Last Friday, the faculty convened for a forum on changes to committees for faculty governance. The meeting was led by the Committee on Governance and Faculty Affairs (GFA). Faculty members reviewed past changes to faculty committees from 1999–2000, 2008–2009 and those made earlier this academic year and spoke on what they believe faculty governance of the College should look like.

Several committees under the umbrella of college life, including Student Affairs and Admissions and Financial Aid, were eliminated during the 1999–2000 academic year. Governance and Faculty Affairs, previously two separate committees, were combined in 2008 to form what is currently GFA.

Many senior faculty members said that previous structures allowed for more incorporation of faculty input when it came to governing the College, especially when working with trustees.

Faculty also discussed the importance of meaningful committee work and the opportunity for junior faculty members to learn from their more senior colleagues while serving on committees together.

“I think that there’s some unintended consequences for faculty governance…. There’s less inclusivity in terms of how we’re governing and how faculty are involved in some really important decisions,” Professor of Anthropology Krista Van Vleet said.

After reviewing past changes to committee structure, the faculty moved toward brainstorming how they envision faculty governance in the future.

“It was really exciting to hear our bigger collective come in and have similar conversations to the conversations that have been happening in GFA,” Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Jay Sosa said. “GFA wants to know … which faculty governance activities we collectively find most worthwhile and effective.”

Each table of faculty made a list of which elements of faculty governance they find worthwhile and which might need improvement. Moving forward, GFA will use feedback from faculty members gathered at the forum in addition to information from smaller sessions to inform decisions surrounding changes to governance.