Self-Governance
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What is Self-Governance?
Self-governance is the organizing principle on which the Grinnell community is based. It’s difficult to create a hard and fast definition of what “self-governance” means, because by its very nature, self-governance is constantly being modified to changing situations. It has adapted over the decades to accommodate changes in campus culture and evolved to meet the needs of its practitioners. However, the goal of self-governance remains steady: to give Grinnellians the tools they need to build a community based on respect and accountability.
Self-governance is grounded in responsibility and respect for others. It gives Grinnell community members a framework to resolve conflict. Community members take responsibility for their actions and respect the rights of others, and trust that their fellow Grinnellians will do the same.
Self-governance only works if everyone is committed to it. With such a large degree of freedom comes immense responsibility. Participants must actively work to maintain the quality of their community. Self-governance requires maturity and being aware of the consequences of our actions. Community members must be willing to actively listen and compromise with people of different perspectives.
While self-governance can be challenging, it is also incredibly rewarding. Students are allowed the freedom to make their own choices and learn from their mistakes. Community members take care of each other and help each other thrive. We are responsible for the quality of self-governance; it is only as good as we make it.
A Brief History of Self-Governance
There is no concrete moment in which self-governance came into being. Throughout its history, Grinnell has always valued student involvement and allowed students to take responsibility for themselves. There is section on the philosophy of "self-governance" in student handbooks until 1998, but the idea of self-government exists in college catalogs as far back as 1887:
“All honor attaches to self-government, and self-respect can be secured only by faithfulness and diligence in promoting one’s own and the common-welfare in student life as in the state".
Grinnell College President George Gates’ 1887 inaugural address outlined some early principles of self-governance:
“It is ten thousand times better that the young people should learn to govern themselves, than that they should be governed in any best way whatsoever…I believe neither in the imperiousness of ab extra authority; nor in management by adroit diplomacy; nor in the weakness of pathetic pleadings; – but rather in frank, manly, ingenuous, open dealing. I have boundless confidence in putting students on their honor.”
Since the construction of the dorms in the 1910s, hall councils have existed in the men’s and women’s dorms. Students were responsible for enforcing the administration’s rules and hall councils had relative authority in disciplining students who broke the dorm rules.
This system of self-governance worked as long as the administration and the students agreed on the same moral and social principles. With the generation gap in the sixties, students would no longer enforce the rules the administration set up. After much debate over "open dorms,"the hours in which women could visit men’s dorms and vice versa, students demanded increased autonomy. In November 1968, the dorm councils declared "home rule," stating that they would no longer enforce visitation hours.
Divergent student culture in the 1960s led to an increase in the ability of students to be self-governing. Dorm Mothers were replaced by Resident Advisors and the function changed in line with the nomenclature. A Student Advisor system developed in which students demanded to be unpaid so that they would not have to enforce the rules of the college but could instead be counselors to their floors. The women's South Campus and men's North Campus were integrated by gender and coed dorms evolved, both of which radically changed the campus ethos and governance models. Visiting hours, formerly 3 hours on Sunday afternoon, became a dim memory by 1970. Under student pressure, President Leggett moved away from the in loco parentis model in which the college assumed the role of the parent.
From the 1970s, Student Affairs Deans such as Jim Tederman and Tom Crady have codified self-governance and carry the model forward. Grinnell students, faculty and administrators continue to develop a system in which the institutional value of self-governance remains strong.
Tenets of Self-Governance
Responsibility
Grinnellians take responsibility for the actions and choices that affect themselves and their community, whether at Grinnell or through social responsibility in a larger global context. They own their decisions, and accept the consequences of them.
Respect
Self-governance means respecting your community and yourself. When you respect others, you are less likely to make decisions that will impact them in a negative way. Self-governance is realizing and recognizing that every person’s experiences and opinions are valid.
Compromise
In order to maintain a working community, members need to be willing to trade off and compromise with each other when it comes to personal disputes and decision making. For example: floor voting that establishes single-sex bathrooms, but allows for the opposite sex to use the shower during designated times.
Accountability
Self-governance allows for greater freedom of choice, but community members must be accountable for how they exercise that freedom. They understand that if they make choices that harm the community, they need to step forward and take ownership of their actions and the consequences thereof.
Awareness
Self-governance is a proactive process that requires community members pay attention to their own personal needs and actions as well as those of their fellow community members. Paying attention to the community and it members allows individuals to enact positive change and prevent behavior that negatively affects the community.
Trust
Self-governance is based on trust. The administration gives students greater freedom and trusts them to use it wisely. Students trust each other to act maturely and not abuse this freedom, and trust the community to take care of its members. Self-governance requires that you act in a way that validates others trust in you.
Communication
Community members are expected to solve disputes amongst themselves in a respectful and mature fashion, and good communication is important to making that happen. Members must be willing to listen to each other and take other points of view into account and be assertive in an appropriate response.
Community
Under self-governance, members take the good of the whole into account when making a decision. They work with each other to create a campus environment where all members can live, work, and study.
Common Sense
A great deal of what “self-governance” can be summed up by simple common sense. Community members should think about whether their actions will cause unnecessary harm to themselves.
Self-Governance Case Studies
Below are three examples of common situations that require self-governance at Grinnell. The first example explores ways of dealing with the situation and their subsequent consequences. The last two examples present a situation and ask questions about ways to handle each situation.
Example 1
Your neighbor is playing music ridiculously loud at 1am … on a Tuesday night. It’s becoming a weekly occurrence and the lack of sleep is making your 8 a.m. more unbearable than previously thought. What do you do?
- A. Do nothing.
- B. Knock on your neighbor’s door and yell that quiet hours started at 10 p.m.
- C. Tell the RLC.
- D. Seek advice from your SA about how to resolve the situation.
- E. Explain to your neighbor the impact of their behavior and ask them to stop.</b>
Answer: There is no option that represents the ideal way to self-govern. Each option has its own benefits and costs to the individuals involved and the community. Instead of prescribing a method, let’s explore how each option could play out.
- A. Do nothing.
There are benefits to doing nothing. You don’t have to confront your neighbor or be the one who tattles on them. At the same time, your neighbor might take your silence as a sign that loud music at all hours is ok and do it more frequently. Pent-up hostility will compound your stress and potentially cause you to lash out at your neighbor down the line.
- B. Knock on your neighbor’s door and yell that quiet hours started at 10 p.m.
This option is pretty emotionally gratifying. Being mean might scare your neighbor into the desired behavior. At the same time it makes future dialogue about any issues difficult. Most people, even if at fault, don’t like being chastised or lectured. Some might just keep playing loud music out of spite. The situation only holds the potential to get worse and will probably require more people to get involved before it’s resolved.
- C. Tell the RLC.
This option doesn’t require you to confront your floor mate and could get the situation resolved very quickly. However, it also has the potential to increase tension between you and your floor mate, who might not have been aware there was a problem. If multiple attempts to mediate the issue have failed, contacting your SA and RLC might be necessary. Also if you feel more comfortable with your RLC, they are an equally great source for venting, advice, and mediation.
- D. Seek advice from your SA about how to resolve the situation.
Student Advisers have gone through student staff training and have at least a year's experience mediating their own floor-related issues. Plus, it might be a good idea to vent and get some feedback from a third party to gain some perspective. As a final thought, your SA could mediate a discussion between you and your floor mate (might be helpful for those who don’t like confrontation).
- E. Explain to your neighbor the impact of their behavior and ask them to stop.
This, along with option D, seems to be the most beneficial for you, the other person and the Grinnell community. It prevents the issue from becoming a larger problem and allows both parties to resolve the problem in a way acceptable to both parties. In general, this option encourages each party to learn how to assertively and effectively communicate with people. This is not only a part of self-governance, but a skill that will serve you well far beyond Grinnell.
Example 2
You find your floor mate passed out in the hallway hopefully not the one that plays loud music. This isn’t the first time (s)he has required help and you’re just on your way out for the night. Do you help out? If so, what do you do?
Things to think about:
- What are the consequences if you don’t help out?
- To your floor mate?
- To you and the Grinnell Community?
- How do you determine how drunk your floor mate is?
- To what extent do you help out?
- If you think (s)he requires more help, who do you call first to get help?
Answer:
A passed out floor mate/friend can definitely ruin a night. It’s especially annoying if the person, despite needing help multiple times, continues drink too much. At the same time, a fair number of Grinnellians learn their drinking limits through trial and error and have subsequently required aid at some point (maybe even you).
Your floor mate might manage to sleep it off, but they might also need serious medical attention. At best, poorly guided vomit and hall fines will be the result of doing nothing. At worst, an alcohol poisoning/death due to neglect could happen. Not only is this terrible within it of itself, but also could have serious ramifications to self governance and college policy regulating student life on campus.
If you are attempting to gauge how serious the situation is, try and find your SA or look for pamphlets or guides that can help you interpret how serious your floor mate’s condition is. Unless it’s an emergency, always call the RLC on duty (The number is posted in most dorm hallways, or security can transfer your call when you dial 641-269-4600, or x4600).
Example 3
You wake up to find that your hall lounge has been trashed. Unfortunately on top of that, someone managed to vomit all over your bathroom (even the shower). How do you get everything cleaned up and not get fined?
Things to think about:
- Do you know what organization/person threw the party?
- Did they have a lounge contract?
- Did anyone else on the floor know who threw the party?
- Does your RLC know that nobody on your floor incurred the damage?
Answers:
In this situation it would be good idea to try to get in contact with the people that threw the party. Most party planners might not be aware of the damage done and might be willing to clean up the mess. If they had a contract, you can find them through the RLC or HSC.
If the culprits prove difficult to find, you unfortunately have to decide whether you are going to clean up or leave it to the facilities management (FM). In the later case, you can contact your RLC to see if the fines for your floor can be dropped.
Overall, the lesson is keep an eye on what’s happening on your floor and to talk with folks throwing parties to make sure they clean up afterwards.
Common Misperceptions About Self-Governance
Students can break college rules without ramifications.
Students on the Grinnell College campus, like students everywhere, are subject to the rules and regulations of the college as spelled out in the student handbook, and to the laws of local, state, and federal governments. If a student breaks a rule or law and is caught, they can be punished. One aspect of self-governance is taking responsibility for our choices, including those that have negative consequences.
Self-governance means students are free to do whatever they want.
While self-governance does allow students greater freedom, that freedom is coupled with a sense of responsibility and respect for others. Students are free to make their own choices, but not if those choices negatively impact other individuals or the community. Sure, you COULD “sexile” your roommate every night of the week, but that would infringe on your roommate’s rights to sleep in their own bed.
Students determine college policy.
Self-governance is a philosophy based upon building a healthy community. While students are granted responsibility by the college, they do not have the right to determine college rules and regulations. Students do, however, have the unique opportunity to have open dialogues with the college administration and can and do create change.
Self-governance just “happens."
Self-governance requires the active participation of everyone in the community. This means not only being responsible in your own actions, but also (respectfully) encouraging your fellow community members to do the same. If you see someone damaging communal or private property or the community as a whole. If someone makes a similar request of you, be respectful and stop the destructive behavior. If you see a fellow community member in trouble, help them.
Self-Governance means that others act first.
While students are encouraged to confront problems they see in the community, self-governance is a two-way street. It implies that students be aware of how their own actions are affecting others. You shouldn’t have to be asked to turn down your music, but should take your neighbors into consideration before you turn your music up in the first place.
Self-governance is dead.
Self-governance exists only as long as students practice it.
Tools of Self-Governance
Residence Life
Student Staff
Having a volunteer student staff (Student Advisors and Hall Social Coordinators) means that student staff members are there as someone to facilitate conversations and help resolve floor issues instead of enforcing rules. It is through your HSC that you reserve lounges and procure alcohol/lounge contracts.
Resident Life Coordinators (RLCs)
RLCs are not on campus as police officers but are there as a resource for the students. There is a certain level of RLC–student confidentiality and RLCs help facilitate self-governance by working with student staff and managing hall fines.
Fine system
Grinnell’s fine system works to promote self-governance through a community responsibility system that fines the collective group for things like property damage unless a self-governing individual steps forward and takes responsibility for the damage.
Voting on bathrooms, quiet hours
Floors can vote on bathrooms and quiet hours, if applicable. It allows students to exercise self-governance directly by reaching a consensus on floor rules and taking all opinions into account.
Student Publications
The Scarlet and Black, as well as other student publications, are student-run and are funded by SPARC and the student activities fee. Because campus publications are not directly funded by SGA or the college administration, they are independent forums for student expression and criticism.
Student Government Association (SGA)
SGA Cabinet
The cabinet of SGA is one of the few student groups on campus that have direct interaction with the college administration and trustees on a regular basis. Each cabinet member gauges student opinion and ensures that the proper authority is aware of it. They also advocate for students in dealings with the Board of Trustees and college administrators.
SGA Senators
Senators are the connection between individual students and the main body of SGA. Senators listen to the concerns of their constituents and advocate on behalf of them before Joint Board.
SGA Joint Board
Senators and the cabinet meet weekly in Joint Board to address issues affecting students and the campus at large. Joint Board can pass resolutions that show student support for specific policies.
Student presence on committees
College Curriculum Committee
The Curriculum Committee has immediate oversight of the educational program of the College. The committee oversees concentrations, departmental majors, departmental curricula, and the organization of general education at the College. The committee approves new courses and course revisions recommended by the divisions; the committee also authorizes the deletion of courses.
Budget Steering Committee
The Budget Steering Committee is responsible for evaluating the College’s budget and making financial recommendations to the president before the submission of the budget for approval by the Board of Trustees. Two students sit on the committee, and are able to provide an important student perspective on how the College spends its money.
Residence Life Committee
The Residence Life Committee makes policy decisions related to student life at the College. Students on the committee play a role in decisions involving residence halls, room draw, and the allocation of off-campus college-owned houses.
Judicial Council
Judicial Council (Judco) is body established to handle a host of student related grievances and/or violation of college policy. The council is made up of 9 student adjudicators appointed by the VPAA (4 randomly selected for each case), the VPAA (as an observer), a faculty adviser, and the Associate Dean/Director of Residence Life. The council hears all relevant information related to a case in a closed meeting and then decides on a punishment to recommend in writing to the VP of Student Affairs.
Student Educational Policy Committees (SEPCs)
SEPCs allow for student involvement in curricular decisions and give students a organized voice inside their departments. SEPCs organize department study breaks and picnics, gauge student opinion during the hiring of new faculty, and play a role in evaluating professors during the three-year review and tenure review process.
Closing Statement
This is the best guide to self-governance that we could come up with, but it's by no means exhaustive. These are guidelines, not rules set in stone. There is no one definition of what self-governance is; each student exercises it differently. But the general goal of self-governance is consistent: it is a way for students to live together and forge a community based on trust and respect. We abide by self-governance because we believe that Grinnellians are capable of behaving responsibly and maturely. And when Grinnellians strive to meet these expectations, self-governance does work, and works well. But we all must work constantly to achieve this goal. Self-governance requires active participation to succeed, and everyone needs to do their part to maintain Grinnell as a happy and healthy place to live.
As compiled by Jeff Sinick '09, Caitlin Wells '08, Danny Haupt '08, Aaron Barker '11, Ethan Struby '10, Chris Johnston '09, Harry Krejsa '10, and Leda Hoffmann '09.
Links
"Self-Gov is Love" - Video made originally for the 2007 NSO
Original text public Google Doc - Compiled by the above authorial signatories
