Shared Governance

Welcome to the Shared Governance Conversation

Adela de la Torre, Ph.D. President

“When I heard that this conversation was taking place at SDSU, I was thrilled. Shared Governance is ultimately about trust, a value central to my leadership. I am a Shared Governance advocate, and my hope is that you will be one to.”

Key Principles

Trust is recognized as a fundamental ingredient that is essential for effective shared governance.

Without trust, the practices of partnership, inclusion, open communication, ownership, and accountability are likely to break down.

Community members have identified three key principles for shared governance at SDSU that all rely on the fundamental ingredient of TRUST: 

Respect

• Early and meaningful constituent engagement in key decision-making;
• Dialogue and communication that is two-way, symmetrical, participatory, and reliable;
• Nurturing a culture of representation, strategic engagement, and planning

Communication

• Identifying and articulating shared values, mission, and vision.
• A negotiated balance among participation, consultation, and decision-making.
• Transparency in decision making, including clear communication about process, timeline, and outcomes.
• Representation from, and collaboration within and among, different constituencies.

Responsibility

• Trust built through follow-through (actions mirror words); commitment affirmed through feedback and transparency.
• Personal accountability, ownership, and acceptance of responsibility to shared goals, vision and practices, leaders demonstrate commitment to shared governance through actions.
• Honesty, openness, and reliability.

About Shared Governance

This effort began as a grassroots conversation among a group of SDSU faculty and staff. The idea of broadening the conversation was presented to then SDSU President Sally Roush who, in collaboration with the University Senate Executive Committee, brought together a diverse group of senators, administrators, staff and students to form a “Shared Governance Discussion Group.”

SDSU President Adela de la Torre embraced those early discussions after she joined the university in 2018 and supported the development of key principles that inform how we work together and share our governance.

Resources developed and avaiable for download include the following: 

• Booklet (PDF): The Booklet provides a comphrensive overview of the process that led to the framework, key principles and guidance for adopting Shared Governance at SDSU. 
• One Page Summary (PDF): The summary provides a brief introduction to Shared Goverance and its key principles.

A Framework to Facilitate a Shared Governance Conversation

Community Ground Rules for Reflective and Respectful Discussion

• Everyone participates; no one dominates (step up/step back)
• There are no “right answers”
• Listen with an open mind and an open heart
• It’s okay to disagree, but don’t be disagreeable
• Focus on this conversation (create a “parking lot” for other topics that come up, for a future conversation)

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

• What are some ways in which our unit/group/department currently enacts principles of shared governance? What are some ways in which our unit/group/department might better enact principles of shared governance?
• How do we feel about this focal document and the principles of shared governance it outlines?
• What might be some additional/different principles that we feel are foundational, generally speaking, to sharing governance at SDSU?
• What encouragement do we think would help people to actively want to share in governance, at any "level" or in any "area" of campus?

Bann Attiq
Personnel and Process Analyst
“I want to be part of an organization with a common vision and one that gives voice to its stakeholders; my contribution is becoming a shared governance advocate and giving voice to staff.”