Governance Task Force Elections FAQ

This is FAQ for the Re-Rad-sponsored Governance Task Force Elections.

What is the Governance Task Force?
The Governance Task Force is charged by the Board of Trustees to reevaluate Hampshire's decision-making processes. Their recommendations have the potential to restructure the entire governance system of the college.

Why should I care?
"Governance affects all areas of the institution and defines how we make decisions." We are faced with a chance to improve the governance system of this college. Students and staff, just like faculty and administrators, should have a meaningful voice in the process.

Why is Re-Rad doing this?
The administration and Board of Trustees say they don't have time to run this election, and that they don't want more members. So we're doing the elections for them, and showing student support for equal representation.

These elections aren't just about choosing students and staff members for the Task Force. It is a strong statement declaring our dissatisfaction and our commitment to improvement, and will raise awareness about these issues.

Is this an official election sponsored by the school?
No. Neither the Task Force nor the Board of Trustees has endorsed these elections. Those elected may never in fact serve on the Task Force.

Why an election, instead of a different method?
We are unhappy with how the members of the task force were chosen. While we understand why well-informed members of the community submitted recommendations for this task force, we don't feel it was best to appoint members without consulting students. Because we are unable to undertake an appointment process ourselves, we have chosen the medium that best suits our abilities and objectives. An election will be open, allowing for full community participation in this important decision-making process.

If you disagree with our ideology or methods in this election process, we want to hear your views. The ballots with not simply be checkboxes; they will offer the opportunity to explain why you chose to participate or did not. At the very least we want this election to result in an aggregation of opinions to better represent the community at large.

Why was the recommendation system flawed?
The sole student representative was recommended by the President's Office. The only other members of the Hampshire community whose opinions were solicited were two administrators in Student Life. No faculty members were consulted. No students were consulted.

Who is on the Task Force?
The members are 3 trustees, 3 administrators, 3 faculty members, 1 staff member, and 1 student. There are also 2 co-chairs.

Co-Chairs: Susan Tracy and Marian MacCurdy Board Members: Shelley Carey, Stephan Jost, and Laura Nasir Faculty Members: Laura Sizer, Lee Spector, and Jim Wald Administrators: Yaniris Fernandez, Josiah Litant, and Shelly Ruocco Staff Member: Chelvanaya Gabriel Student Member: Dee Dee Desir Available for consultation is Tom Longin, Senior Consultant to Boards and Presidents, Association of Governing Boards.

What are the positions the nominees are running for?
The nominees are running for student representative and student alternate, and staff representative and staff alternate.

Why are you electing alternates?
We are requesting equal representation on this key task force. Presently, there is only one student member, and only one staff member, while there are three members each of every other constituency. Equal representation would mean adding two students and two staff members.

However, if this would make the task force too large, we have an alternate solution: drop one administrator and one faculty member, and add one student and one staff member. The committee will stay the same size and still have equal representation.

What was the deadline for nominations?
Monday night at midnight.

How many students were nominated?
Eleven students were nominated. You can see the full list here.

Why are you not holding a staff election?
No staff members nominated themselves, although Re-Rad did its best to reach out to staff about the election.

When is the deadline for voting?
Thursday night at midnight.

I heard something about a sit-in?
On Friday, September 25th, forty-six Re-Rad students and their supporters rallied together and peacefully presented four requests to the committee: transparency, accountability, equal representation, and reserved power. Read the full document to learn the details.