Saint Mary’s College president Katie Conboy announced a new shared governance and decision-making project to the student body via email Wednesday morning. Named the “Shared Governance Task Force,” the committee will be composed of two Board of Trustee members, two administrators, two faculty members, two staff members and two Saint Mary’s students. The names of these individuals were not released in the email.
Conboy wrote that the task force’s responsibilities will include developing and proposing a model of shared governance and communications that will reflect the College’s mission statement and values.
“We will be looking for community engagement along the way, not only here at the start of the project, but also periodically as we progress,” Conboy wrote.
The creation of this project will be in collaboration with David Maxwell, a consultant and senior fellow for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). Maxwell will conduct a webinar on Wednesday, March 5 at 3 p.m. via Zoom to discuss the details of the project. The link to this webinar was shared with the student body shortly after Conboy’s email.
Over the course of the next several months, the task force and Maxwell will be expected to produce three statements: one of shared governance, one of principles, which will define the culture of decision-making, and one of threshold conditions for effective shared governance. They will also create a decision matrix and a communications strategy for the College.
Conboy shared that she will provide updates on the status of the project throughout its duration.
