The final authority in the college rests in the Board of Trustees, as set forth in Article II, Section 1, of the Bylaws of the McPherson College Board of Trustees. Decision making for college operations is delegated to the President of the College, and authority for the academic program is delegated by the President to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and to the faculty. Faculty Meeting is the highest decision-making authority for the faculty; however, the faculty delegates authority to committees, divisions, departments, and individual faculty members of the college. Different authority is given to each level of governance, and while all levels are subject to oversight, each level has the authority to make and implement some decisions. Thus, each level of governance has both independent decision-making authority and decision-making authority that is dependent on approval of other parts of the governance. The faculty as a whole has decision-making authority in the academic program, but not complete authority. Decisions such as the content of this handbook depend on the approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs or the President of the College, and some areas of handbook content require the approval of the Board of Trustees. Other decisions, such as appointment of faculty members to faculty committees, the approval of new courses, or the approval of individualized interdisciplinary programs are made independently, based on the faculty’s delegated authority. This distinction is fundamental for understanding faculty governance because it is important to differentiate between faculty decisions that may be immediately enacted under the authority of the faculty and those that may only be enacted pending the approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the President, or the Board of Trustees.
Approved by Faculty on 11 March 2010