Dear Sagehens,
This week, representative student, staff, and faculty bodies across the College will be asked to endorse three related documents: the Principles of Decision-Making, the Statement of Shared Governance, and the Threshold Conditions for Effective Shared Governance. We are writing to let the community know about this next step and what it means. The endorsements do not conclude the work. Rather, they mark the completion of this phase of drafting and consultation and the beginning of implementation.
The documents themselves are straightforward by design. They reaffirm expectations about listening carefully, communicating clearly, explaining rationales, and respecting the roles and responsibilities assigned to different individuals and representative bodies. Sometimes the most fundamental commitments benefit from being stated plainly and consistently. The goal is not to create a complex new structure, but to help our existing structures function more predictably and with greater mutual understanding.
Importantly, the Principles apply to all decision-making at Pomona, not only to decisions typically labeled “shared governance.” During campus conversations, discussion has often focused on operational matters: day-to-day processes or implementation details. While those issues matter, the Principles are broader. They establish shared expectations for how decisions are approached and communicated across the institution. Some decisions appropriately rest with individuals or offices exercising delegated authority and expertise; others involve consultation, recommendation, or approval by representative bodies. The documents do not change who makes each decision. They clarify how decisions, at every level, should be made and explained in a manner consistent with the College’s values.
In addition, the Task Force has prepared a set of decision narratives describing how several significant institutional decisions have been made in practice. These narratives are now available on the Shared Governance website. They are intended as illustrative examples showing how different participants — individuals, committees, and representative bodies — contribute at various stages of a decision, and how consultation, recommendation, and final authority operate within Pomona’s existing structures.
This moment should be understood as a starting point rather than a conclusion; the end of the beginning, not the end itself. The adoption of these documents initiates an ongoing practice. As the community lives with them, the College will learn from experience and continue refining how shared governance functions in practice.
Sincerely,
Ben Keim, associate professor of Classics; chair of the faculty
Brent Carbajal, interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college
Bri Sérráno, assistant dean and director, Queer Resource Center
Charles Liu, sophomore, Psychological Science major
Claudio Castillo, senior, Computer Science major
Dan O’Leary, Carnegie Professor of Chemistry
Eleanor Brown, James Irvine Professor of Economics
Eric Abelev, chief communications officer
Erica Tyron, director, Smith Campus Center and Student Media
G. Gabrielle Starr, president
Jack Long, trustee
Janet Benton, board chair
Jenn Wilcox Thomas, trustee
Milo Slevin, sophomore, Environmental Analysis major
Tricia Avant, academic coordinator and gallery manager of Art