Skip to main content

About Montgomery College Governance

History

Historical Listing of College Council Chairs (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader - Link opens in new window)

MC Governance members

In a memorandum to the College community on January 20, 2011, the Montgomery College President announced the intent to revisit the College’s system of governance in order to bring it into compliance with Board policy (11004). To facilitate the creation of a governance system in which students, staff, faculty, and administrators engage in collaborative and respectful dialog, the President called for an internal Blue Ribbon Task Force on Governance, comprised of representation from all constituency groups.

The President charged the Task Force:

  1. To examine the existing system of governance at the College and develop a set of recommendations for restructuring it into a system that it is inclusive and participatory;
  2. To develop a set of procedures that is in support of and consistent with Board policy, and can also be used as guidelines for implementing the restructured system;
  3. To identify a set of criteria that could be used to assess the effectiveness of the system.

Along with this charge, the Task Force examined the Board Policy (11004) on governance for Montgomery College (Principles 2, 3, and 4) to clarify the direction that the Task Force would take to identify the new governance structure.

Principle 2:

All constituent groups within the College have a vested interest and a role in ensuring that the College fulfills the mission under the authority and direction of the Board of Trustees and under the leadership of the President.

Principle 3:

Participatory governance is a method of organized and collegial interaction in which faculty, staff, students, and administrators participate in thoughtful deliberation and the decision-making process, leading to recommendations made to the College President, who represents the administration of the College as an agent of the Board of Trustees.

Principle 4:

Mutual agreement is the goal to be achieved through active participation and collegial interaction by all constituent groups.

Based on the charge from the President, the intent of the Board of Trustees for inclusive interaction, and feedback from the College community, the Task Force came to a final consensus to identify a structure that meets the criteria of securing input from all stakeholders and assures the facility of two-way communication among them. The model is composed of four broad council areas: a College Council, four councils representing constituent groups, four councils representing functional areas, and four councils representing campuses.

Over the course of the 2011-2012 academic year, the Task Force worked to create the infrastructure of the governance system including the constitution, bylaws, handbook, website, nomination and election system, and assessment tools.

The first elections were held during the spring 2012 semester with 159 students, faculty, staff, and administrator beginning their service in the participatory governance system during the fall 2012 semester.

How Can I Get Involved?

Select your role at the college:

Administrator

How Can Administrators Get Involved?

Faculty

How Can Faculty Get Involved?

Staff

How Can Staff Get Involved?

Student

How Can Students Get Involved?

Nominations and Elections  

Nominations begin towards the end of February. Elections begin towards the end of March and conclude in early April. Specific dates will be announced via a Collegewide memo at the start of the Spring semester. Council terms of service are typically two years for employee positions and one year for student positions, with a few exceptions. Thus, about half the positions are elected each year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.  General information about MC Governance and each of the governance councils can be found on this website.  See below for more specific questions.

Do you have a question that is not addressed here?  Email a question to the Director of Governance, Dr. Clevette Ridguard.

A: Contact the council's chair. Click on "Councils" or "Membership" to the see the list of chairs. If you are unsure which council to contact, you can contact the College Council Chair or the Director of Governance.

A: If the issue relates to a specific role (e.g., primarily impacts faculty), contact the corresponding constituent council (Faculty Council, Staff Council, Administrator Council, or Student Council). If the issue relates to a specific location, contact a campus council (Germantown, Rockville, Takoma Park/Silver Spring, or WDCE). If the issue is Collegewide but not limited to a single role, contact a functional council (Academic Services, Employee Services, Operational Services, or Student Services). If the issue impacts all groups, then contact the College Council. If you are unsure which council to contact, you can contact the College Council Chair or the Director of Governance.

A: Email the specific council mailbox or the council chair for the meeting via a Zoom link.

A: Click "Membership" on the governance home page. This will give you a list of all members, grouped by council, and what role (faculty, staff, student, or administrators) and location (All, Germantown, Rockville, Takoma Park/Silver Spring, or Workforce Development and Continuing Education).

A: You can attend meetings, read the agendas and minutes for all council meetings, visit the council's website, or contact the members of the councils for more information.
A: All member of the college community are welcome to attend council meetings.  They may also contact their representatives on councils to present their ideas and opinions.
A: In addition to their own constituent council, each of these groups is also represented on all four campus councils, all four functional councils, and the College Council.
A: The constitution and bylaws will be the guiding force behind the operation of the councils. The College’s mission, vision, values statements, and strategic plan will drive the direction of the work that is addressed by the councils.
A: Nominations begin towards the end of February. Elections begin towards the end of March and conclude in early April. Specific dates will be announced via a Collegewide memo at the start of the Spring semester. Council terms of service are typically two years for employee positions and one year for student positions, with a few exceptions. Thus, about half the positions are elected each year.
A: Visit the How Can I Get Involved? section to find the positions within MC Governance for which you are eligible to run.
A: Yes, all 13 councils in the model will hold open meetings in the same manner as described in the Maryland Open Meetings Act.