Doane University Shared Governance Documents and Updates

Dear Doane University,

As you may recall the University Shared Governance Committee (USGC) was formed in January 2023 and is charged with:

1. Addressing all disputes reported to the USGC

2. Reviewing and recommending updates to the Shared Governance policy

A subcommittee spent this spring addressing all feedback given in November and finished details on the dispute resolution process and shared governance policy. The full USGC met in March and May.  You will find the agendas (including notes) from the subcommittee's work and details of the finalized Shared Governance Policy on the Shared Governance Website.

The ARC ("Approve-Recommend-Consult") matrix has been updated, but some substantive decisions still need to be made by the full USG committee. These changes will be finalized in the fall of 2023. While we are in the process of finishing our current tasks, please feel free to reach out to your constituency group (Faculty Council, Staff Council, Leadership Team, Board of Trustees) or any member of the University Shared Governance Committee with your questions about shared governance.

Sincerely,

The University Shared Governance Committee

Denise Ellis and Peggy Hart, Co-Chairs

Dear Doane University,

In the fall of 2022 and stemming from the work of the Shared Governance Steering Committee, Doane University's constituency groups were given an opportunity to provide feedback on the revised Shared Governance Principles and operational components of the Shared Governance Policy. In addition to the request for input, the Board of Trustees approved the Shared Governance Policy at their October 2002 meeting. With the Board's approval, the next step in operationalizing the Shared Governance Policy was creating the University Shared Governance Committee (USGC). President Hughes convened this group in January. USGC's composition includes employees from all constituency groups with half of the USGC members selected from the Shared Governance Steering Committee.  The members are:

Staff

Denise Ellis (Steering Committee, Co-chair)

Quinn Stryker 

Faculty

Amanda Irions (Steering Committee)

Peggy Hart (Co-chair)

Board

Tony Ganzel (Steering Committee)

Betsy Tonniges 

Administrative Team

Lorie Cook-Benjamin (Steering Committee)

John Frost 

The Committee will meet quarterly and is charged with:

1. Addressing all disputes reported to the USGC

2. Reviewing and recommending updates to the Shared Governance policy

The Committee most recently met in March. We are currently reviewing feedback given in November and finishing details on the dispute resolution process. The Committee will be meeting with the HLC Focus Visit team next month, and we encourage all employees to refer to the "Weekly Preparation for the HLC..." emails you've received from the President's Office in order to understand the ways in which this visit may focus on shared governance.

While we are in the process of finishing our current tasks, please feel free to reach out to your constituency group or any member of the University Shared Governance Committee with your questions about shared governance.

Sincerely,

The University Shared Governance Committee

Members of the Staff and Faculty Councils

This fall, we will begin implementing our revised system of shared governance.  The system is the result of a year’s worth of work by the Shared Governance Steering Committee (SGSC).  I hope you will join me in expressing my deepest thanks to the members of the committee:  Amanda Irions, Chairperson, Brian Pauwels, Chris Brady, Lorie Cook-Benjamin, Tim Frey, Denise Ellis, Susan Fritz, Toni Ganzel, Bill Pallett. 

It is crucial we implement the system while adhering to the principles and values that guided their development by allowing time for consultation, recommendations, and consideration of feedback from all stakeholders.  Please note the timeline outlined below allows for careful consideration by all parties. 

Because all stakeholder groups had input into the work done by the SGSC, and because their resulting work was vetted by our AGB Shared Governance Consultant, I am confident the SGSC has developed a good system.  Should the feedback identify major “landmines”, we will fix them immediately.  Should minor revisions be noted, we will go forward with implementation and correct those after the first year. 

You will find attached the values and principles of shared governance as developed by the SGSC.  Please share these values and principles with your constituencies BEFORE Dr. Maxwell’s visit on September 7&8. Further implementation and feedback will occur AFTER Dr. Maxwell’s visit and will follow the timeline below.  It is critical you encourage your colleagues to attend one Dr. Maxwell’s presentations (zoom will be available). 

Implementation Timeline

Sept 1.                     Shared Governance Principles and descriptions of operational components sent to constituency groups (Leadership Team, Faculty Council, Staff Council, Executive Committee of the Board, Dean’s Council). Constituency groups share with constituents and solicit feedback from constituents AFTER training with David Maxwell.

Sept 7-8                   David Maxwell visits Doane with sessions on shared governance.

Sept 10-19               Employees and Board members send any “major” issues to constituency group regarding the Shared Governance Principles. Major in this context is defined as content that would inhibit Doane from embracing shared governance and is accompanied by a solution to address the issue. Constituency groups address the issue or forward the issue to President Hughes (and Jenei) for consideration.

Sept 20-26               President Hughes responds to constituency groups to resolve major issues. President Hughes sends a new version of Shared Governance Principles with any updates.

Oct 21                      The Board of Trustees vote on approval of the Shared Governance Principles

Oct 24                      Pending Board approval, the operational components of the Shared Governance Principles (Approve-Recommend-Consult Decision Making Framework, Violations Procedure, Updates Procedure, University Shared Governance Committee) will be sent to the constituency groups (Leadership Team, Faculty Council, Staff Council, Executive Committee of the Board, Dean’s Council). Constituency groups share with constituents and solicit feedback regarding major issues.

Oct 24-Nov 7            Constituency groups respond with approval or notify President Hughes (and Jenei) of major issues. 

Nov 8-15                  President Hughes responds to constituency groups to resolve major issues.

Nov 16                      Implementation of operational components. 

Thanks again to the Shared Governance Steering Committee for all their time and effort.  I look forward to partnering with you to continually improve our governance and our culture.

TO: All Doane employees

FROM: President Hughes
 
SUBJECT: Shared governance update and next steps (employee use ONLY)
 
Last fall (2021) the Shared Governance report of findings was shared with me, the Board of Trustees, the Leadership Team, the Deans, Faculty Council, and Staff Council. In November 2021 the report was made available to all Doane employees. The report * can be found on the shared governance steering committee website, at https://www.doane.edu/shared-governance.  You will be required to login with your regular employee username and password to access the document. 

Doane hired Dr. David Maxwell, an Association of Governing Boards (AGB) Consultant, last spring to assist Doane shareholders in understanding and implementing the values and principles of shared governance at our university. Dr. Maxwell met with the Board of Trustees in late spring 2022 and is scheduled to meet with Faculty and Staff on September 7 and 8, 2022, in person (Crete campus) and via Zoom.

Please save the following times on your personal calendar. More information (meeting venue, Zoom links, etc.) will be shared as we finalize the schedule.

Wednesday, Sept 7, 2022

11:00 AM - Faculty

1:30 PM - Staff

2:30 PM - Deans Council

4:00 PM Faculty

 

Thursday, Sept 8, 2022

8:30 AM - Staff

10:00 AM - Staff Council

11:00 AM - Leadership Team

 

*Please note that this document is intended ONLY for current Doane University employees. It is not to be shared with students, former employees, or outside constituencies. We thank you in advance for observing this request for confidentiality, as doing so builds trust between the different stakeholders at Doane as we undertake the process of improving shared governance at the university.

Hello!

We are excited that the Shared Governance Report is now available to all Doane staff, faculty, and Trustees. Now that we all can read the report, we can all begin working together to repair and improve Doane’s shared governance policies and practices. The first of two shared governance town halls was held last Monday, Dec. 6, and the recording will be added to the Shared Governance site soon.

The second town hall is scheduled for 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13, in Heckman. If you are unable to attend in person you may join the Zoom webinar at https://doane.zoom.us/j/92146999691?pwd=c3l5NlQ4WFBUSjE1bnlrVmFrMVNrZz09 with passcode: 702308.

We hope to learn and talk about your questions and thoughts about the report. You are welcome to ask questions and share your thoughts during the town halls. For those who are unable to attend the town halls or who would like to share your questions and thoughts anonymously, you can share them here. 

As always, we are eager to hear your thoughts and learn from your experiences. We hope to hear from you and we hope to see you on Monday.

Sincerely,

The Shared Governance Steering Committee

Chris Brady ([email protected])

Lorie Cook-Benjamin ([email protected])

Denise Ellis ([email protected])

Tim Frey ([email protected])

Susan Fritz ([email protected])

Toni Ganzel ([email protected])

Amanda Irions ([email protected])

Bill Pallett ([email protected])

Brian Pauwels ([email protected])

Hello!

We are excited that the Shared Governance Report is now available to all Doane staff, faculty, and Trustees. Now that we all can read the report, we can all begin working together to repair and improve Doane’s shared governance policies and practices. Our first step begins with the two shared governance town halls, 8-10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 6, and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13, both in Heckman and via Zoom. We hope to learn and talk about your questions and thoughts about the report. You are welcome to ask questions and share your thoughts during the town halls. For those who are unable to attend the town halls or who would like to share your questions and thoughts anonymously, you can share them here. 

As always, we are eager to hear your thoughts and learn from your experiences. We hope to hear from you and we hope to see you on Monday.

Sincerely,

The Shared Governance Steering Committee

Chris Brady ([email protected])

Lorie Cook-Benjamin ([email protected])

Denise Ellis ([email protected])

Tim Frey ([email protected])

Susan Fritz ([email protected])

Toni Ganzel ([email protected])

Amanda Irions ([email protected])

Bill Pallett ([email protected])

Brian Pauwels ([email protected])

Hello!

In the past two weeks, the Shared Governance Steering Committee has been learning about shared governance from a variety of perspectives. We believe it is important to understand shared governance from many perspectives because it means we can be more responsive to all of Doane’s stakeholders and their needs, perspectives, and interests.

We invite you to read about shared governance with us. If we all are going to participate in the work of shared governance — and it is work that is everyone’s to do — then it will be useful for all of us to share some language and concepts. We believe the following articles and chapter are a good place to begin because they were recommended in the Shared Governance Report and/or offer perspectives about inclusive shared governance practices.

• What exactly is ’shared governance’? (Olson, 2009)

• How to make shared governance work: Some best practices (Bahls, 2014)

• Statement on government of colleges and universities (American Association of University Professors, 1966)

• What is the role of university staff in shared governance? (Mathews, 2020)

• Student representation in university decision making: Good reasons, a new lens? (Luescher-Mamashela, 2013)

• The future of shared governance (Crellin, 2010)

This email is one of our shorter updates because we have been focused on learning more about shared governance, uncovering our blindspots, and learning more about those, too. We take shared governance very seriously, so we believe in the value of creating a strong knowledge base to guide this committee’s efforts. As always, we hope you will share your thoughts and questions with us — we hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,
 

The Shared Governance Steering Committee

Chris Brady ([email protected])

Lorie Cook Benjamin ([email protected])

Denise Ellis ([email protected])

Tim Frey ([email protected])

Susan Fritz ([email protected])

Toni Ganzel ([email protected])

Amanda Irions ([email protected])

Bill Pallett ([email protected])

Brian Pauwels ([email protected])

We are the Shared Governance Steering Committee. This advisory committee is charged with coordinating, communicating, and engaging with stakeholders about shared governance. This email is the first of many that we plan to send to everyone in the Doane community. We plan to send these updates every other week so that everyone can learn about the committee’s progress and plans. In this message, we will explain what shared governance is, how the committee was created, and introduce the committee's members and thestakeholder groups they represent. A brief update about the first meetings concludes this message.

For those who may be unfamiliar, shared governance is a delicate balance of structures, processes, and practices through which faculty, staff, administration and the Board of Trustees and, as appropriate, students participate in developing policies and practices that govern the university’s processes. Those involved in shared governance strive to balance maximum participation in decision making with responsibility and accountability1.

In Fall 2020, the Board of Trustees commissioned a group of consultants to study and make recommendations for improving the processes and practices of shared governance at Doane. Theconsultants completed their work in Spring 2021. One of their recommendations was to create a SharedGovernance Steering Committee, with two people each representing staff, faculty, administration, and theBoard of Trustees. President Hughes appointed the following people to represent the four governancestakeholder groups: 
 

Staff

• Chris Brady, Omaha location director ([email protected])
• Denise Ellis, Registrar ([email protected])

Faculty

• Amanda Irions, Chairperson of the Shared Governance Steering Committee and chairperson of the Undergraduate Academic Affairs chairperson ([email protected])
• Brian Pauwels, Chairperson of Faculty Council ([email protected])

Administration

• Lorie Cook Benjamin, interim Chief Academic Officer ([email protected])
•Tim Frey, Dean of the College of Education and Chairperson of the Institutional Review Board ([email protected])

Board of Trustees 

• Susan Fritz, Board Member at Large ([email protected])
• Toni Ganzel, Board Member and Chairperson of the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee ([email protected])
• Bill Pallett, alternate Board Member ([email protected])

We have met three times so far. In our meetings, we have committed to providing timely, clear, accurate, and complete communication with each other and with everyone in the Doane community (indeed, these email updates are one outcome of that commitment) and we have begun to study shared governanceprocedures and practices, both at Doane and exemplar universities. 

You may find that some email updates contain information about a lot of progress while others might contain relatively little. Both kinds of updates, as well as those in the middle, are good, necessary, and to be expected because they all reflect the truth about the committee’ progress and sometimes progress happens unevenly. In any case, we hope you will ask us your questions and share your thoughts with us so that we can have the best possible information so that we can best serve the Doane of today and the future.

Sincerely,

The Shared Governance Steering Committee