What Should A Member of Community Council Expect?

Membership on Community Council is an important governance responsibility. As a member of the Council you will work to help guide the future of Hampshire College.

Elections are held in the Fall for the Academic year. Campaigning is encouraged and speeches may be part of the process but that is up to the current residing Elections Committee to decide.

If elected you will serve for one academic year. Termination of your term is possible with situational dependencies. It is up to the body to all an individual forth with grievances.

As a Community Council member you should expect the officers of Council to support your efforts to make positive change. The officers have been chosen by Council to represent and support you in your efforts as such should provide information, support materials, and services for you.

You should expect prompt, accurate answers to your questions, both from Council members and from members of the administration, faculty, and staff. As a Council member, you should have access to the information that will allow you to make informed decisions.

You should expect that you willl be treated equally and fairly at Council meetings. This does not mean that you will always have a chance to voice your opinion or that you will always be met by a welcoming audience. But it does mean that you have as much of a chance as any other member to get the floor of Community Council and to express your opinions.

You should be knowledgeable. Members of the Hampshire Community will look to you for assistance in understanding important issues on campus, financial matters, and the political structure of the answer to a question, you should be willing to say so and either know where to direct the questioner or search for the answer yourself.

But, most of all, you should be willing to accept the responsibility of representing the views of your constituency to other members of Council so that diverse view points can be considered before action is taken.

At Hampshire College, Community Council is in fact a community. Council is not student government and is certainly not a trivial matter. It is the responsibility of the Council as a whole and the Council Chairperson in particular to be proactive within the community to be at the forefront, setting the agenda of the community, and not simply reacting to matters which have already passed out of your control.

Most importantly, being an elected official you are a representative of Community Council at all times. This means that you must act as a member at all times, following the Hampshire College Constitution, Bylaws, and Operating Procedures.