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Shared Governance Quick Reference Card
OHIO faculty, staff, and students working together
to build a world-class university Shared governance is central to OHIO’s decision-making. As you represent your constituents on committees, it is your responsibility to:
1. Accurately and respectfully represent all of your constituents, whether they form a small group or the entire University.
2. Keep in mind the best interests of the whole University, not just your constituents, and be open to compromise.
3. Gather as much input from your constituents on issues as you can and use that to influence your statements and votes in meetings.
4. Confidently state your opinions, that’s why you’re there.
5. Unless deliberations are stated to be confidential, accurately convey the results to your constituents. Take personal notes and regularly summarize important events to affected constituents.
6. Attend faithfully and communicate with the committee promptly.
7. Abide by OHIO’s core values and guiding principles
Ohio University Core Values and Guiding Principles
1. Academic integrity is an inherent element of the institution and requires commitment to the highest standards of personal honesty and ethical behavior.
2. Strong undergraduate programs with a liberal arts core are a vital and necessary foundation.
3. Strong graduate and professional programs are necessary to achieve our educational, research, and creative mission.
4. All forms of research, scholarship, and creative activity are vital to the intellectual life of the university, and their integration into both graduate and undergraduate curricula is a key component of student success.
5. Learning at the university is enhanced by creating a community of students, faculty, and staff who come from diverse backgrounds. That community benefits from our commitment to international education and the inclusion of global perspectives in our curricula.
6. Advising, mentoring, personal interaction, and active engagement among faculty, staff, students, and alumni greatly enhance the educational experience.
7. Learning is derived from the totality of the college experience, including activities both inside and outside the classroom.
8. Shared governance—the inclusion of input from all constituent groups is central to our decision-making processes.
9. Our continuing success requires judgments about and selective investment in initiatives that will advance our mission.
10. Accountability is essential to effective management and requires commitments to assessment, planning, decision making, and continual improvement.
To support our educational mission in achieving the goals outlined above, we require a well-maintained infrastructure of people and facilities. Our academic support services exist to serve the academic mission: they should be effective, efficient, and continually improving. A sense of community and an appealing environment provide a special place in which to learn, live, and work. All individuals in the university community are valued; their skills and knowledge should be cultivated, their work supported, and their leadership skills developed. Interactions among all individuals in the university community should be built on standards of civility, integrity, caring, and collaboration. Our commitment to the region is expressed through stewardship of shared resources, access to programs and services, and contribution to economic development. 
