Dear California Community College Colleague:

Over the last year or so, the California Community Colleges Classified Senate has been researching, discussing and preparing two informational position papers for your use.

Below are the two position papers prepared by the California Community Colleges Classified Senate (4CS) on Participatory (Shared) Governance and Classified Senates/Unions. These position papers reflect the experience of the 4CS members across the state and provide classified perspectives on these two important issues. We feel a need to share our understandings and recommendations surrounding these issues for educational purposes. The 4CS hopes these position papers will serve as a resource for sharing information, initiate constructive discussion and provide guidance for positive change. Comment on the position papers and requests for additional information is welcome.

For those who are unfamiliar with the statewide classified senate (4CS), or have heard of 4CS through classified channels. we encourage you to read these documents and contact your local 4CS Area Representative to learn more about us. The California Community Colleges Classified Senate supports, coordinates and encourages classified staff to participate in governance. 4CS is NOT a classified labor union. 4CS is the state-wide classified governance body, made up of the volunteer member classified senates and councils from across the state.

Before and after ABI725 was introduced in 1988, classified staff have developed classified senates and councils to effectively participate in community college shared or participatory governance (noncollective bargaining issues). The state wide classified senate has operated as a cohesive group for those organizations for over five years, offering networking, workshops at annual conventions, and a yearly leadership institute. These papers share the position of the 4CS on two issues that effect most all campus in California. Please share these documents with anyone you feel would benefit by them. If you would like to recommend these be papers sent to other individual or groups, please email your request to Marilyn Haines, 4CS Secretary at marilynh@fccti.cc.ca.us or call (559) 323-4688.

Sincerely,

Executive Board,
California Community Colleges Classified Senate
11/5/99
 
 

The advent of collective bargaining and classified unions within the community college system was an historically important event resulting in classified employee's right to representation and protection in critical issues affecting their safety, security, salaries and benefits.  Currently not all California community colleges have classified unions although classified staff at these colleges retains the right to elect to have one.

AB 1725 (Shared Governance, more accurately referred to as participatory governance) heightened awareness that classified employees were not affective participants in governance in the community college system. This is not to say that all superintendents choose a management style that excluded classified staff in their consultative and governing process. A number of formal and effective structures were developed for classified staff to participate in governance, meeting the needs of AB 1725.  Some found that the existing classified unions could meet the needs and responsibilities of participatory governance requirements. In most institutions, however, classified staff have elected to develop classified senates to assume participatory governance responsibilities.

Classified senates (sometimes called councils) were developed to represent classified staff in participatory governance issues only -- those areas not pertaining to collective bargaining. In 1995 Vice Chancellor and General Council for California Community Colleges Tom Nussbaum wrote in his position paper, Evolving Community College Shared Governance to Better Serve the  Public Interest, "... a body besides unions should represent classified in shared governance."  Shared governance was designed to address non-negotiable items and establish an environment of participatory, consultative governance. The senates are the vehicles for classified staff to contribute to the direction and health of the community college system for our students and community. In contrast, union missions are collective bargaining issues, primarily working conditions and salary, a responsibility that has taken on giant and critically important proportions.

In the same paper, however, current Chancellor Nussbaum also addressed typical district mechanisms for shared governance, two of which were the classified collective bargaining unit and senates.
 

"The union for classified employees also sometimes becomes empowered to participate on a broader range of issues as the district responds to regulations of the Board of Governors requiring the establishment of policies to ensure that "staff" can effectively participate in district and college governance. . . . While some districts have classified senates (see below) which participate in district and college policymaking and governance, others simply rely on their classified unions to name appointees to district/college committees, review policies, and otherwise participate in shared governance.

3. Classified Senate: Classified employees in at least 57 colleges [1995] have formed classified senates to enable this staff to participate in district and college governance. The notion has been that collective bargaining framework is not the appropriate arena into which to bring shared governance and the broad spectrum of policies involved in running a college."

The suggestion that a separate classified body should take on the role of input in participatory governance for classified staff was met favorably on a large number of community college campuses, as attested to by the number of classified senates developed (currently 71 out of 107). Some structures also exist that include both senates and unions in the participatory governance process.

When evaluating the relationship between senates and unions, it is important to acknowledge the history of the academic senates and unions. Academic senates developed prior to community college faculty unions. Faculty unions were formed to provide the valuable and necessary service of contract negotiations, apart from college governance functions. Classified senates were created after the presence of unions in most cases to function within the college governance process. The California Community Colleges Classified Senate (4CS) believes the need remains for a separate representative body for negotiable issues and a representative body for governance issues. Although one combined body has served both areas of classified issues, it is the position of 4CS that two distinct and  complimentary bodies serve those issues better in most cases.

Though some unions felt the development of senates to be a threat to their representation of classified staff, the individual classified senates and the 4CS have no goal or desire to usurp the collective bargaining duties and responsibilities of unions. By their very nature, unions are often placed in an adversarial position by their obligations and responsibilities. Unions represent classified interests, whereas governance bodies look at the interest of the institution, not of individual constituent groups. Classified staff have asked themselves whether a union can be as effective in both capacities of participatory governance and collective bargaining, especially during a period of contract negotiation or conflict resolution. The 4CS goal is to work together to increase classified participation in the governance of community colleges and districts in more avenues than have been previously available.

The Redwoods Decision is an example of an unsuccessful effort to develop a classified body other than a union. This was a case of an administration, not the classified staff, developing and establishing the mission for the classified senate. It must be made clear that other community college classified senates were not formed in this manner nor have they intruded on the responsibilities and duties of the union.  Senates must be developed locally by classified staff for participatory governance at that institution. The 4CS support and respect the responsibilities and duties of all unions in the system. The 4CS encourages senates/councils to work cooperatively to achieve clear communication between the two bodies to better serve classified staff, students and the institution.

The 4CS mission is to assure classified staff an important role in participatory governance and the mission of the community colleges by supporting the development of classified senates or classified governance bodies and act as a cohesive element of those bodies by providing information and representation on state-wide organizations related to community colleges, as well as leadership training. The 4CS provide information to all classified participatory governance bodies in the California community college system, whether senates, councils, unions, or other classified governance bodies. The 4CS respects the right of each district's classified staff to choose the classified body or bodies that best serves their needs and will continue to include them in all benefits achieved for classified staff by the 4CS. It is the hope of 4CS that unions will continue to work with classified senates/councils as partners in the common goal of an informed, professional classified staff to better serve the students, the institution, and the community.

Over the years since AB 1725, it is clear that classified staff have a professional interest in the overall health of the California community college system and in its effectiveness in serving the educational needs of students. In the future, 4CS would propose that a statewide coalition of all classified organizations would be of service and benefit to the system.

ADOPTED: October 14,1999
 
 

What is shared governance? Specifically, Education Code Section 70901(b) required the Board of Governors to adopt regulations setting "...minimum standards governing procedures established by governing boards in community college districts to ensure faculty, staff, and students the right to participate effectively in district and college governance, and the opportunity to express their opinions at the campus level and to ensure that their opinions are given every reasonable consideration..." shared governance, then, is a complex web of consultation and decision-making and responsibility that translates goals into district policy or action.

Currently it is widely agreed that the term "shared" governance is not truly descriptive of the process as the implementation intended.  "Participatory" governance is more descriptive of the actual process. Ultimately liability continues to remain with the local governing board.  Although the term "participatory" is replacing the term "shared" governance, we will, for clarity, use the original term in this position paper.

AB 1725 (1988) and Title 5 of the California Education Code bring the force of law to the concept of shared governance. However, shared governance, as outlined in AB1725, is not a new concept. Title 5§53203 directs district boards to delegate authority and responsibility to district faculty, through their academic senates, in the shared governance process as it relates to academic and professional matters, i.e. curriculum, degree/certificate requirements, grading policies.  AB 1725 also defined a role for student participation in governance.  Title V of the Education Code was amended to ensure that students would have the opportunity to participate in college governance and to make recommendations concerning College policies and procedures that would have significant effect on students. [Sec. 510723.7] The 4CS applaud this action and strongly supports the role of student participation in governance.

In less detail, classified staff, referred to as "staff" are guaranteed the opportunity to provide input in all areas that affect staff,  " ... for staff participation in governance outside of the arena of collective bargaining." (Minimum Standards for Staff Participation in Governance, Board of Governors, California Community Colleges, September I3-14, 1990.) AB 1725 directs boards to provide opportunity for input, and ensure that the recommendations and, opinions of faculty, students, and staff receive reasonable  consideration. Moreover, it charges the faculty to assume a degree of responsibility and active participation in shared governance not previously exercised, and it institutionalizes the roll of classified staff and students. Shared governance brings to institutions a total quality management model that includes all employees in the successful operation and accountability of that institution. This form of participatory government provides a unique model of governance that has resulted in the potential to serve institutions well.

Perhaps, in the beginning, the term "shared" governance created an atmosphere of expectation of greater control by all constituents. Perhaps it threatened those who had, up to that time, made unilateral decisions without adequate input and research.  Whatever the case, in some institutions there were those who resisted the change. Using the vernacular of the time, paradigm shift was truly descriptive of the atmosphere concerning shared governance. Change was coming, and was not welcomed by all.

Though many classified senates (also called councils) existed prior to AB 1725, the law resulted in the development of many more classified senates across the state. A few classified unions strongly resisted the growth of classified senates, viewing them as a threat to their control of classified issues. The classified staff at each college found it necessary to evaluate the ability and effectiveness of its union/negotiating body to assume participatory governance responsibilities. Some institutions recognized that there were working limits to the role of classified unions. Limits the districts were unwilling to expand. In these cases, classified staff found it advantageous to consider senates or another body to fill their role in participatory governance. In many cases, the unions, already pushed to their limits by the negotiable and legal aspects required of them, were unable to separate union issues and tactics from those appropriate to shared governance. It is recognized that some districts have found the relationship between unions and administration to be one of such cohesiveness that their unions met the needs and responsibilities of participatory governance well. It is important to note that the California Community Colleges Classified Senate (hereinafter referred to as 4CS) is representative of the shared governance interests of all community colleges, their unions and senates/councils, whereas no single union represents all classified staff across the state.

In some districts, unions continued to misunderstand the role of a classified senate and they resist the development and operation of classified senates, resulting in the division of classified staff over the issue. After years of discussion on the division of duties and responsibilities, many classified staff groups had decided that large numbers of them are members of the unions and their choice of representation in participatory governance should be respected. As a result, the vast majority of districts have senates/councils (71 at last count). In some colleges and districts classified staff have their union represent them in both governance and collective bargaining. Others have both a senate and union. Yet some colleges have only a senate or council with no formal union. Each district has dealt with the shared governance requirement in order to meet their needs.

It is the position of 4CS that the best scenario is for two classified bodies, a union and a senate, each with unique skills and knowledge to best concentrate on their respective group for dividing up the work, effectively utilizing the skills of individuals, delineation of the intent and purposes of the individual issues of collective bargaining and participatory governance. Two bodies are better than one. The goal, of course, is for those two bodies to work in unison to promote not only all the concerns of the classified staff, but the betterment of the institution as a whole and a successful learning environment for students. Ultimately, however, the role in participatory governance is not to look out for the "best" interest of a constituency group, but of the institution and its mission. Our role in participatory governance is to strive for what is best for the students, institution, and its mission - not what is in the "best" interest of individual groups.

Shared governance has many definitions. There are a multitude of variations of governance structures and local policies. Each district has evolved individually in regards to shared governance. Some have evolved positively; some have stagnated, depending on their administration and leadership. There are also those districts that have struggled to understand and accept the participatory governance ideal or are struggling among their faculty, students, and staff to establish their roles. Shared governance has had its time to evolve - now it is time to revisit its successes and failures and to redefine and improve it. Using the term "participatory" rather than "shared" is a beginning step to clarify this difficult concept.

The 4CS supports the strengthened role of faculty and students, particularly academic and student senates, in community college governance. The 4CS similarly supports classified staff  " . . . opportunities to participate in the formulation and development of district and college policies and procedures, and in those processes for jointly developing recommendations for action by the governing board, that the governing board reasonably determines, in consultation with staff, have or will have a significant effect on staff." [Sec. 51023.5(4)]. It should be made clear that the 4CS endorses classified senates as the representative bodies for all classified staff in professional matters other than those in the collective bargaining arena. However, the 4CS supports each district's model of shared governance as it meets the needs of input for their classified staff and allows them an institutionalized voice in the decision-making processes at the college.

Participatory/shared governance is in the best interest of the institution and it's students and creates and endorses a spirit of collegiality among all groups concerned with providing quality education. Shared Governance legislation has led to increased involvement of all segments of the college community as participation on committees from representative groups and has been encouraged and institutionalized.
 

"However, the term 'shared governance' implies more than information sharing; it demands from those who most frequently make the decisions (the Board of Trustees and the Administration) the belief that by giving all groups a valued and respected voice in decision-making processes, the college will be governed more effectively . Only as the Board and the Administration demonstrate shared governance in its purest sense by opening up these processes and sharing them with a cross-section of all constituencies will any model of shared governance function significantly differently then that structure which currently exists."
(Perspective on Shared Governance, Butte Community College District, 1991)

Participatory governance is a responsibility and classified senates/councils, and other classified governance bodies have eagerly risen to that challenge. The 4CS strongly believes that classified staff participation is essential in providing valuable information and input because of their expertise and experience. Classified staff are involved in every area of our colleges and are committed to the belief that input from classified staff, the people in the trenches, provide essential contributions to the institution's ability to make sound "educated" decisions with the best available information. It is also essential that support for participatory governance be recognized and practiced at the state level on councils, task forces and groups as well as at district/college levels.

The 4CS believe that the driving force behind shared governance must be first and foremost, the student. The student is our reason for being, and true "shared governance" must never lose sight that our primary mission is a successful learning environment for students.
 

ADOPTED: October 14,1999

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