Shared Governance History

History of Shared Governance at UHCL

In the latter part of the 1980s, members of the UHCL Faculty Senate, with support from key administrators, constructed a new kind of shared governance in which consensus within the UHCL community of faculty, staff, students and administrators would produce policies and related procedures for operating the university. The university discussed the new system for a year, modified it, and accepted it. Five shared governance committees were established.  All policies within the university entered the governance process and were approved according to the Faculty Senate Constitution.

A tenured faculty member who was elected by a vote of the faculty for a two-year term chaired each governance committee. Each committee had at least one representative from the Office of the Provost, one or two students from the Student Governance Association (SGA), one support staff representative from the Support Staff Association (SSA), one professional and administrative staff representative from the Professional and Administrative Staff Association (PASA), one representative of Administration and Finance, and at least four faculty members. Each college has at least one representative on each governance committee.

The shared governance system was based on consensus (majority of faculty and 60% of committee membership).