University of Dayton
PA-3: Governance

All full time undergraduate students have an avenue to participate and elect representatives to the SGA, Student Government Association. They have access to a software program called OrgSync – and that is used to elect representatives to SGA by class (first-year, sophomore, etc.) and by major (Arts & Sciences rep, School of Business Admin rep, etc.).

An elected SGA member is typically put on one of the Board of Trustees committees. This representative is typically the president of the SGA.

The School of Engineering created a forum for student participation in the 2016 strategic planning process which established a new mission, vision, goals, and initiatives for the school. University-wide, students can recommend new initiatives through the SGA. The SGA can then write a resolution recommending the University address the new initiative. Two years ago, SGA put forward a resolution asking the University to provide more services and visibility for LGBTQ students, and recommended hiring a staff person to oversee that area. In a multi-year response, a task force was created to look into this, and students from SGA were appointed to the task force. Much was then implemented after the Task Force developed recommendations. This past year, a Graduate Assistant was hired to do much of the work, and starting this summer, a new full time position was created. SGA did put forward a resolution this year for more communication/transparency by Public Safety. The University is currently reviewing the proposal.

Staff participate in university governance through serving on committees including the President’s Council, President’s Cabinet, Human Resources Advisory Council, and the University Policy Coordinating Committee. Staff typically serve as a representative for their unit at the request of their unit leader.

Staff participate in establishing mission, vision, goals, prioritization of programs and projects, and strategic long-term planning took place through conversations, forums, and open session across the university community in developing Vision 2015. An example of staff contributing to establishing new policies and communication and transparency practices is through the University Policy Coordinating Committee which serves as a venue to revisit, refresh, and make accessible all existing university policies. Through managing unit budgets, non-supervisory staff participating in in budgeting and physical resource decision-making.

Faculty participate in university governance through the Academic Senate, the Human Resources Advisory Council, and the Education Leadership Council. Tenured and tenure-track faculty elect representatives to the Senate within their division or unit, and full-time non-tenure track faculty elect a representative, as do adjunct faculty. Students, undergraduate and graduate, and administrators are also represented on the Academic Senate; however, all Senate officers are faculty members. Additionally, faculty are nominated to participate on various committees which consult on and develop policies. Representatives report to the provost’s office and to campus units.

Faculty representatives are elected by unit or division by their peers. Faculty members chair the three primary committees of the Senate: student academic policy committee; academic policy committee; and faculty affairs committee. There are 24 faculty representatives on the Academic Senate.

a) Establishing organizational mission, vision, and/or goals? Faculty have a formal role in establishing the university vision, and to a lesser extent, its mission. The mission is primarily determined by the founding Marianist identity with limited evolution. The vision is crafted during the strategic planning process, a process in which faculty formally participate. In the most recent strategic planning process, faculty participated through conversations held across campus, forums, commenting on drafts, and reviewing the draft in the Academic Senate. b) Establishing new policies, programs, or initiatives? The Academic Senate is responsible for establishing academic policies. Policy proposals can be brought forward to the Senate by any committee or individual faculty member. Faculty representatives can also propose policy initiatives to the Vice President for Human Resources through the Human Resources Advisory Council. c) Strategic and long-term planning? See above, a) Mission, Vision, and Goals. d) Existing or prospective physical resources? Faculty representatives serve on physical resource planning committees. For example, the Academic Senate president has served on the recent master planning committee. For departmental or division-specific resources, department chairs represent the faculty to the division dean, and depending on priorities, the input continues through the provost office. The Provost and Academic Senate President serve on the President’s Council, along with the Vice President for Facilities and the Vice President for Finances, ensuring representation in physical resource decision-making. Some physical resource proposals are also submitted to the Academic Senate for consultation. e) Budgeting, staffing and financial planning? Input from faculty on staffing decisions passes through the departments to the unit dean, then to the Provost and Vice President for Finances and Administrative Services. Faculty contribute to budget decision-making at the department-level, with the option of requesting additional funds from the unit dean. The Vice President for Finances and Administrative Services also presents detailed financial reports at Academic Senate meetings, taking comments and questions, which may create changes. Faculty are involved with long-term planning financial planning as the university considers future demographic and enrollment shifts. As a tuition-driven institution, faculty provide input on new program considerations, implementation, and planning to meet the future expected shifts in enrollment and student interest. f) Communications processes and transparency practices? Faculty raise concerns and recommend policy changes regarding university transparency through the Academic Senate and the Faculty Board. The Faculty Board is elected by the faculty body, and focuses on raising issues and concerns about campus practices; it holds at least one issues forum each spring. g) Prioritization of programs and projects? Through consultation with the faculty, the unit deans prioritize programs and projects. This is generally done in consultation with the faculty of that unit. However, each academic unit uses somewhat different processes. For example, in the School of Business, the dean meet with the faculty once every two weeks. In the College of Arts and Sciences the dean meets every two weeks with the department chairs and program directors who bring issues back to their departments. For setting University-wide priorities, the Academic Senate would be consulted. Additionally, the Educational Leadership Council serves as a “pre-planning” capacity when new priorities arise. This Council is composed of the chairs of the Academic Senate Executive Committee and each of the subcommittees; the Provost, and the University President.