Creation & Operation of Senates Per California Community Colleges Classified Senate (4CS):
“CLASSIFIED STAFF CREATE CLASSIFIED SENATES. Each senate is a unique creation by the classified staff for the specific environment at their college or district. Each senate must be an outgrowth of the classified staff’s desire to contribute professionally to their community, to their college and district and to their own personal growth. There is no specific set pattern, structure or function, except that the senate must be designed to satisfy the participatory governance needs of classified staff. In order to most effectively meet that need, the senate’s structure and function must successfully articulate with the existing groups and overall character of governance at the specific college or district.
It is important that the senate you build is done so by classified staff, volunteering to do so. In the beginnings of classified senates, there were a couple of examples where senates and their agendas were created and determined by the administration and managers at the colleges. Senates should always be an outgrowth of classified initiatives and interests to contribute and participate. Your college and district must respect your independence and need to originate and operate responsibly.”
Title V 51023.5 Staff:
(a) The governing board of a community college district shall adopt policies and procedures that provide district and college staff the opportunity to participate effectively in district and college governance. At minimum, these policies and procedures shall include the following:
(1) Definitions or categories of positions or groups of positions other than faculty that compose the staff of the district and its college(s) that, for the purposes of this section, the governing board is required by law to recognize or chooses to recognize pursuant to legal authority. All districts shall, at minimum, include in such definitions or categories the non-management classified employees of the district.
(2) Participation structures and procedures for the staff positions defined or categorized.
(3) In performing the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the governing board or its designees shall consult with the representatives of existing staff councils, committees, employee organizations, and other such bodies. Where no groups or structures for participation exist that provide representation for the purposes of this section for particular groups of staff, the governing board or its designees, shall broadly inform all staff of the policies and procedures being developed, invite the participation of staff, and provide opportunities for staff to express their views.
(4) Staff shall be provided with opportunities to participate in the formulation and development of district and college policies and procedures, and in those processes for jointly developing recommendations for action by the governing board, that the governing board reasonably determines, in consultation with staff, have or will have a significant effect on staff.
(5) Except in unforeseeable, emergency situations, the governing board shall not take action on matters significantly affecting staff until it has provided staff an opportunity to participate in the formulation and development of those matters through appropriate structures and procedures as determined by the governing board in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(6) The policies and procedures of the governing board shall ensure that the recommendations and opinions of staff are given every reasonable consideration.
(b) In developing and carrying out policies and procedures pursuant to subsection (a), the district governing board shall ensure that its actions do not dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any employee organization, or contribute financial or other support to it, or in any way encourage employees to join any organization in preference to another.
NC Classified Senate 