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Participatory Governance Manual

Overview

Participatory governance is defined as a collaborative effort of college administration, faculty, staff, and students for the purpose of achieving the college mission, vision, and values.

Cañada College's participatory governance and shared decision-making processes are designed and implemented in accordance with California Education Code sections §70901 and §53203, §51023.5 and §51023.7, as well as San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees Board Policy 2510: Participation in Local Decision-Making and Administrative Procedure 2.08.1: District Participatory Governance Process.

All members of the Cañada College community are invited to participate in planning for the future, informing priorities, and making recommendations to the College President. Each year, new and existing members of all participatory governance groups participate in an orientation. The Fall 2024 Orientation can be found here.

In lieu of a printed manual, Cañada College has created this virtual manual (with links to the left) to explain it's participatory governance structure, philosophy, and corresponding planning, assessment, and budgeting processes.

Participatory Governance Bodies

Cañada faculty, students, and staff are considered the primary constituency groups at Cañada College. Each of these are represented by a Senate:

Representatives from each of these Senates, work together with college administrators to collaborate in the following participatory governance Councils:

and College Committees:

A Compendium of Participatory Governance Bodies  describes the role, responsibility, membership and relationship of all college-wide committees to the PBC. Other Operational Groups or Task Forces may exist for a specific purpose (see definitions below) but are not participatory governance groups. The College definitions of each participatory governance and related body is detailed below:

Participatory Governance Definitions

Council

A primary participatory governance body: PBC, IPC, SSPC, and EAPC, whose membership is representative of all four college constituency groups-students, faculty, classified staff, and administration.

Senate

Academic, Classified and Student Senates each represent a single college constituency group. (These may include subcommittees per their bylaws.)

College Committee

Participatory governance bodies (with at least one of each of the four college constituency groups in their membership) each responsible for a specific plan. College Committees complete the following:

  • Draft the plan (based on the college plan template to ensure alignment with college goals and accreditation objectives/standards)
  • Solicit input and seek approval for plan from each Planning Council
  • Submit plan to PBC for final review and approval
  • Monitor college-wide implementation of the committee plan
  • Report annually to PBC on the progress made toward achieving the committee plan

Task Force or ad hoc Work Group

Small groups created by a Planning Council or a Committee for a short time— less than a year-for a defined "task" or purpose. The membership of the Task Force relies on topic experts, interested parties, and may include representation of college constituency groups as determined by the founding Planning Council or Committee.

  • If Classified Staff, Faculty, or Students are participating in a Task Force or ad hoc Work Group, then CSEA (working with Classified Senate), Academic, and Student Senate will appoint their members accordingly.
  • Per Board Policy 2.08

Operational Groups

Operational groups, for example, like iDeans or College Council, serve College functions or specific purposes related to college operations. Likewise, Professional Development (Article 13) or Evaluation Guidance Committees fulfill faculty contract obligations. They serve operational functions per the faculty contract. Operational groups are not college participatory governance planning committees.

College Committees are responsible for shaping and implementing college plans related to their area of expertise (e.g., distance education, technology, etc). These plans are meant to implement strategic initiatives related to those areas in the College's Educational Master Plan. In October, 2020, the PBC approved a College Plan template and Committee Bylaw template. College Committees report regularly to PBC on the progress made on plan development and implementation.

 

Last updated by PBC May 15, 2024