II. Collaborative Governance Processes

A. Decision-making and Consensus

1. The chair of each committee shall preside over each meeting. In their absence, the chair-elect shall preside. 
2. Members appointed to committees on an ex officio basis shall have the same rights and responsibilities as all other members, unless appointed as a non-voting participant.
3. Every member is expected to attend all meetings. Quorum must be established by all committees prior to proceeding on their agenda. Quorum shall be defined by the presence of a majority of the total number of allocated seats excluding non-voting participants. 
4. Committee chairs generally look to establish consensus on issues where possible. Any member can call for a vote, if consensus is unachievable. Decisions shall be made by the majority in such cases. 
5. All governance entities shall utilize the rules contained in the current edition of Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure for all questions of parliamentary procedure that are not inconsistent with this charter.
6. Matters relating to interpretation of this charter shall be directed to the UCC for determination. 

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B.  Collaboration and Feedback

1. Governance entities that are actively considering policy issues are expected to report and seek input at various stages during their deliberations. 
1. All governance entities shall post agendas in a place accessible to the campus community at least one week prior to each meeting.
1. Committee Chairs may make updates to the agenda no later than three days prior to the posted meeting, by indicating changes on the public document.
2. All governance entities shall post minutes in a place accessible to the campus community no later than two days after approval by a majority of the committee, no later than two weeks after each meeting. Meeting minutes can be approved either in person or electronically.
3. All governance entities shall post their final recommendations and/or reports in a place accessible to the campus community.
4. Input during the policy-making process should include opportunities by stakeholders to provide feedback at three critical points: the definition of problem(s), the formulation of tentative solution(s), and a review of the final recommendation(s) or policy(ies), which is informally known as the Rule of Three. These three steps will take place in no fewer than two meetings. This applies to any mention of the “Rule of Three” in this document.  
2. Transparency in the decision process should be pursued at all levels.
1. Deliberations and discussions held during committee meetings are not considered confidential, except in the rare case where information is clearly identified as  “confidential,” or the discussion occurred during executive session.
2. At least once per quarter, policy committees will designate time for members of the campus community to communicate directly with them. This opportunity will be publicized to the campus community.
3. Members of policy committees, councils, and task forces should be provided all necessary information in a timely manner for fruitful discussion and policy consideration. Occasionally, however, information that is shared with a committee may be designated as confidential.
4. Executive Session.
1. When necessary, governance entities may engage in confidential deliberations. Therefore, governance entities may decide to move to executive session to hold these confidential deliberations.
2. The request to move to executive session shall be made as a motion, seconded, and requires a simple majority to pass.
3. Minutes shall note that the entity moved to executive session and the topic of discussion, but specifics of discussion may be omitted from the minutes.
4. Members of the committee are required to keep all discussions occurring in executive session confidential.
5. To exit executive session, either a motion must be made, seconded, and passed by a simple majority vote, or the meeting is ended. Minutes shall note that the entity came out of executive session and any decisions made will be reported in the public minutes.

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C.  Subject Matter Jurisdiction

1. Policy Committees shall have primary responsibility for all policies that fall within their indicated scope.
2. Any request for policy change or addition, which may fall within the subject matter expertise of multiple policy committees, shall be directed to the UCC for delegation to the relevant policy committee(s).
3. The UCC shall have sole responsibility of determining how to create collaboration between various committees, when necessary.

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D.  Collaboration with Campus Community

1. Policy committees shall work with and obtain feedback from the appropriate constituents of the university community on matters that affect their members, in alignment with the Rule of Three.
2. Concerns about irregular practice within collaborative governance should be reported to the UCC.
3. The governance website will include a repository for links to agendas, minutes, and year-end summaries of all governance entities, as well as include summaries of policy changes under review and approved (or rejected).
4. In June, each governance entity will submit to the UCC an End of Year Summary Report, which will be made available to the entire campus community.
5. When conducting consultation via surveys, governance entities will use anonymous data collection techniques, keep the survey open for at least one week, and report the quantitative results and qualitative summaries back to the community. Any deviation from these norms will be communicated clearly to the participants prior to their taking the survey.
6. If changes are made to the administrative organization chart that alter the reporting administrator who receives recommendations from a policy committee (or their designee), the administrator planning the change will discuss the potential implications for collaborative governance with the UCC prior to implementing that change.

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E.  Relationship with Senates

1. Policy committees shall work with and obtain feedback from the Senates on matters that affect their members, in alignment with the Rule of Three.
2. Communication between Faculty Senate Council and Faculty Affairs Committee, Staff Senate and Staff Affairs Committee, Associated Student Government Senate and Student Affairs Committee should be regular and on-going. Each policy committee should request space on agendas during the regular academic year from their corresponding Senates to provide updates and receive feedback on issues under discussion.
3. Senates are not responsible for the development of policies, but can do the following:
   1. Request that a Policy Committee initiate a discussion related to the creation of a new policy or modification of an existing policy.
   2. Request that a Policy Committee provide a report to the appropriate Senate on current and relevant matters.
   3. Send feedback to the Policy Committee on any current relevant matter under discussion.

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F.  Regular Leadership Meetings

1. Each policy committee shall hold a meeting at the end of each academic year with at least (a) the outgoing chair, (b) the incoming chair, (c) the administrator serving on the UPC, and (d) the administrator to whom the UPC makes its recommendations. At a minimum, this meeting will give its participants a venue to review the charge and protocols for the policy committee, the end of year report, talk about the state of any issues that will be continuing from the previous year to the coming year, and, in particular, discuss what worked well in the previous year and what could be improved from the previous year to the coming year.
2. The UCC will convene regular meetings of the leadership of governance entities (policy committees, councils, and task forces) and senates at least quarterly to discuss issues, flag common problems, and see a larger picture of governance.

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G.  Policy Creation and Administrative Responses

1. Final policy recommendations coming from a policy committee shall be sent to the relevant university administrator by the chair, with a copy to the UCC Chair. The administrator shall confirm receipt of the policy recommendation within five (5) calendar days. 
2. The university administrator receiving the policy shall provide a written response to the policy committee chair, with a copy to the UCC Chair, within 45 calendar days (from the date sent) and before a policy goes into effect. 
   1. If the policy is approved, the administrator will provide an implementation plan with the approval notice.
   2. If the policy is rejected, the administrator will request to meet with the committee to discuss the reasons for the decision and to explore whether an alternative solution might be acceptable.
3. In rare instances where a policy committee and appropriate administrator are unable to reach agreement, even after further discussion following the administrator’s response, the committee may submit its position document to the UCC for presentation to the President for consideration.

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H.  Governance Orientation

1. Orientation programs for new governance members should include an introduction to collaborative governance at Santa Clara University, presented in consultation with the UCC.
2. All administrators new to the university shall be invited to attend either a formal orientation hosted by the UCC or a one-on-one discussion with the UCC chair about the functions of governance at SCU.
3. A new administrator who will serve on a policy committee and/or who will review recommended policies from a policy committee will receive that policy committee’s approved procedures guide and a copy of this charter.

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I.  Collaborative Governance Operations Manual

1. The UCC shall maintain the Collaborative Governance Operations Manual, which shall include information about governance operations, processes and protocols, and the procedural guide developed by each policy committee and council.
2. Each policy committee and council shall develop a procedural guide which shall include guidelines for typical processes. Relevant administrators shall participate in the development of their respective policy committee or council procedures guide(s).
3. The Collaborative Governance Operations Manual shall be reviewed regularly in consultation with all interested entities and persons. 
4. The Collaborative Governance Operations Manual shall be available to the campus community.

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