The College of New Jersey operates under a system of shared governance. At TCNJ, the standard model of shared governance, which acknowledges the faculty’s expertise in and responsibility for the academic enterprise of the College, is augmented by the inclusion of all stakeholder groups in a process of making recommendations toward the policy and planning decisions of the administration. Shared governance creates an environment in which faculty, staff, and students work together to make recommendations to administrators to promote collegial and transparent decision making. The Library Governance Document extends these principles of transparency and inclusiveness to the library by creating an organized structure through which stakeholder groups may become informed about issues and planning, and influence the decision-making process.
The formal library governance structure consists of the Library Steering Committee, the Library Building and Safety Committee, the Library Strategic Planning Committee, and library ad hoc committees. The principles of shared governance should permeate decision making in all existing library units, committees, task forces, etc. Any member of the library community can bring an issue of concern related to library policy, procedure, or program to the Steering Committee.