Resolution on Practices of Shared Governance at MU
Whereas shared university governance at its best is a transparent, multilateral, and robust system for decision-making that involves collaborative dialogue among students, staff, faculty, administrators, and community partners;
Whereas better decisions are made when everyone’s voices are heard without fear of negative reprisal, including especially in discussions of issues on which discussants may legitimately and in good faith disagree;
Whereas the unpublished discussions of unelected task forces, ad hoc committees, or other deliberative bodies with largely symbolic and often non-voting faculty membership—discussions that are often secret and occasionally bound by non-disclosure agreements—are not the same as transparent, open dialogue between campus stakeholders;
Whereas press releases or mass-emails announcing new university policies or initiatives as faits accomplis, and unannounced or unpublicized changes to university policies and procedures discovered only after the fact, fulfill the faculty’s right to be kept informed possibly in letter but certainly not in spirit (CRR 300.010 C.1.d.);
And whereas, finally and per explicit provision of CRR 300.010 C.3., the faculty of the University of Missouri is endowed with various forms of authority (essential decision-making authority, shared authority, and advisory authority) over many issues that have in recent years been decided in secret or with only nominal faculty input, including participatory authority to monitor administrative and academic operating procedures, and “to advise in educational planning, to appraise resource needs and fiscal conditions, and to advise on allocation and reallocation of resources” (CRR 140.020 B.),
Be it resolved that the faculty of the University of Missouri call upon the offices of the Provost and Chancellor to:
- First, commit to practicing shared governance in line with faculty authority as detailed in the MU Faculty Bylaws (CRR 300.010). When uncertainty arises about the specific extent of faculty authority, discussions of such matters should be brought to the full Faculty Council for discussion, deliberation, and clarification.
- Second, create genuine opportunities for faculty input by publishing any proposed significant changes to policies, procedures, or institutional priorities to faculty-accessible websites in advance of their adoption; and by scheduling subject-specific open forums, which all faculty may attend to provide input on proposed changes, likewise in advance of such changes’ adoption.
- Third, once policies have been changed, following opportunities for input as noted above, publicize all changes to the Collected Rules and Regulations (CRRs), including those that are Executive Orders, as well as other policies, and create easily accessible archival versions of amended or replaced policy documents.