All university personnel (academic staff, faculty, and university staff) play an important role in recommending policies to the administration. Shared governance purview generally includes academic and curricular policies and personnel policies.

If there is a current UWSP policy or academic or curricular issue that you would like reviewed by appropriate members of shared governance, please contact the Common Council Office, or the Common Council Chair.

  1. Some issues may be forwarded directly to the standing committee via the standing committee chair, for example:
    • academic standards (Academic Affairs Committee)
    • articulation/inter-institutional collaborations (Academic Affairs Committee)
    • changes to majors or minors, new minors (Curriculum Committee)
    • changes to graduate programs (Graduate Council)
    • new and revised courses, curricular revisions (undergraduate level: Curriculum Committee, graduate level: Graduate Council)
    • departmental assessment (Assessment Subcommittee)
    • general education program (General Education Committee)
    • issues to be mediated (Academic Staff Mediation Subcommittee; Faculty Mediation Subcommittee; University Staff Council)
    • program/department review (Program Review Subcommittee)
    • issues related to a specific personnel category (Academic Staff Council; Faculty Council; University Staff Council)
  2. For other issues, typically, the issue is brought to the attention of shared governance by contacting the Common Council Chair. The Chair will determine if the issue is appropriate for shared governance consideration.
  3. If so, the issue is forwarded to one or more Common Council standing committees. The Common Council Chair may also present the issue to the Executive Committee for discussion prior to it being assigned to a standing committee(s).
  4. If the Executive Committee or a standing committee acts on the issue, it will be added to the Common Council agenda as an item either “for action” or “for information.” If a committee rejects, or fails to act on an issue, the matter stops at the committee level. An exception to this occurs if a Councilor makes a motion on the floor of the Common Council meeting to consider the item. The Common Council then votes whether to consider the item. If the Council votes in favor of considering the item, the item will be considered for action by the Common Council.
  5. Examples of items “for action” include new or revised academic standards; new or renewed memoranda of agreement or understanding; new or revised policies; additions or revisions to the University Handbook; authorizations to implement new programs; new minors or certificates; new courses; changes to the general education requirements; and creation of new, or renaming of, departments, schools, or colleges.
  6. Examples of items “for information” include curricular revisions; general education program designations; extensions of time to complete master’s degrees; and provisional approvals granted by Executive Committee on behalf of Common Council (occasionally requested at the end of the semester after the final Common Council meeting).
  7. At the request of any member of the Common Council, an item put forth “for information” may be changed to “for action,” thereby requiring a vote.
  8. If the Common Council approves (“for action”) or accepts (“for information”) an item, the approval/acceptance is sent to the chancellor in the form of a resolution for the chancellor’s consideration. Curricular items move through the approval process in Coursedog.
  9. If the chancellor approves (“for action”) or notes (“for information”) the resolution, the action/information item is final and becomes university policy. If the chancellor does not approve the item or wishes to amend it, the chair of the Common Council and the appropriate committee chair discuss and determine whether shared governance should reconsider the item. This process begins in Executive Committee and is set forth in the general operating procedures of the Common Council.
  10. These decisions are communicated to the university community and documented on the website.

The Constitution of the Common Council provides for personnel review and override of any action of the Common Council. Please see the Constitution for those procedures, as well as procedures for calling a meeting of an entire personnel category.