Governance Committees

President’s Cabinet

Purpose: The President’s Cabinet constitutes the operational leadership team for the college. It typically has scheduled biweekly meetings with the President, the purpose of which is threefold:

• to keep the President briefed on the colleges internal operations as well as to review any items requiring the President’s or the full Executive Staff’s action;
• to ensure ongoing communication between/among the President and the staff; and
• to provide the President with an established mechanism for soliciting the input of the staff on larger college direction.

Membership: Executive Vice President for Academic & Student Affairs; Vice Presidents for Finance, Information Systems, Workforce Solutions and Institutional Advancement; Director of Institutional Effectiveness; Chief Operating Officer for Facilities; and Associate Vice President for Human Resources.

President’s Advisory and Planning Council (PAPC)

Purpose: Acts in an advisory capacity to the President on college-wide matters and, particularly, in the college’s annual and strategic planning process. Handles the ongoing assessment of the governance system and oversees the creation of new committees. Makes assignments to standing committees as needed.

• Classified Association
• Faculty Senate
• Student Government Association Federation Council

Classroom Teaching and Learning with Technology Committee (CTLTC)

Purpose: To address the teaching and learning issues brought on by changes in information technology. To enable faculty and staff to share ideas and address concerns and needs related to the integration of technology into instruction and professional work. To provide communication among faculty who are using technology in the classroom. Reports through the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Curriculum Committee

Purpose: To review and recommend for approval new academic programs and academic programs to be discontinued; to consider and approve changes to existing academic programs; to review and approve new courses and changes in course numbers, titles, descriptions, credit hours, and prerequisites; and to review and recommend policies and procedures related to degree requirements for all college programs, certificates, diplomas and degrees. Reports through the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Faculty Professional Development Committee

Purpose: To review and recommend opportunities for faculty to enhance their teaching and learning. To research and seek faculty input into the latest pedagogical trends, current scholarship, best practices in college instruction, and 21st century technological innovations in the classroom. To participate in planning college-wide professional development activities, and to ensure that professional development opportunities are well marketed, aligned with curricular goals, and promote proper integration of educational technology.

General Education Committee (GEC)

Purpose: To improve the quality and relevance of the College’s general education curriculum. The GEC considers new courses for inclusion as general education and approved transfer elective courses. The GEC performs periodic reviews of these courses to ensure they are continuing to satisfy required core competencies and transfer suitability. The committee reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs & Chief Academic Officer.

Global and Intercultural Learning Committee

Purpose: To create and coordinate opportunities in global learning for faculty, staff, and students. To create and coordinate opportunities for the faculty that includes professional development, curriculum development, foreign language and study abroad with the goal of internationalizing the education of as many students as possible. Reports through the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Instruction Committee

Purpose: To consider, discuss, and make recommendations on instructional issues that have an impact on the academic mission of the college. The committee will provide input into policy and procedures related to broad academic initiatives that impact the curriculum and, by extension, student learning. Reports through the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Internal Relations Committee

Purpose: To review and recommend policies and procedures related to rights and responsibilities, affirmative action, due process, professional development, college wide social events, internal communication, awards and recognition. Reports through the Executive Vice President.

Distance Learning & Technology Committee

Purpose: To consider, discuss, and make recommendations on issues involving distance instruction and eLearning. The committee will draft and recommend policies and procedures related to standards for effective online teaching and successful student learning at TCC. Reports through the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Student Success Committee

Purpose: To review and recommend policy designed to help students achieve success during their college experience. To make recommendations on admissions, records, registration, financial aid, and recruitment policies. To consider matters of student life which relate to conduct, student development, student organizations, student government, orientation, intramural athletics and other student activities. Reports through the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Workforce Solutions Committee

Purpose: To identify workforce training areas that should be targeted by TCC. To assess current workforce training projects for effectiveness. To develop TCC as a proactive player in regional economic development. To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between college and non-credit programs. Reports through the Vice President for Workforce Solutions.

The governance structure provides for the creation of Ad Hoc Committees on an as-needed basis. These committees focus on tasks that have timely solutions to be created in a fixed period of time. Ad Hoc Committees may meet just one time or may operate over the course of a year. Some Ad Hoc Committees (the Multi-year Contract Committee) meet each year with new membership. A task force addresses a specific and pressing problem and will continue to meet until the task is finished and the problem is solved. In order to avoid duplication of effort, Ad Hoc Committees should notify the PAPC of their charge.

New General Guidelines for Shared Governance System created by the President’s Advisory and Planning Council Subcommittee for Shared Governance Revitalization

General Function of the Governance System

1. Autonomy of Constituent Groups: Each of the four constituent groups (see II. D) is free to create and maintain its own constitution and bylaws.
2. Rotation of Membership: Each committee in the governance structure should have half of its members serving the first year of a two-year term and the other half serving the second year of a two-year term. Therefore, during the first year of a new committee in the governance system, half of the members will serve only a one-year term in order to initiate a staggered membership.
3. Officers and Election Cycle: Each committee will elect its own chair and secretary. The election cycle is one year. Only those members serving in the upcoming year are eligible to vote and to stand for office. Persons elected as the chair during the first year of service may succeed themselves and be elected for a second year as chair. Newly elected officers will assume any summer responsibilities for the governance system and will work with the past chair (current ex-officio) to smooth the transition.
4. Ex Officio: Chairs will continue to sit on the committee for one year after their elected service in a non-voting ex-officio capacity in order to advise and help with continuity.  After this third year of service, they must skip a year before serving again. Those who served as chairs their first year of rotation and who are not serving as chair in their second year, will serve as a regular voting member their second year and will also serve in the capacity of past chair.
5. Length of Service and Membership: In order to insure rotation of membership, a committee member who is finishing a two-year term must skip one year before serving another two-year term. Former chairs who are serving as an ex-officio must skip one year after their ex officio service before returning to the committee. The PAPC past chair will serve ex-officio.
6. Distribution of Funds: In order to avoid conflict of interest, any committee member whose committee is charged with the competitive distribution of funds is ineligible to apply for those funds unless that member resigns from the committee.
7. Governance Timeline: Fall Convocation Week: Each governance committee will schedule a session to orient new members.

   By September 15, all committees will have received their charges, and the committee chairs will report those charges to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council. If a committee fails to receive a charge from the appropriate executive staff member by Sept. 15, the President’s Advisory and Planning Council chair will report this to the Executive Staff.

   By October 1, the President’s Advisory and Planning Council chair will consolidate all committee charges and ensure they are published on the web.

   By January 31, all governance committees will create a brief mid-year update to present to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council as well as the appropriate Executive Staff member. The President’s Advisory and Planning Council chair will consolidate these reports and publish them to the web. Constituent Groups are encouraged to submit a mid-year update as well.

   February15: Governance information brochure sent to TCC_ALL.

   By March 15, each governance committee chair must send the President’s Advisory and Planning Council chair a list of membership openings. On March 15 of each year, the chair of the President’s Advisory and Planning Council must send out a TCC_ALL email to call on volunteers for all committee openings. This email should include a brief description of each committee’s responsibilities and the chairs’ contact information. By March 15, or as soon as possible after, all governance committees will hold their elections for general membership per the election procedures. Constituent groups are encouraged to do likewise.

   By April 15, each governance committee chair must have completed membership elections and must submit a complete roster of members for the upcoming year to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council.

   By May 1, governance committee chairs must send a list of new officers for the upcoming year to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council. This will mean that governance committees will need to meet in a timely fashion. If a committee fails to report new officers to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council, the PAPC chair will contact the committee members, solicit volunteers for officers, and hold electronic elections if necessary. By May 1 of each year, each committee must present an annual report of activities, accomplishments, goals, and recommendations to the College President, the appropriate member of the Executive Staff, and the President’s Advisory and Planning Council.

   By May 15, the President’s Advisory and Planning Council must meet to hold elections for the upcoming year.

8. Committee Charges: Committees will receive charges from the appropriate Executive Staff member or the President’s Advisory and Planning Council according to the Governance Timeline.

   As stated in the governance timeline, by September 15, all governance committee chairs should report electronically the charges given to them by their Executive Staff member to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council. These charges should also be presented at the first President’s Advisory and Planning Council meeting. The President’s Advisory and Planning Council chair should consolidate these charges and publish them on the web by October 1. If a committee fails to receive a charge from the appropriate executive staff member by September 15, the President’s Advisory and Planning Council chair will send an email reminder to the individual and will copy the President. 

9. Chain of Command: Each governance committee reports to a member of the Executive Staff. Committees shall receive written responses to recommendations within three weeks of receipt. Committees that have not received timely responses may appeal for support from the President’s Advisory and Planning Council. If the committee and the corresponding member of the Executive Staff cannot reach a consensus on a recommendation, the committee can vote to seek review with the College President.
10. Assessment: Each committee will present an annual report of activities, accomplishments, goals, and recommendations to the College President, the appropriate member of the Executive Staff, and the President’s Advisory and Planning Council no later than May 1. The President’s Advisory and Planning Council shall be responsible for ongoing assessment of the governance system. The President’s Advisory and Planning Council must propose changes in the governance system to each standing committee and each constituent group. The proposed changes will go into effect if there are no objections within 30 days. If any standing committee or constituent group objects to the proposed changes, and cannot settle their differences with the President’s Advisory and Planning Committee, then the proposed changes will have to pass by a two thirds majority of those voting.
11. Presidential Appointments: The President has authorized the President’s Advisory and Planning Council to make Presidential appointments to the standing committees if necessary by April 20. The President retains the right to make three appointments to the President’s Advisory and Planning Council.
12. Meetings and Attendance: Members failing to attend meetings or failing to contribute to the committee for a total of three meetings over the course of an academic year (not necessarily consecutive) may be removed at the discretion of the committee chair in conjunction with a two-thirds vote. The secretary will keep track of attendance and post names of attending members and non-attending members in minutes.  Standing committees will meet in the summer on an as-needed basis.
13. Election Procedures: Elections must follow the governance timeline. The Classified Association, the Administrative Faculty Association, and the Learning Resources Centers will handle their own elections and appointments. The standing counselor on the President’s Advisory and Planning Council will coordinate elections for counselors throughout the Governance System. When the phrase “elected college-wide” appears on a membership list, the appropriate group will conduct the election-not the entire college community. For example, when a membership list calls for “one counselor elected college-wide” the counselors of the college will elect a counselor as their representative to the committee in question. Presidential appointments will be for one year only, but the President can re-appoint a person to the same committee as long as it will only be that person’s second consecutive year on that same committee.