Be Fearless in Governance With These Best Practices
We are well into the Fall semester. Routines have been established. Please keep in mind the following. BEST PRACTICES – I will to try to say all this in one breath.
Committees:
- Call for agenda items no less than 1 week prior to the meeting date.
- Share the agenda at least 3 days prior to the meeting date.
- Adhere to a regular meeting date and time – be sure to list the dates of upcoming meetings at the bottom of the agenda and minutes.
- Attach to the agenda a copy of the member list; it is available on the Blue List. (I ran out of breath)
- Always include the Zoom link on the agenda – a consistent link is preferred.
- Agenda should include regular business items: approval of minutes, old business, new business. Some committees use ‘Unfinished business – Action’, or ‘Informational items’ to share reports or updates.
Members:
- All voting members should attend, if unable to attend, please find a proxy from your same constituent group. All members should be familiar with the committee’s mission statement.
- All members should be aware of whom they represent, and who appointed them.
- Communicate proxy information to the chair of the committee and to the minutes recorder.
- Be sure to forward your proxy the meeting Zoom link; the agenda; and any other meeting materials.
Meeting Protocol:
- Quorum must be established in order to conduct business. For governance committees, quorum is 50% plus 1 of the voting membership (Administrative Regulation 2511: Governance Document). Seats that do not have a representative, and are thus vacant, are not counted toward quorum.
- Follow the established meeting protocol that may include using the ‘raise hand’ tool or typing ‘Q’ in the chat – whatever was established and is understood by the committee.
- No side conversations in-person or in Chat.
- Acknowledge guests, as some guests may actually be a proxy.
- During the meeting – it helps the minutes recorder if the motion is clearly stated; and the chair states who moved and seconded the motion.
- It is important that all members (voting and non-voting) are aware of meeting protocol; and best practices. This helps to ensure that meetings run smoothly.
- Go see Cal… ☺
THANK YOU! On behalf of the constituent leadership teams, and your colleagues, We appreciate your participation in shared governance. Your contributions to our College result in students receiving the best offerings that we can give.
For question on governance, feel free to contact me, Frankie Strong, Governance Office Coordinator at fstrong@glendale.edu
