Student Participation on Institutional Governing Boards

The results of this survey on student participation on college and university governing boards indicate that 14% of all institutions in the U.S. have students as members of their boards. Of the different institutional types, and public 4-year colleges and universities stand at one end of the scale with about one in four including students on their governing boards, and the 2-year colleges stand at the other, with only 8% of the public and 6% of the private 2-year colleges having students on their boards. Of the 86% of the institutions that do not now have students as members of their boards, 63% indicated either that they have had no plans for considering the possibility or that they have considered the possibility but are taking no definitive action. Concerning the possible authority students have as members of governing boards, of the 14% of institutions that do have students on their boards, less than half permit voting on all issues and 58% indicated that students were not permitted to vote on any board issues. (HS)