OVERVIEW

The council system at Metropolitan Community College is an important piece of the overall employee involvement system.  The councils are intended to serve as visible college groups that facilitate processes and inform college-wide decisions through their relationships with other groups at the College and their ability to address important issues that affect the College.

Guiding principles

• Be accessible to (but not necessarily involve) all institutional stakeholders.
• Be transparent and as straightforward as possible.
• Be linked to the college’s regular work groups and administrative structure to maintain lines of communication and decision making.
• Be accountable.
• Balance top-down and bottom-up processes.
• Be monitored and evaluated.
• Use data as a basis for addressing issues.

definitions

The employee involvement system is made up of three types of groups:

• Councils. These are major employee-involvement groups that meet on a regular schedule, deal with issues of general institutional concern, and represent the entire campus community.
• Committees. These employee-involvement groups meet on a regular schedule, and deal with issues peculiar to one department or function.
• Charter Groups. These employee-involvement groups report to a council, committee, or administrator; meet to address a particular issue or charge; and are dissolved when their task is completed.

Employee Involvement System Description

Any employee interested in volunteering to be a part of the Employee Involvement System should contact either his/her supervisor or Area Vice President.

Go to Employee Involvement System Flow Chart

Academic Council

• Chaired by faculty
• Focuses on teaching and learning issues and initiatives
• Serves as an advisory group to the President’s Cabinet
• Membership – Four administrators, one faculty from each academic area, one adjunct faculty elected by the adjunct faculty, and the director of the Curriculum Design Studio. Steering Committee comprised of Council chair, one faculty member, and one administrator.

Outcomes Assessment Team

• Chaired by Coordinator of the Center for Learning, Effectiveness, Assessment & Research (CLEAR)
• Responsible for the College’s Assessment Program and coordinating the annual academic program review process.
• Membership – 2-4 faculty from each academic area; Director of Institutional Research; Assistant to the VP for Learning & Academic Affairs, Curriculum Design Studio Coordinato

Adjunct Faculty Roundtable

• Chaired by Adjunct Faculty Support Coordinator
• Provides opportunity for discussion and interaction among adjunct faculty to provide insights on the adjunct faculty experience at the College
• Serves as an advisory group to the President's Cabinet through the VP for Learning & Academic Affairs
• Membership - All adjunct faculty teaching credit courses at the College.

Art Committee

• The mission of the College Art Committee is to support and promote artistic experiences for MCC students, the College and the community, while fostering an inviting campus environment designed to appreciate artistic achievement, stimulate creativity and reinforce individual expression.
• The Art Committee’s purposes include:  
  • Reviewing and approving all art displayed in public gallery areas at all locations of the College and actively involved in selection of College purchased public art for the College’s collection.
  • Ensuring that artwork is appropriately, consistently and prominently displayed through a systematic process
  • Serve as facilitators in addressing concerns about artistic expressions
  • Actively participating in dialogue support the arts at the College. 
• Membership is made up of volunteers from the College faculty, staff, and a member of the Board of Governors. 

Budget Strategy Group

• The mission of the Budget Strategy Group is to operationally achieve the strategic objectives of MCC by actively guiding budget development and review.
• Membership is the College President and Vice Presidents.  The Business Office Resource Person is the Budget/Projects Coordinator. 

College Council

• Chaired by the President
• Meets quarterly
• Focus is to assist management in advancing continuous improvement and constituent involvement at the College.  As such, communication and idea processing are two areas of concentration. 
• In charge of identified work groups
• Serve as an advisory group to the President
• Membership:  the faculty ex-officio representative to the Board of Governors, representative from the Diversity Council, representative from the Academic Council, Executive Vice President, President (Chair), student ex-officio representative to the Board of Governors, one Vice President (rotating), and others as appointed by the President who represent a diversity of employee groups and campus locations.  

Deans Council

• Co-chaired by Vice President of Campuses and Student Affairs and Vice President for Learning and Academic Affairs
• Focuses on strategic initiatives and operational issues common to both Educational Services and Student Services
• Membership – Academic Deans, Assistant Deans, Associate Deans, Executive Director, Campus Deans, and Student Services Directors

Design Review Board

• The charge of the Design Review Board is to review project designs on behalf of the College with two primary goals:
  • to interpret the campuses master plan policies, principles and design guidelines, to determine compliance with the policies, principles and guidelines, to recommend modifications to the proposed project when appropriate, and to grant exceptions when appropriate. 
  • to evaluate projects to ensure that they meet the highest qualitative standards.  The purpose of the Design Review Board’s review is to ensure the quality of each new project and its contribution to the overall campus environment. 
• Membership is made up of the College community and select design professionals who have demonstrated an interest in the campuses’ development.

Diversity Council

• Chair elected from membership
• Focus is to insure a diversity-friendly College environment for all staff and students including development and revision of the Diversity Plan. 
• Serve as advisory group to the President
• A College-wide membership drive will be conducted in the spring of each year with the President appointing the final members 

EnviroMetro

• EnviroMetro’s mission is stewardship and conservation of campus and community resources.
• Membership is made up of volunteers from the College faculty and staff. 

President’s Advisory Council on Minority Issues

• Under review

President’s Cabinet

• Meets weekly
• Focus on coordinating administrative efforts involved with implementing the strategic objectives and day-to-day operations of the College.
• Membership is President and Vice President’s

Student Advisory Council

• Co-Chaired by elected Student Ex-Officio Member of College’s Board of Governors and Vice President of Campuses and Student Affairs
• Focus to assist College in providing a positive student learning environment
• Work with Campus Deans
• Serve as an advisory group to the President
• Membership is students who run for Student Ex-Officio Member of College’s Board of Governors

Student Retention Committee

• Co-Chairs: Student Services and Educational Services Administrators/Counselors
• Responsible for the College's student retention plan and coordinates efforts to monitor and increase student retention at MCC.
• Makes recommendations to Deans Council
• Membership: Institutional Research, Educational Services Administrator, three Student Services, three faculty, Financial Aid, Business Office, and CLEAR Coordinator
  

Student Success Committee

• Co-Chairs: one Student Services and one Educational Services Administrator
• Focus on strengthening the connection between Educational Services and Student Services and the implementation of key operational systems and processes that support student success.
• Makes recommendations to Deans Council
• Membership: five faculty (one from each major academic area), five SS staff