I. Purpose
A. Anne Arundel Community College (the “College”) has established a transparent governance structure that clearly articulates the roles, responsibilities and accountability for decision-making by each of the College’s institutional constituencies including its governing body, administration, faculty, staff and students.
B. Shared governance engages institutional constituencies to offer informed and timely input on policy development and decision-making concerning strategic planning matters that impact how the College meets its mission, vision, values, and goals.
II. Scope and Applicability
A. This Policy applies to all members of the College community, including trustees, faculty, staff, and students.
B. This Policy addresses the role of each Constituency Group and Academic Forum and Council within institutional governance. It recognizes that certain areas of authority for policy development and decision making are set by Federal and State law, Board bylaws, and/or negotiated labor contracts, and as such, they fall outside the scope of this Policy.
C. To the extent that the College Manual or Constituency Group or Academic Forum Charters conflict with this Policy, this Policy supersedes such documents.
D. Where a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) applies, the terms of the CBA shall govern to the extent they conflict with this Policy.
III. Definitions
A. Academic Council is a representative body for the Academic Forum, as defined in the Academic Forum Charter.
B. Academic Forum is the group of employees and students delegated with the responsibility for Academic Matters as set forth in the Academic Forum Charter.
C. Academic Matters are instructional functions for which Faculty, through the Academic Forum and Council, have primary, but not exclusive responsibility. Academic Matters include:
1. Curriculum, including established prerequisites and placing courses within disciplines;
2. Degree and certificate requirements;
3. Grading protocols;
4. Educational program development;
5. Standards or protocols regarding student preparation and success;
6. Faculty roles and involvement in institutional and program-level accreditation processes, including self-study and annual reports;
7. Protocols for faculty professional development activities;
8. Other academic matters, as mutually agreed upon between the President and the Academic Forum or Academic Council.
a. Academic Matters do not include Faculty Status.
b. Academic Matters do not include non-instructional functions, such as, but not limited to, admissions, processes and structures for registration for classes, enrollment services, student support services, student conduct matters, financial aid, facilities, public safety, information and technology infrastructure services, physical and digital accessibility, athletics, dining services, health and wellness center, auxiliary services, general accounting and billing, organizational structure, Personnel Actions, and other administrative services and activities.
D. Academic Regulations are standards regarding student academic progress and grading.
E. Administration includes the President and Vice Presidents (PVP).
F. Administrative Staff includes College employees who hold exempt positions and are members of the Administrative Staff Organization.
G. Board is the College’s Board of Trustees.
H. College-Wide Ad Hoc Committee is a group of Employees and/or Students appointed by the President or designee on an ad hoc basis to perform the duties assigned by the President or designee until the duties have been completed and is disbanded by the President or designee.
I. College-Wide Committee refers collectively to College-Wide Ad Hoc Committees and/or College-Wide Standing Committees.
J. College-Wide Standing Committee is a standing group of Employees and/or Students appointed by the President or designee to perform the duties assigned by the President or designee on a permanent basis, unless disbanded by the President or designee.
K. Constituency Group refers to The Faculty Organization (“TFO”), the Administrative Staff Organization (“ASO”), the Professional and Support Staff Organization (“PSSO”), and the Student Government Association (“SGA”) (collectively, “Constituency Groups”). The structure and membership of employee Constituency Groups at the College are established in accordance with the College’s Constituency Group Procedure.
L. Divisions of the College include Learning, Learner Support Services, Learning Resources Management, Information and Instructional Technology, Office of the President, and such other divisions as may be created by the College.
M. Employee(s) includes Officers, Faculty, and Staff.
N. Faculty includes Full-Time Faculty, Part-Time Faculty, and Special Term Faculty who are members of TFO.
O. Faculty Status includes faculty appointments, reappointments, sabbaticals, promotions, tenure, and suspension or dismissal of tenured and tenure-track faculty, and shall be governed by applicable college policy and procedure
P. Full-Time Faculty includes full-time employees of the College who hold academic rank, including teaching faculty and library faculty, and excluding those employees with academic ranks while they are serving as Administrative Staff or an Officer.
Q. Officer includes the College president, vice presidents, and the registrar.
R. Part-Time Faculty is an employee of the College who is hired on a course-by-course basis to teach or perform non-instructional academic duties for the College. Part-Time Faculty are only employed by the College during the duration of the course or contract.
S. Personnel Actions(s) include creating, modifying, reclassifying, and eliminating positions; assigning and reassigning employees to positions, which may include promotions, demotions and transfers; increasing or reducing work hours; modifying salaries; and implementing furloughs.
T. President is the President of the College.
U. Professional Staff includes College employees who hold exempt positions and are members of PSSO.
V. Shared Governance is a method of organized and collegial interaction in which College Constituency Groups make recommendations, give input, or seek feedback regarding policy development and decision-making for strategic planning matters that impact how the College meets its mission, vision, values, and goals.
W. Special Term Faculty is an employee of the College who holds academic rank and is hired for a specific and limited period of time through a contract, which may include additional or different terms and conditions than other College faculty.
X. Staff includes Administrative Staff, Professional Staff, and Support Staff.
Y. Student is an individual who is enrolled in any course offered by the College.
Z. Support Staff includes non-exempt employees who are members of PSSO.
AA. Task Force is a group of Employees and/or Students appointed by an Officer or designee to perform the duties and consider the issues assigned by the Officer or designee for a specified period of time, typically to study or work on a specific topic or issue.
BB. PVPL is the Provost/Vice President of Learning.
CC. VPLSS is the Vice President for Learner Support Services.
IV. Principles of Shared Governance
A. Shared Governance is characterized by:
1. Open and transparent dialogue through clear channels of communication, recognizing that there may be legal or business reasons as to why certain information may not be shared, such as personnel matters or competitively sensitive information;
2. Trust, collaboration, and alignment with the College's mission, vision, values, resources, and goals;
3. Mutual respect for the leadership structure, recognition of the role of the Administration to fulfill its management responsibilities, and valuing faculty, staff, and students in fulfilling their obligations to participate in Shared Governance;
4. An understanding that the Faculty, through the Academic Council and Academic Forum, have the primary but not exclusive responsibility for Academic Matters;
5. Rights and responsibility to contribute to major decisions for which Employees have expertise or special interests related to their job duties.
V. Shared Governance Framework. The College recognizes the following institutional constituencies within this shared governance framework.
A. Board of Trustees. The Governor of Maryland appoints individual trustees to serve on the Board. The Board has all of the duties set forth under Maryland law as well as the duties set forth in the Board’s Bylaws.
1. The Board serves the public interest, assesses that the College clearly states and fulfills its mission and goals, has fiduciary responsibility for the College, and is ultimately accountable for the academic quality, planning, and fiscal well-being of the College.
2. The Board of Trustees shall exercise general control over the College, including, but not limited to, fixing the salaries and tenure of the president, faculty, and other employees of the College; purchasing, leasing, condemning, or otherwise acquiring any property it considers necessary for the operation of the College; determining entrance requirements and approving academic program offerings; preparing a budget; entering into contracts; appointing and evaluating a president; appointing qualified faculty members and other employees necessary for the efficient administration of the community college upon recommendation of the President.
3. The Board of Trustees is the sole College body responsible for setting College policies and its bylaws.
4. The Board possesses final decision-making authority on all matters for which it has not delegated authority to the President.
B. Administration. The Administration structure, consisting of the President and Vice Presidents (PVP), provides an organization within which it can administer the affairs of the College within the bylaws, resolutions, and policies of the Board.
1. The President serves as the College’s Chief Executive Officer with full authority and responsibility to provide leadership for achieving the College’s long-range goals and short-term objectives in support of the College’s mission.
2. The Board delegates authority to the President to:
a) Develop and implement institutional plans, including but not limited to the College’s strategic plan;
b) Determine the administrative structure, organizational structure, and staffing of the College, including but not limited to, determining the number of positions, and an organizational chart, accessible by the College community;
c) Appoint Officers;
d) Take Personnel Actions in accordance with applicable College policies and procedures;
e) Identify and allocate resources;
f) Direct the College towards attaining the goals and objectives, as set forth in the College’s strategic plan;
g) Develop, revise, approve, and maintain College procedures in accordance with the Policy and Procedures on Development of Policies and Procedures; and
h) Supervise the College’s operations, including instruction, personnel, funds, facilities, and equipment.
3. The President (or formal designee) serves as the Administration’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance and retains ultimate authority and responsibility for submitting recommendations that are proposed to the Board for review and action.
C. The Administrative Staff Organization (ASO) represents Administrative Staff in the College’s Shared Governance structure as defined in the ASO Charter and makes recommendations to the President on matters that fall within Administrative Staff responsibility, and fall outside of the scope of any bargaining unit contract, in accordance with applicable College policies and procedures.
1. The ASO shall make recommendations to the President, in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure, subject to ultimate approval by the President.
2. The ASO, in the person of the ASO President (or designee), serves as the Administrative Staff’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance.
D. Academic Forum. Academic Forum is the group of employees and students delegated with the responsibility for Academic Matters as set forth in the Academic Forum Charter. Academic Council is a representative body for the Academic Forum, as defined in the Academic Forum Charter.
1. The Academic Forum or Academic Council shall make recommendations regarding Academic Matters to the PVPL, in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure, subject to ultimate approval by the PVPL and the President.
2. The Academic Forum or Academic Council shall make recommendations regarding Academic Regulations to the PVPL, in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure, subject to ultimate approval by the PVPL and the President.
3. The Academic Forum, in the person of the Academic Forum President (or designee), serves as the Academic Forum’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance.
E. The Faculty Organization (TFO) represents Faculty in the College’s Shared Governance structure as defined in the TFO Charter and makes recommendations to the President on matters that fall within Faculty responsibility and fall outside of the scope of any bargaining unit contract, in accordance with applicable College policies and procedures.
1. The TFO shall make recommendations to the President in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure, subject to ultimate approval by the President.
2. The TFO, in the person of the TFO President (or designee), serves as the faculty’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance.
F. Professional and Support Staff Organization (PSSO) represents Professional and Support Staff in the College’s Shared Governance structure as defined in the PSSO Charter and makes recommendations to the President on matters that fall within PSSO responsibility and fall outside of the scope of any bargaining unit contract, in accordance with applicable College policies and procedures.
1. The PSSO shall make recommendations to the President in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure, subject to ultimate approval by the President.
2. The PSSO, in the person of the PSSO President (or designee), serves as the professional and support staff’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance.
G. The Student Government Association represents Students in the College’s Shared Governance structure as defined in the SGA Charter and makes recommendations to the President on matters impacting student life, in accordance with applicable College policies and procedures.
1. The SGA shall make recommendations to the VPLSS, in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure, subject to ultimate approval by the VPLSS and the President.
2. The SGA, in the person of the SGA President (or designee), serves as the student’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance.
H. College-Wide Committees and Task Forces
1. The President or designee may establish a College-Wide Standing Committee, College-Wide Ad Hoc Committee, or Task Force in accordance with the Shared Governance Procedure.
2. College-Wide Committees and Task Forces shall make recommendations to the President, or designee, on matters specific to the Committee’s and/or Task Force’s charge, subject to ultimate approval by the President.
3. The College-Wide Committees and Task Forces, in the person of the College-Wide Committee and Task Force Chair (or designee), serves as the College-Wide Committee’s and Task Force’s voice and liaison on matters of shared college governance.
VI. Policy Development
A. The Policy on Development of Policies and Procedures (“Development Policy”) establishes a transparent, consistent, and standardized approach for all policies and procedures to be collaboratively created, revised, discontinued, reviewed, approved, and maintained.
B. Constituency Groups shall offer informed and timely input on policy and procedure development in a manner consistent with the Development Policy.
VII. Decision Making
A. Decisions that are made through the Shared Governance process generally concern strategic planning matters that impact how the College meets its mission, vision, values, and goals.
B. Decisions that fall within the authority of an Employee’s job description or role at the College or within the daily operational jurisdiction of a division or a department, including but not limited to, decisions regarding allocation of financial resources within the budget, Personnel Actions and decisions, and the day-to-day administration of college operations, do not go through the Shared Governance process, unless otherwise stipulated in another policy or procedure.
C. The roles of Constituency Groups within this shared governance framework do not supersede any collective bargaining agreement for labor unions certified as exclusive representative of College Employees.
D. Budgets, Personnel Actions, resource limitations, dates and deadlines, and the policies or procedures of external groups, bodies, and agencies having jurisdiction over the College may set limits to realization of the Academic Forum’s or a Constituency Group’s recommendations.
E. The authority assigned to members of an Employee Constituency Group within this shared governance framework shall be linked to the professional responsibilities, competence, and/or specific expertise as set forth in the Employees’ job duties.
F. Flexibility and agility are necessary as certain decisions need to be made more quickly and in a way that may not allow for an extended consultative process while maintaining a commitment to seeking as much input as is appropriate under the circumstances (e.g., expedited consultation with Academic Forum and Constituency Group leaders).
G. Decisions regarding individual teaching within the classroom, pedagogy, and academic freedom do not fall within the scope of the Shared Governance process. Academic freedom is governed by the Academic Freedom Policy.
Policy Title: Shared Governance Policy
Policy Category: General
Policy Owner: President
Policy Administrator: Provost/Vice President for Learning
Contact Information: tcmillner@aacc.edu; 410-777-2332
Approval Date: March 11, 2025
Effective Date: March 12, 2025
History: Previously contained in the College Manual
Applies to: All College employees, trustees, and students
Related Policies: N/A
Related Procedures:
Forms/Guidelines:
Relevant Laws: