board of Trustees includes community members from local businesses, educational institutions, the hospital, the local utility provider, and a local renewable energy company. The university's Board of Trustees meetings are also open to the public and publicly noticed, with a time during each meeting for individuals to speak during the public forum.

The university also called in key community stakeholders to participate in the university's strategic planning process as well as the recent presidential search.

Optional Fields 

Number of people from underrepresented groups serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body.:
4

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.