Governance is the process of establishing policies, procedures, regulations, and practices of institution-wide significance. The citizens within the college community acknowledge the following:
- The system of governance at Prince George's Community College is one of a collaborative nature grounded in integrity, transparency, and respect.
- There are myriad bodies that are involved in the governance system and have distinct roles as identified in the College’s Governance Chart.
- Of the various bodies within the governance system, the primary body for institutional issues is the College-wide Forum of Prince George’s Community College. The Academic Council is the focal point for the discussion of academic policies, academic procedures, and the academic success of students, while providing oversight of academic programs.
College-wide Forum
The College-wide Forum of Prince George's Community College is a deliberative and broadly representative body that exists to recommend general policies and procedures for the College in an open and collegial manner. Recognizing that the Board of Trustees and the President retain the ultimate responsibility for policy-making decisions, the College-wide Forum considers the activities of the College in all of its phases, with particular attention to the educational objectives of the College and those matters that affect the common interests of employees and students. It is authorized to initiate policy proposals as well as to express its judgment on those submitted to it by the administrative officers of the College and its various divisions. It is also empowered to refer issues and/or request a response on issues, concerns, proposals, or topics from other organizations and/or bodies within the College.
In its representative role, an important function of the Forum is to seek out, inform and communicate the range and strength of views held by college citizens. In its deliberative role, one of the major roles of the Forum is to identify the interests of the College’s various constituents and to find mechanisms by which to foster the welfare of the College.
The Forum shall be comprised of a minimum of seventeen (17) delegates. The constituent groups shall have elected delegates according to the following: Administrative and Professional Staff Organization shall elect four (4) delegates; Technical and Support Staff Organization shall elect four (4) delegates; Faculty Organization shall elect four (4) delegates, one of which shall be from Chair’s Council; Student Governance Association shall elect three (3) delegates: two (2) members of the Senior Team shall also be members of the Forum. There will be an additional category of up to four (4) at-large delegates for: college employees who are members of the union; Workforce Development and Continuing Education; Student Affairs; and the Office of the President. These at-large positions are to be filled by the named areas in the event the named areas are not represented in the other designated categories.
Academic Council
The Academic Council is a part of the college's governance structure. The Academic Council works closely with the faculty, department chairs, and academic deans in conducting its work. The principal functions of the Academic Council are: reviewing and revising academic policies and procedures and making recommendations to the Executive Vice-President and Provost (EVP) for Teaching, Learning and Student Success (TLSS); coordinating the college's academic programs; and ensuring that all aspects of academic programming (i.e., academic regulations and standards, curriculum development, academic assessment, and academic professional development) operate in a manner consistent with the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the college. It is understood that deliberations affecting the common interest of employees and students will be presented to and receive further consideration from the College-wide Forum.
The Academic Council is composed of at least twenty-three voting members as follows. A minimum of 60% of the voting membership MUST be faculty.
| Voting Members |
|---|
| Past President of the Faculty Organization (Co-Chair) |
| Three additional members of the Faculty Organization (two full-time and one adjunct) appointed by the Faculty Senate |
| Two Department Chairs, appointed by the Chairs’ Council |
| Three Associate Deans** |
| Two students appointed by the Chief of Staff for SGA |
| One Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee, appointed by the Curriculum Committee* |
| Co-Chair of the TLSS Assessment Committee* |
| Chair of the General Education Committee* |
| Chair of the Institute of Excellence in Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee* |
| e-Learning Liaison |
| Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies |
| One representative from Workforce Development and Continuing Education, appointed by the Associate Vice President for WDCE |
| One representative from Student Affairs, appointed by the VP for Student Affairs |
| Faculty Co-Chair of the College-wide Forum |
| Sufficient at-large faculty members to ensure all three academic divisions are represented by faculty and 60% of voting members are faculty. Three at-large faculty members will be appointed by the Council, upon the recommendation from each academic division.) |
*These members must be faculty to keep the voting ratio at or above 60%
For more information about college governance, please email the Office of Governance and Diversity at governance@pgcc.edu.