A. Community Council
The Community Council serves as a forum in which all the segments of the College community: administration, faculty, staff, and students, have a voice on nonacademic issues facing the College. With this representative membership, Community Council deliberations and decisions take into consideration the interests and concerns of the whole community. The diverse membership assures that each member of the council hears and understands the views of the other sections of the community, thus linking the four groups that compose the Middlebury College community.
The Community Council has a dual role in the College governance structure. Sometimes the council makes decisions and then implements those decisions as College policy. On certain matters, the council serves as an advisory body to the president and administration.
1. Authority
a. The Community Council considers policies and issues in all areas pertaining to the nonacademic life of the College in which students, faculty, and/or staff share mutual concerns.
b. The Community Council may make decisions about matters when it can be held accountable for the consequences of those decisions. Examples include student appointments to certain committees and considering house grievances.
c. The Community Council may recommend actions to the president and administration on matters in which the council has an interest, but cannot be held accountable (legally or financially) for the consequences of decisions made. Examples include handbook policy changes and creation/termination of social/academic interest houses.
2. Legislated Duties
a.
Responsibilities
i. Charged with oversight of the coeducational social house system and the academic interest house system and the implementation of changes mandated by the trustees in January 1990, the Community Council may hear an annual report from the Inter-House Council early in the year concerning the role of each house in the residential system of Middlebury and each house's compliance with the trustee-mandated reforms. (In the fall of 2000, the Community Council established the Subcommittee on the Social and Academic Interest Houses for oversight of the houses; see below.)
ii. Oversight of Academic Interest Houses: The Community Council may hear a report from the Academic Interest House Council each year to determine if the house serves a useful and needed purpose in the residential system of Middlebury College.
iii. The Community Judicial Board, the Academic Judicial Board, and the Judicial Appeals Board are accountable to the Community Council.
b. Delegated Responsibilities: Subcommittee on Social and Academic Interest Houses.
i. Subcommittee on Social and Academic Interest Houses
The mission of the subcommittee:
1. Review annually at the beginning of the year, the goals and purposes of each of the social houses and the academic interest houses.
2. Evaluate each of the houses in January to make sure that the
(a) houses are in compliance with College policy
(b) houses have realized their goals and purposes for the academic year
3. Based on a review, the Subcommittee on the Social and Academic Interest Houses can recommend to the Community Council that houses
(a) be continued
(b) be continued with conditions (provisional status), or
(c) be discontinued
4. In addition to overseeing compliance with College policy, this subcommittee will take on special projects as requested by Community Council.
The Subcommittee on Social and Academic Interest Houses may also make recommendations to the Community Council for updating guidelines and regulations for students in houses, consider house grievances, and make appropriate recommendations to the Community Council. In addition to the fall and January reviews, the subcommittee will meet as needed. Review of all rush and pledge (education) procedures for the social house system will be considered by the president of the IHC, the adviser to the IHC, the faculty representative, and the staff representative.
The Community Council will meet with the subcommittee after the fall and January reviews to consider the recommendations. When a recommendation has been made to discontinue a house, house members will be invited to the Community Council meeting for a full discussion. This does not preclude Community Council from taking independent action.
The membership of the Subcommittee is: president of the IHC, adviser to the IHC, faculty representative, student representative, and staff representative.
c.
Decisions
i. Community Judicial Board. Early in the spring semester, the Community Council will appoint a selection committee comprised of one faculty member and two students from the Community Council, two nonvoting advisory members from the Community Judicial Board, and the associate dean of the College, to advertise for, interview, and select a slate of four student members and two student alternates to serve on the Community Judicial Board. The Community Council ratifies the slate of candidates.
ii. Academic Judicial Board. Early in the spring semester, the Community Council will appoint a selection committee comprised of one faculty member and two students from the Community Council, two nonvoting advisory members from the Academic Judicial Board, and the administrative co-chair of the Judicial Appeals Board to advertise for, interview, and select a slate of four student members and two student alternates to serve on the Academic Judicial Board. The Community Council ratifies the slate of candidates.
iii. With respect to social houses the Community Council:
(a) Approves changes in guidelines and regulations for students in houses proposed by the deans and the houses
(b) Considers house grievances
These responsibilities may be delegated to the Subcommittee on Social and Academic Interest Houses.
d. Recommendations
i. The Community Council recommends to the president policies in all areas pertaining to the nonacademic life of the College in which students, faculty, and/or staff share mutual concerns. This includes changes to current College policy as presented in this Handbook.
ii. The Community Council convenes an Honor System review committee at least every fourth year, and it makes recommendations on changes proposed by the committee. Recommendations for changes in the Constitution of the Undergraduate Honor System require approval by a referendum in which two-thirds of all students who are currently registered for classes vote, and in which two-thirds of those voting support the change, subject to ratification by the faculty. The Community Council will submit its recommendations for changes in other aspects of the judicial system to the Faculty Council for review and ratification by the full faculty.
iii. Community Judicial Board, Academic Judicial Board, and Judicial Appeals Board: The Community Council may consider or make recommendations about changes in the operation of the judicial boards. The Community Council will submit its recommendations to the Faculty Council for review and final approval by the full faculty.
iv. With respect to social houses and academic interest houses, the Community Council:
(a) Recommends action or changes in policy concerning the houses when the deans and one or more of the houses have an unresolved disagreement or when a member of the community files a complaint against a house with the council or suggests policy changes.
(b) Recommends to the president the creation or termination of a house.
3. Other Duties
a. The Community Council may hear any proposals brought forth by members of the College community concerning nonacademic issues that affect members of the community. Action may be taken on submitted proposals according to the guidelines established in section 1 above.
b. The Community Council itself may initiate discussion on any nonacademic issue affecting the College community. Action may be taken according to the guidelines established in section 1 above or the council may encourage other appropriate groups to consider the issue in question.
4. Composition
a. Membership
The voting members of the Community Council are the dean of the College (or designate), two members of the administration appointed by the president, two members of the faculty appointed by the Faculty Council, the vice president of the Staff Council, a second member of the staff appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Staff Council, the president of the Student Government Association, the student co-chair of the Community Council elected by the student body, and six other students. Nonvoting members include two students who are selected as alternates for the student voting positions, an administrative alternate appointed by the president, and a staff alternate appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Staff Council. The dean of the College and the elected student co-chair serve as co-chairs of the Council.
b. Appointment of Members
i. The two administration members and one alternate are appointed by the president of the College.
ii. The two faculty members are appointed by the Faculty Council.
iii. The vice president of the Staff Council serves as the MCSC representative to the Community Council. The second staff member and alternate are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Staff Council.
iv. The student members are appointed by the Student Government Association.
B. Environmental Council
1. Purposes
a. To promote environmental awareness among faculty, staff, and students.
b. To make policy recommendations to the president of the College designed to:
i. ensure a safe and healthy environment for all who live and work on the College campus.
ii. promote environmentally sound ecological (air, land, and water) stewardship practices.
iii. promote throughout the College community conservation of resources, energy efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, pollution prevention, increased reliance on renewable resources, and other measures consistent with sustainable living.
iv. further long-range environmental planning by the College.
v. assist the College in carrying out its civic responsibilities in the area of the environment.
c. oversee a biannual College-wide assessment process to ensure strong environmental performance and share the assessment with members of the College community.
d. encourage faculty to provide students opportunities within the framework of academic courses to conduct research on campus and local environmental issues; and to ensure that such research is shared with the Environmental Council and appropriate officials within and outside the College so that it can be used to formulate improved policies and programs.
e. design and coordinate environmental programs on campus as directed by the president.
2. Membership
Members are appointed to the Environmental Council as follows (continuing membership is encouraged):
a. Director of Environmental Affairs shall automatically be chair.
b. Campus Sustainability Coordinator shall automatically be vice chair and project coordinator.
c. The president may appoint a member of the College community to serve as co-chair of the council.
d. Seven student representatives shall be appointed by the Student Government Association, through the appointment process in the fall. If replacements are needed in the spring, this process will be repeated. The Environmental Council shall supply the SGA with selection criteria, students shall apply to the SGA, and an Environmental Council representative can sit on the interviewing committee without a vote.
e. Three or four staff representatives shall be appointed by the Staff Council during the summer. The Environmental Council shall supply the Staff Council with selection criteria and recommendations and staff will apply to the Staff Council during the summer.
f. Three or four faculty representatives shall be appointed by the Faculty Council acting as Committee on Committees in part of the regular faculty committee appointment process. The Environmental Council will supply the Faculty Council with selection criteria and recommendations.
g. Members of the town community, or alumni, may be appointed to subcommittees in an advisory capacity on an as-needed basis.
Members are expected to attend Environmental Council meetings on a regular basis and actively participate on one or more subcommittees. Inactive members will be replaced.
C. Committee on Art in Public Places at Middlebury College (CAPP)
CAPP has existed since the fall of 1994, when the president and Board of Trustees entrusted it with the exhibition, purchase, and placement of works of art on the campus, apart from the Middlebury College Museum of Art.
1. Charge of the Committee
The Committee has been charged with achieving the following goals:
Establish a program of exhibition of art in public places to be administered jointly by the Middlebury College Museum of Art and CAPP.
Expand the educational mission of the Middlebury College Museum of Art, the Department of History of Art and Architecture, and the Program in Studio Art by providing interesting and challenging work of high quality, accompanied by an interpretive program to make works accessible to the non-specialist.
Elicit gifts and loans of works of art that can enhance the aesthetic and educational mission of the arts.
Involve a broad representation of the community in choosing, placing, and interpreting art in public places.
Designate the Center for the Arts and its grounds as a place for public art, as well as selected sites in other spaces on campus.
Provide funding for the purchase, installation, maintenance, and interpretation of works of art in public places;
Ensure the security and care of these objects.
2. Mandate and Operating Procedures for CAPP
The College has established a policy of "One Percent for Art;" that is, one percent of the total budget of any renovation or new construction at the College would be earmarked for the purchase, installation, maintenance, and interpretation of works of art in the public places associated with the building renovated or constructed.
The college shall undertake a concerted effort to acquire gifts of works of art, as well as monetary gifts leading to the acquisition, care, and interpretation of works of art in public places.
The College shall consider the audience for such works to be the entire College community and shall take into account the mission of the institution, which will be reflected in the acquisition, siting, and interpretation process. Works of art shall be acquired for exhibition in public places following the guidelines established by the Middlebury Museum of Art for the acquisition of art for its collection.
Distinctive works of art chosen or created for the public spaces of the campus will represent a broad range of artistic styles and be of sufficiently high quality to merit their inclusion in the College's permanent collection.
All works will be reviewed for site specifications, function of site, primary users of the site, site-specific maintenance and safety questions, and appropriateness of a loan or permanent placement.
Loans of works to be exhibited in public places will be considered, especially as they allow for experimental and challenging works to be shown.
The College will be fiscally responsible in accepting works for loan exhibition, reviewing financial and legal obligations regarding the acquisition of works of art, including covering artist fees, travel costs, transportation of work, site preparation, signage, potential repair and restoration costs, insurance and security costs, and costs for an educational program designed around the work and for publicity to introduce the work to the community. A budget for exhibition of works of public art on loan will be established before loans are accepted.
Bearing in mind recent legal discussions about the rights of artists concerning the discussion, alteration, and placement of works of art, the College shall take such ethical considerations into account when choosing and negotiating for works of art to be displayed in public places.
CAPP will have the right to deaccession works guided by the same standards used by the Collections Committee of the Museum.
3. Policy for the temporary exhibition of works of art on the Middlebury campus
CAPP does not presume any authority over works of art, photographs, etc., that faculty and staff place on view in their offices, that departments choose to install in their offices and teaching spaces, that students place in their rooms, that Commons choose for their lounges.
CAPP welcomes temporary installations in public spaces organized by departments or individuals. There is no need for CAPP to monitor short exhibits (three weeks or less), but such presentations must always be clearly labeled to indicate their source and the educational purpose that lies behind them.
CAPP, or the on-campus subcommittee of CAPP, which has been authorized to make practical decisions that are too cumbersome to be managed by the Committee as a whole, must approve any work or works to be placed on view for a longer period. (This subcommittee consists of the chair of CAPP, the director and assistant director of the museum, the director of the Program in Studio Art and the chair of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture.)
When a work or works are approved for temporary exhibition, the length of time it/they will be on view must be clearly indicated and stipulated in writing, indicating the agreement between the installer and the subcommittee. Normally, an academic year would be the longest time for such an exhibition. If the department or individual wishes, a request may be made at the end of the designated period to extend the exhibition, or to acquire the work or works for permanent installation. If CAPP does not approve the extension, the work or works must be removed.