University of Arizona

CALS Governance—Guidelines

Introduction

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences includes a number of disciplines (described in the strategic plan) and has offices throughout Arizona. Diversity of subject areas, types of employees, and interactions with federal, state, and county governments requires that the college be managed well, have clear strategic directions, and maintain flexibility in how it makes decisions. These guidelines are based on several principles (see below) and identify how the various employee groups represented in the college participate in college governance as well as how the college approaches shared governance.

Purpose of these Guidelines

These guidelines describe the basic processes for governance and management of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The guidelines and the associated CALS Governance page place relevant information in one place. This information can be used by new employees as well as current employees and others interested in how the college functions.

Principles

The University of Arizona and CALS embrace the concept of shared governance. Shared governance requires a commitment from all members of the college community. Faculty and staff, employed by the college for a substantial portion of their professional careers, should understand that the contribution of their time to college and university service, beyond their working unit, is one of their responsibilities. They must be willing to participate in college committees to provide advice and to serve as conduits of information to their peers. The University of Arizona president's prioritization principles, while directed at specific aspects of the university, are also useful in providing guidance in governance approaches. While these guidelines are directed at the college as a whole, they also can be implemented within the college units as appropriate to the circumstances of each unit, but consistent with the aims and principles of these guidelines.

Two factors apply to all principles. Accountability requires that each group performs its role well and on a timely basis, coordinating with other groups when appropriate. Communication—before, during, and after—decisions needs to be accomplished by the relevant councils and committees.

• Shared governance is a basic assumption of CALS operation. Shared governance can be thought of as the sharing of responsibility for major decisions relating to the institutional mission and budget. Shared governance does not extend to management decisions (e.g., carrying out policy that stays clearly within the guidelines of that policy).

• All major college activities must be represented in the governance system. Areas such as academic programs (teaching), research, and Cooperative Extension, will have defined places in the governance system. All major employee groups within the college are represented on the Dean's Advisory Committee. These groups include: college administrators, faculty, classified staff, appointed professionals, and undergraduate and graduate students.

• Diversity is emphasized where diversity is defined by words such as: understanding others' views, dealing with varied experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds, and representation of multiple groups and approaches within the college. In a word, diversity is inclusiveness.

• College values are to be followed (from the strategic plan) and include: scholarship, creativity, integrity, cooperation, diversity, and mutual respect.

Mission and Focus of the College

The mission of CALS is "To improve the quality of life through exploration and discovery to enhance agriculture, the environment, our natural resource base, family and youth well-being, and the development of local communities. We accomplish this mission by development, integration, dissemination, and application of knowledge in the agricultural and life sciences." The strategic plan identifies six major focus areas: Environment, Water, Land, Energy, and Natural Resources; Plant, Insect, and Microbe Systems; Human Nutrition, Health and Food Safety; Animal Systems; Children, Youth, Families, and Community; Consumers, Marketplace, Trade, and Economics.

Organization and Management of the College

CALS is organized by departments, county offices, agricultural centers, and other support units. There is a strategic plan for guidance, a process for shared governance as described above, and a number of committees, policies, and procedures accessible through the employee resources page. The college has formal agreements (via memoranda of agreement) with a number of affiliated organizations and informal working relationships with industry and commodity groups and non-govenmental organizations. In addition to the normal university roles of teaching and research, CALS management obligations include working with all county and state governments in Arizona, as well as involvement in a special funding process with the legislature and the US Department of Agriculture. CALS is therefore the most complex college on the main campus.

The college includes the Office of Academic Programs (teaching), the Agricultural Experiment Station (research), Cooperative Extension (outreach and non-formal learning), and Administrative Services (personnel and finances). The college also has programmatic review, funding sources, and reporting obligations through the US Department of Agriculture, works with several agriculture-related Arizona state agencies, and various commodity organizations and nonprofit groups. CALS has cooperative agreements with each county board of supervisors to provide location and direction to Cooperative Extension. Further, each county Cooperative Extension office has its own advisory board—appointed by the board of supervisors as defined by Arizona law—and various stakeholders of CALS programs routinely provide feedback for CALS programs. CALS has schools, departments, and administrative offices as well as a number of committees and advisory councils. Cooperative Extension offices in counties and reservations as well as agricultural centers represent the off-campus locations.

Councils and Committees

Committees cover the working needs of the college by having broad participation among members of the college. Some committees have an elected membership, some develop their own nominations for final selection by the Executive Council, and some are appointed by the Executive Council. Councils have been established for faculty, students, appointed professionals, and staff. In addition, there are two unit head groups (campus department heads and county extension directors) and the Executive Council. An overarching group is the Dean's Advisory Committee which consists of representatives of all the above councils. The Dean's Advisory Committee also serves as the college group addressing strategic planning and budgeting. Committees and councils are listed elsewhere along with a purpose and membership for each.

Policies and Procedures

CALS follows Arizona Board of Regents policies and University of Arizona policies. Because of the nature and complexity of the college, however, CALS has established additional policies and procedures. These can be found on the CALS Governance page or accessed through the CALS employee resources page. These policies are developed with participation of the groups primarily affected.

College-wide Communications and Meetings

Good communication is essential. There are multiple methods of addressing this need, including printed or electronic documents, meetings, and teleconferences. There is a college-wide faculty/staff meeting twice a year to discuss timely information about the college and for the college to receive feedback from participants at the meeting.

Making Continuous Improvements: Best Practices, Monitoring, and Feedback

Continuous improvement of college governance occurs through the use of best practices and progress assessment. Best practices include the various best practices for management and human relations and the best practices for shared governance. Monitoring can be accomplished by periodic surveys, formal reviews of administrators and academic programs, and having each of the college council provide such a function as part of looking at the college through the perspective of its purpose and employee group. Feedback opportunities should be provided on a continuing basis (see CALS contact information) as well as highlighted at appropriate times.

Making Changes to These Guidelines

Changes to these guidelines are endorsed by representatives through the shared governance councils. These include faculty, staff, appointed professionals, students, department heads, county extension directors, Dean's Advisory Committee, and the Executive Council.

Selected References

• CALS employee resources page—a range of topics for all employee classifications

• CALS academic and administrative units—links to all units in the college

• CALS Governance—descriptions of advisory councils, governance process, policies and procedures, committees, awards, evaluations, and communication within the college

• University of Arizona Shared Governance—history and guidelines for shared governance