September 5, 2018

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

This academic year, I invite you to engage in the discussions of shared governance that we started last spring. This working document lays out some background materials on shared governance and challenges us with important questions to consider.

Shared governance connotes shared responsibility and distributed leadership. It doesn’t mean that every constituent group gets to participate at every stage of a decision. As a community, we have work to do to define our independent, interdependent, and collective roles in Trinity’s governance.

I invite you to read this document and to join in these important conversations. Collaborating and accepting shared responsibility for our future are essential elements of a thriving Trinity College.

Sincerely,

Joanne Berger-Sweeney
President and Trinity College Professor of Neuroscience