Chaparral 2021-2022: 30.6 Governance TidBits

Governance Tidbits

by Frankie Strong
Governance Office Coordinator

In governance it is all about collaborating, sharing information, and open communication. There are 5 standing committees which are tied to the 5 major areas of the college (College Executive, Institutional Planning, Academic Services, Student Services, and Administrative Services). Additionally, there are 25 governance subcommittees. Governance committees follow guidelines from Administrative Regulation 2511: Governance Document.

The actions of the governance committees are reported monthly in the Governance Update. The 2020-2021 academic saw 348 motions passed with 148 Governance Committee meetings held. In comparison, so far this academic year 2021-2022 there have been 470 motions passed with 104 Governance Committee meetings held. There are a few more governance committee meetings scheduled for the remainder of the month of May and June, so those numbers may increase by the end of June.

I applaud the committee chairs and minutes recorders for working tirelessly to ensure that agenda are shared, and that minutes are reported monthly. The result of your efforts has ensured that the flow of information is kept moving. These consistent practices ARE an accomplishment in my eyes.

Agendas shared with the Governance Office are posted on the “Scheduled Meetings” page. Chairpersons upgraded their meeting practices by providing a consistent Zoom link, and by making the link public by including it on the agenda. The member list is a part of the agenda that many chairs have adapted. Including the member list is helpful so that all can see which seats are held by whom, and to see who are voting members and non-voting members. For governance committees the most up to date member list is available as the Blue List.

After governance committee minutes have been reviewed they are placed in SharePoint. Agenda and minutes of the Academic Senate, and unions, CSEA and Guild respectively, are available within their designated page in SharePoint. Look for these within the “Committees” button.

Best practices continue to be, well, practiced. Including Zoom etiquette, continued good practices of assigning proxy, attending meetings, monthly reporting of minutes and actions, and the monthly governance update.

Some great upgrades to how meetings are run:

I’ve observed that it works very well when there is a ‘meeting team’. What this means is that the chair creates the zoom link and makes other Executive members co-hosts. This enables the co-hosts to also ‘share screen’. Co-hosts can have certain responsibilities during the meeting such as one person monitors the chat and informs the chair of comments or questions that arise in the chat. Another person can ensure that names of attendees are correct and thus recorded as such. And yet another person can be the keeper of all materials to display by way of the ‘share screen’ feature: materials such as the agenda, minutes, or PowerPoint. All members should read or review the meeting materials beforehand; this is just good practice.

During the meeting:

• How one conducts themselves follows as if you are in-person – what this means is that side chat, chat blast, is discouraged. It is distracting, and to be frank (pun intended), quite rude to have side conversation while the chair or member has the floor. The host is able to ‘mute all’ by going to the ellipses in the ‘participants’ window.
   
• It is helpful when a chairperson shares the meeting protocol or guidelines – this helps participants to be aware of and to follow the guidelines set forth. Be clear about what counts as a vote: Hands raised, "Yes" or "Aye" in Chat, verbal response, etc. Some chairs type in the chat the item that is called for a vote and asks that members type in their vote; end of the meeting the Chat can be saved as a text file – helpful for minutes!
   
• It is nice to welcome all new attendees at the beginning of the meeting, especially new committee members and guests. For governance committees, it is nice that the chair gives each member a chance to introduce themselves to the new student representatives, especially since student reps are changed each semester.
   
• Participants can ensure that their name is correctly displayed – this helps with recording attendance. One can accomplish this by hovering over their name; two buttons appear, select the blue ‘more’ button.
   
• Participants can raise their virtual hand in Zoom to be called upon. Questions can be typed in chat.
   
• It is ok to have your video off – I know that sometimes it is distracting to see everyone fidgeting – but at the same time it is nice to scroll through to view the smiles of friends and colleagues.
   
• By the way, meeting link and I.D. is available in the Zoom conference by selecting the green shield in the upper left corner of the screen.
   

After the meeting:

The chair and/or designated person follows up on action items from the meeting. Minutes should be produced and shared no later than one month after a meeting, or sooner.

Looking ahead, our students and the college benefit from your participation in governance. I look forward to seeing what other innovation/upgrades are brought forth to how we do governance. We truly appreciate each and every contribution you have made and continue to make. The future looks bright – how do I know? Because of the dynamic people that I am honored to work with, and that are part of our GCC community. Wishing you much happiness and health in the upcoming summer months!

Frankie
Your friendly neighborhood Governance Office person