Required Review of NOVA Committee Structure

Today’s topic focuses on NOVA’s committee structure.

As you know, our college’s shared governance relies on broad faculty and staff participation in a robust committee and work group structure that provides recommendations to the President. To ensure the effectiveness, responsiveness and relevance of this structure, NOVA’s President is to initiate a periodic review of the committees, working groups and ad hoc committees of the College. Only ongoing groups with Collegewide responsibilities are to be considered in this review. According to NOVA’s review process, every four years, the President is to request the participation of the College Senate and Administrative Council.

It has been at least six years since the last periodic review, so in August, I initiated this process. College Senate Chair Aldous McCrory, Administrative Council member Provost Julie Leidig and acting Chief of Staff Tykesha Myrick are serving as co-chairs of the review and are charged with actively engaging the membership of the College Senate and Administrative Council in the process.

Per NOVA practice, by March 1, 2022, on behalf of the College Senate and Administrative Council, if and where needed, the co-chairs are to advance to me the following:

• Concerns about the effectiveness of standing committees, working groups and ad hoc committees.
• Concerns about the size, membership and representativeness of standing committees, working groups and ad hoc committees.
• Identification of any significant overlap in the responsibilities of standing committees, working groups and ad hoc committees.
• Recommendations for changes to standing committees, working groups and ad hoc committees.

As you can see, the process that NOVA has in place for this review is straightforward, but as I prepared to initiate the committee structure review, I encountered an unexpected challenge. My office was not able to find any published document that defines and distinguishes among the three components of NOVA’s longstanding committee structure: Standing Committee, Working Group, Ad Hoc Committee.

Thus, I have also asked the three co-chairs to lead a separate task force charged with recommending formal NOVA definitions for these three components of the committee structure. They have already solicited membership for the task force and are hard at work. These recommendations are due to me by December 1, and I have committed to acting upon them by the end of the calendar year.

I thank the co-chairs, College Senate and Administrative Council for participating in this important review and for engaging in this essential collegewide work that supports the clear, transparent, effective and inclusive practice of shared governance at NOVA.