ACC is committed to fostering collaboration, communication, and access to information among its faculty, staff, and students.

The College has a Shared Governance policy adopted by the Board of Trustees, and is in the process of creating an accompanying Administrative Rule and implementation of a Shared Governance Council to assist the institution in meeting its goals of participatory governance.

In addition, the College has recently implemented an Institutional Planning Committee, which consists of all administrators and the officers of all employee organizations, affiliate organizations, and the Student Government Association. This group focuses on communication among each other, with the primary goal of facilitating master planning and institutional
effectiveness.

• Employee Organizations and the Student Government Association appoint their own representatives to Councils, committees, and task forces. (Grid showing # of association reps)
• Each Spring, the Office of the President will update the Shared Governance system of Councils, committees, and task forces and provide organizations the opportunity to provide feedback and to appoint their representatives.
• Four primary Councils exist to address district-wide issues:
  • Academic and Campus Affairs Council
  • Student Services Council
  • Administrative Services Council
  • Shared Governance Review Council
• Each Council will be co-chaired by an employee or student representative, elected by the members
• All college-wide committees and task forces are assigned to a specific Council, to ensure that recommendations are reviewed and responses given to the work of each committee and task force.
• All Councils, committees, and task forces will have written function statements, identify members and their terms of appointments, and provide contact information.
• Minutes for all councils, committees, and task forces must be posted on the College's web-site at on a a website of their creation, or if that is unavailable, utilizing http://accweb.austincc.edu/minutes/ (internal only)
• Adjunct Faculty and Students will receive a stipend for participation in official college committees, as noted in the Organizational Reference. The amount of stipend paid will depend on the numbers of participants and the annual budget as approved by the Board of Trustees. Amounts may therefore vary from year to year.
• Association and Organization representatives have the responsibility to communicate with their constituencies regarding their work on councils, committees, and task forces. It is the responsibility of each organization to determine the manner in which they will facilitate this communication with their membership.
• Chairs of Councils, committees, and task forces are responsible for establishing an annual calendar of meetings, providing agendas in advance, for posting Minutes of meetings within ten working days of the meeting, processing stipend payments for adjunct faculty and students, and for sharing proposed policy or administrative rule additions or changes with employee and affiliate groups, as well as the Student Government Association.

• Councils are the primary vehicle to foster collaborative development or review of district-wide Administrative Rules and Policies. Councils will have representatives from recognized employee and student organizations, chosen by the organizations.
• ommittees are representative groups that focus on a specific area of college operations. These groups are intended to be standing, on-going groups.
• ask Forces represent groups appointed for a limited time period to review issues or concerns, and to make specific recommendations to a Committee or Council.

• Orient new members to role of the Council/Committees/Task Forces.
• end Agendas out at least 5 working days before meeting.
• ecord attendance of meetings.
• repare Minutes and post on web (ACC Only site) no later than 5 working days following the meeting. Suggested template (ACC Only site)
• romote/encourage participation; keep focused on agenda items.
• ommunicate any membership changes to the President and the appropriate employee association presidents .
• rocess Stipend payments per deadline.
• orward all recommendations to appropriate Council.

• The educational needs of students are the highest priority within the District.
• CC is committed to collaborative decision-making and information-sharing in addressing issues and developing administrative rules and procedures.
• ccess to information within the College is essential to developing quality decisions.
• Collaboration of supervisors and the elected leadership of recognized employee organizations will lead to better decisions and improved communication and morale.
• Recognized employee organizations will select their own representatives to all College Councils and official committees and task forces.
• dministrative functions must be designed to support educational quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. This entails collaborative development, measuring effectiveness, and regular review and refinement of college operating procedures.
• ontinuous improvement is a goal for all College functions and personnel. ACC will identify "best practices" and follow Baldrige Criteria in analyzing its operational performance.
• raining is essential to the achievement of quality service to students, the public, faculty, and staff.

• Stipends are paid to students and adjunct faculty who participate on Councils, Committees, or Task Forces as official representatives of the Student Government Association and Adjunct Faculty Association.
• nly those Councils, Committees, and Task Forces listed in the Organizational Reference and Disciplined specific task forces, are authorized for stipend payments.
• tipend payments are determined as part of the annual operating budget and will be announced by the President.
• Stipends are to be paid as noted below (one payment for each semester):
  • Discipline specific task forces - $20/hr., not to exceed $240 per year.
  • All others - $15/hrFall - end of January
  • Spring - end of May
  • Summer - end of August
  • Additional Information: Administrative Rule for Student Stipends