The College has operated with a college-wide, shared-governance body since the early 1970s to promote an effective, balanced, and transparent system of shared authority among the various constituencies of the College. The governance structure has been revised several times since then to improve its efficacy and to expand its membership, culminating in the current body, the College Senate, approved by the Board of Trustees in 2004.

The purpose of the Senate is to facilitate the College’s educational mission and support student life by providing a vehicle for representative participation by all College constituencies. It is also a vehicle for an orderly system of formulating and communicating recommendations in the areas of academics and student life. The College Senate has seven standing committees as depicted in Figure 1 below.

The Senate membership includes elected representatives from the six College constituencies:

The constituency representatives are responsible for serving the interests of their members, informing members of Senate and Standing Committee actions, and sharing relevant issues with the Standing Committees, vice presidents, and/or the President’s Council for consideration.