Shared Governance
In the fall of 2018, Provost Muma’s announced four Priorities on which the Wichita State community would focus to make progress on our strategic
plan. One of the 2018-2019 Priorities is to advance a culture of shared governance built on trust and integrity.
In addition to the five identified tactics:
1) Promote the excellent work of faculty, staff and students
2) Promote Faculty, UP and USS Senate initiatives
3) Provide data to inform decision making
4) Support Innovation Advisory Council to create sustainable innovation
5) Assist with strategic planning 2.0
The Office of Human Resources hosted of Shared Governance series in late Fall 2018 and in the Spring 2019 for all administrators, faculty and
staff. The forums were held to seek insight on how the Wichita State University community
would live out shared values via their governance.
The Shared Governance Summary of the twenty-one discussion groups that were scheduled in December 2018, January 2019 and February
2019 is linked above. The sessions were offered with one each day of the week with
groups held each morning, afternoon and evening times. A total of ten of the twenty-one
sessions were canceled due to very low registration (2 or less); those registered
were assigned to another session. A total of seventy-eight faculty and staff participated in the remaining eleven sessions. Those seventy-eight
(78) included twenty-four faculty and fifty-four staff. The fifty-four staff members
included, forty-seven (47) UP and sevent (7) USS. Based on the individual responses,
the group discussions and the statements created, we have identified 3 key areas that
could be addressed in a short timeframe: communication, transparency, and involvement/input.
As a next step to the Shared Governance Forums, the Office of Academic Affairs and
Strategic Planning Steering Committee invited interested university personnel to volunteer
their service to work with the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR) to design an engagement process intended to yield campus-wide involvement in building
a trustworthy process for decision-making and responsible transparency. Next, the
Office of Academic Affairs and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee recruited
Shocker Community volunteers known as the Reference Team. Since that collaboration,
the Shocker Reference Team with more WSU community volunteers have undergone circle
training and are now dubbed, “Shocker Circle Keepers.” This team of Shocker Circle
Keepers will serve as the guides in what is known as the Circle Process.