Introduction and Summary of Shared Governance Documents

From 2009 to 2011, the governance structure of Macon State College was reorganized by the Executive Committee (EC) to reflect the needs of a growing College and to incorporate best-practices in shared governance. In the spring of 2011, the new documents were approved by the Academic Council to go into effect on August 8, 2011, the date Academic Council was rescinded and replaced by the Academic Assembly and the Faculty Senate.

The Senate is made up of elected voting members and ex officio non-voting members, the VPAA and all deans. Two students are voting Senators (President and Vice President of the Student Government Association), and there is one librarian who is always a voting member.

All Standing Committees and Boards are now bodies of the Faculty Senate. The annual charges are directed to respective committee and board chairs by the EC and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Academic Assembly is made up of all full-time faculty and all key administrators. The Assembly votes on its own officers; votes for approval of the roster of graduating students; and, in special cases spelled out by the Bylaws of the Senate and the Senate Rules of Process, votes on issues that come from the Senate for a Called Vote.

Except for the Macon State College Statutes, all documents are approved at the local level, beginning with review by the EC or, in the case of the Faculty Handbook, the Academic Personnel Policies Committee (APPC). These documents are then approved by the Faculty Senate and the Office of the President. The Statutes themselves must be approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. All governing documents, however, are on record at the BOR.

The Faculty Handbook is reviewed each spring by the APP Committee and updated in cooperation with the EC. The Senate Rules of Process, an appendix of the Handbook, can also be updated annually, but changes to the Rules must be approved by the Senate and the President.

Please note that this summary does not take the place of the complete documents and should not be cited in place of these Statutes, these respective Bylaws, these Rules, and the Handbook, which are linked below.

[Last updated: September 14, 2011]