Participatory Governance Manual

Overview

Participatory governance is defined as a collaborative effort of college administration, faculty, staff, and students for the purpose of achieving the college mission, vision, and values.

Cañada College's participatory governance and shared decision-making processes are designed and implemented in accordance with California Education Code sections §70901and §53203, §51023.5 and §51023.7, as well as San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees Board Policy 2510: Participation in Local Decision-Making and Administrative Procedure 2.08.1: District Participatory Governance Process 

All members of the Cañada College community are invited to participate in planning for the future, informing priorities, and making recommendations to the College President. Each year, new and existing members of all participatory governance groups participate in an orientation. The Fall 2024 Orientation can be found here.

In lieu of a printed manual, Cañada College has created this virtual manual (with links to the left) to explain it's participatory governance structure, philosophy, and corresponding planning, assessment, and budgeting processes.

Participatory Governance Bodies

Cañada faculty, students, and staff are considered the primary constituency groups at Cañada College. Each of these are represented by a Senate:

• Academic Senate
• Associated Students of Cañada College
• Classified Senate

Representatives from each of these Senates, work together with college administrators to collaborate in the following participatory governance Councils:

• Planning & Budgeting Council (PBC)
• Instructional Planning Council (IPC)
• Student Services Planning Council (SSPC)
• Equity & Antiracism Planning Council (EAPC)

and College Committees:

• Distance Education Advisory Committee (DEAC)
• Honors Transfer Program Committee
• Professional Development Planning Committee
• Safety Committee
• Technology Committee

How these participatory governance bodies work together and how the college's mission is the foundation for all college planning and resource allocation decisions is depicted in the diagram below. 

A Compendium of Participatory Governance Bodies  describes the role, responsibility, membership and relationship of all college-wide committees to the PBC.  Other Operational Groups or Task Forces may exist for a specific purpose (see definitions below) but are not participatory governance groups.  The College definitions of each participatory governance and related body is detailed below:

Click for enlarged image

College Committees are responsible for shaping and implementing college plans related to their area of expertise (e.g., distance education, technology, etc).  These plans are meant to implement strategic initiatives related to those areas in the College's Educational Master Plan.  In October, 2020, the PBC approved a College Plan templateand Committee Bylaw template. College Committees report regularly to PBC on the progress made on plan development and implementation.

 

Last updated by PBC May 15, 2024