March 4, 2021

Dear Students,

I hope that all of you have had a chance to engage in the dialogue around shared governance that is happening on campus. Whether it was attending Dr. David Maxwell’s conversation about shared governance, or participating in a conversation at your recent Coffee Hour, I hope that you have found these conversations to be engaging and worthwhile.  

As shared through email, through conversation with Dr. David Maxwell and at Coffee Hour this past week, Bennington College is embarking on a journey of developing a model of shared governance that will work for us as a community. Part of that effort is the Shared Governance Task Force composed of students, staff, faculty, and trustees. This is where you come in. We are currently seeking self-nominations for any student who is interested in serving in this capacity. The Task Force will plan to meet 1-2 times a month as a full group, with members conducting work in between meetings to help shape the principles and structure of shared governance for their constituency. Because we want to ensure that the students who are nominated can commit to this responsibility, we are only asking for self-nominations. The Student Representatives who are elected to serve on the Task Force will be able to enroll in a two-credit tutorial on shared governance in higher education with Acting Provost John Bullock.  Please submit your self nomination via the form below by Wednesday, March 10 at noon. We will then follow up with a Google election form for you to elect four of your peers from all of those nominated. This election process will be a multi-winner ranked choice voting system to be as fair as possible. This election will take place on Sunday, March 14 (voting will remain open until Tuesday, March 16).

Student Nominations for the Shared Governance Task Force 

We have also created a shared governance survey (linked below) in partnership with the Association of Governing Boards and invite all students to participate (similar surveys are being sent to faculty and staff). The results will be essential in helping us to better understand each constituency's perspectives and feedback on shared governance at Bennington College, and will be a great complement to last week’s shared governance conversation. We would appreciate your responses by Wednesday, March 10, as well.

Shared Governance Survey for Students 

Sincerely, 

Christine Winget
Acting Dean of Students