Chaparral 2022-2023: 31.1 Governance TidBits

Governance TidBits

by Frankie Strong
Governance Office Coordinator

Come together… A gathering of great minds.

Would you more likely attend a meeting if we called it a huddle?

Hello Everyone!

I hope your summer was full of adventure, yet restful. Even more so, I imagine that the Fall semester has been a relief to return to campus; to see our colleagues and friends; and to have a fresh jump into the new academic year!

It’s that time of year when governance committee meetings reconvene. As most committees do not meet during summer or winter we may be a bit rusty on how meetings work. Whether you have been part of a group meeting during the summer months or been one of those who indulged in not attending any meetings at all, I think the following tips will be helpful.

Preparation for meetings:

Chairs call for agenda items at least five days prior to the meeting date. Any non-member may also request that items be added to the agenda. Meetings should be held according to the schedule listed on the Blue List (AR2511).

Agenda and meeting materials are emailed by the chair to the committee members, including the agenda, previous minutes and documents to review. Meeting link and/or location is shared – most chairs utilize the same zoom room link – double check that the zoom link works. It is recommended to have a passcode and/or activate the waiting room feature(s).

Agendas should include the meeting link. Governance committee agendas are posted on the “Scheduled Meetings” page (when received by the governance office).

Providing 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.

Did you know that when you set up a Zoom meeting you can select options such as:

• requiring a passcode; customizing the passcode;
• setting up a waiting room;
• play a chime when someone enters the zoom room;
• audio and video of participants can be muted or allowed to unmute themselves, and more;
• Record the meeting is a great feature;
• Using Chat to record the motion and member vote – the chat can be saved as well;
• If using Zoom, a list of participants of a meeting can be accessed by utilizing the “Reports”; “Usage” feature.

If the above options are not set up beforehand, the host can always set options within the meeting room by going to “participants”, go to the ellipses (…), or three dots located in the lower right corner of the “participants” window.

I’ve observed meetings that run very smoothly because they had 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:

Order of decorum follows that of a live meeting – what this means is that side chat, or chat blast, is discouraged, which would be equivalent to speaking while the chair or member has the floor, or having a side conversation while the meeting is in session. The host is able to “mute all” by going to the ellipses in the “participants” window.

Some committee chairs are quite savvy when using a HyFlex room! It never ceases to amaze me to watch the conductor of a meeting acknowledge those who are in the room, and keep track of virtual attendees – mind boggling.

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. It is best practice for a chairperson to be clear about what counts as a vote: Hands raised, "Yes" or "Aye" in Chat, verbal response, etc.

It is nice to welcome all new attendees at the beginning of meeting, especially new committee members and guests. For governance committees, it is a welcome touch when the chair gives each member a chance to introduce themselves to the new student representatives, especially since student reps are rotated 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, or eating lunch – 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.

Some of GCC’s order of decorum to know:

• Quorum is the simple majority of voting members of the committee which is 50% + 1 of the total voting membership. NOTE: a vacant voting member seat is not counted when determining quorum.
• With regard to questions of order, committees follow Robert's Rules of Order (AR2511).

After the meeting:

The chair and/or designated person follows up on action items from the meeting.

When a committee makes a major decision, which will directly affect a specific individual(s) or department(s), the respective administrator for that area shall immediately inform those individuals who will be directly involved with or affected by the decision. Every effort should be made by the designated administrator to see that the information is dispersed to those affected prior to the distribution of the monthly Governance Update.

Each constituency group will take care to inform their representatives of their responsibilities and to provide them opportunities to keep their constituencies informed. This is achieved through the monthly constituent meetings of the CSEA; Guild; Academic Senate; Associated Student; MaC; and Executive Cabinet meetings (AR2511).

Minutes should be produced and shared no later than one month after a meeting, or sooner. Minutes are first reviewed by the Standing Committee, then posted in SharePoint. By the by, a Standing Committee represents one of the main areas of the college and has several subcommittees (see the Blue List for the complete list of our 30 governance committees). GCC has five Standing Committees, which are: College Executive, Institutional Planning Coordinating, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Administrative Affairs.

To review the actions of governance committees visit the monthly summary that is known as the Governance Update.

Your participation in governance is greatly appreciated. Your contributions to our decision-making process help to ensure that GCC remains the premier community college of our region.

Do you have any other hot tips for meetings?

Please send those my way to fstrong@glendale.edu