Yet some colleges have only a senate or council with no formal union. Each district has dealt with the shared governance requirement in order to meet their needs . It is the position of 4CS that the best scenario is for two classified bodies, a union and a senate, each with unique skills and knowledge to best concentrate on their respective group for dividing up the work, effectively utilizing the skills of individuals, delineation of the intent and purposes of the individual issues of collective bargaining and participatory governance. Two bodies are better than one. The goal, of course, is for those two bodies to work in unison to promote not only all the concerns of the classified staff, but the betterment of the institution as a whole and a successful learning environment for students .
Shared governance has many definitions.
There are a multitude of variations of governance structures and local policies. Each district has evolved individually in regards to shared governance. There are also those districts that have struggled to understand and accept the participatory governance ideal or are struggling among their faculty, students, and staff to establish their roles. Shared governance has had its time to evolve - now it is time to revisit its successes and failures and to redefine and improve it. The 4CS supports the strengthened role of faculty and students, particularly academic and student senates, in community college governance.