Princeton University
PA-3: Participatory Governance

All students are encouraged to become involved in student government at Princeton. Undergraduate students can be elected or appointed to positions in the Undergraduate Student Government (USG). USG elections occur three times per year, in fall, winter, and spring. For the first year class, there is a special election early in the year to elect class officers for the first time. In November, the majority of the USG Executive Committee is elected, which includes the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and all of the core committee chairs. Two class senators from each of the freshmen, sophomore and junior classes are elected in the winter election as well. In the spring elections, the 10 U-Councilors and class government officers are elected. Students can also be appointed to a position in the USG in a variety of areas. These positions include Projects Manager, Executive Secretary, IT Chair, Communications Director, Student Groups Liaison, and Elections Manager. In addition, the core committees accept new members who are appointed by their respective chairs. Any student can become involved by coming to the weekly senate meetings or emailing an idea to someone already involved in the USG.
There are a variety of ways for graduate students to participate in the Graduate Student Government (GSG). Students can run for office in the general election held each March, attend a GSG Assembly meeting, serve on a University Committee, or volunteer at a GSG-sponsored event. The GSG Assembly can make nominations for the other committees of the U-Council, including the Priorities Committee, which makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees each January on the allocation of the University’s operating budget, and the Rights and Rules Committee, which sets codes of conduct for the University and its students, faculty and administration.

The Trustees of Princeton University, a 40-member board, is responsible for the direction of the University. It approves the operating and capital budgets, supervises the investment of the University's endowment and oversees campus real estate and long-range physical planning. The trustees also exercise prior review and approval concerning changes in major policies, such as those in instructional programs and admission, as well as tuition and fees and the hiring of faculty members. Each year the current junior and senior classes, and the two most recently graduated classes, elect a member of the senior class as an Alumni Trustee.

Additionally, the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC), created in 1969, serves as a forum for the discussion of issues. The CPUC examines and makes recommendations on questions of policy that govern and affect the welfare of the University community. Chaired by the University’s president, the council is composed of faculty, staff, students and alumni. There are 12 Undergraduates on the CPUC, including the president and vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government and 10 undergraduates elected at large from the student body in April. There are 7 graduate students, at least one from each division.
Much of the work of the CPUC is conducted through its standing committees or through special committees. The president of the University is the presiding officer of the Council and of the Executive Committee. The committee has 14 members, including, in addition to the President, six faculty members (at least one from each division and one nontenured), three undergraduates (including the Chair of the Undergraduate Student Government), two graduate students, and two members selected by the Council from among the staff and alumni representatives. The Executive Committee sets the Council's agenda, recommends the appointment of members of Council committees, considers any matter within the jurisdiction of the Council, and serves as an informal advisory body to the president.
The Priorities Committee is a subcommittee of the CPUC and serves in an advisory role to the president. The Committee reviews the operating budget of the University, considers issues that arise in the course of the preparation of that budget, and reviews plans for the development of the University. The provost chairs the committee, which also includes the dean of the faculty, the executive vice president, the treasurer, six faculty members (at least one from each division and one non-tenured), four undergraduates and two graduate students (chosen with due consideration to the variety of interests represented in the student body), and one member from one of the other groups represented.
Students are also involved in the strategic planning process by participating in campus task forces. The strategic planning process will be closely integrated with the University’s campus planning initiative, which will begin in academic year 2014/2015. This initiative, which is being led by a Campus Planning Steering Committee, will build on the existing campus plan in creating a framework to guide the University's physical development for the next ten years and beyond.

Prior to the end of April each year, the professional library staff, the administrative staff, the professional research staff, the professional technical staff, and the office staff each elect one of its members by means of its own established procedures to serve on the Council of the Princeton University Community for a term of one year, the term to begin at the beginning of the next academic year. Voting shall be according to the system of the alternative vote.
Each year the Office of Human Resources oversees the selection process to identify representatives from each of the following staff groups to serve one year terms on the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC):
-administrative
-office support staff
-biweekly library, research or technical staffs
-biweekly maintenance or service
According to the CPUC charter, administrators are chosen by an election process that HR administers during each spring term. Individuals interested in broad matters pertaining to the University should consider self-nominating themselves or nominating a colleague.

Fifteen members of the faculty are represented on the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC). Each division of the faculty must be represented by at least two members and nontenured faculty by at least four members. Faculty members are nominated and voted on by the Council. Faculty representatives on the Council are elected to serve for a term of three years, with terms to begin at the beginning of the academic year, and with the terms of five such representatives to be completed each year.
The Advisory Committee on Policy consists of the six members of the faculty elected by the faculty to represent it on the Executive Committee of the CPUC. The Advisory Committee on Policy meets with the president at his request, at the request of the faculty, or on its own motion, to afford advisory consultation on matters of University-wide policy of concern to the faculty and not primarily within the jurisdiction of other established committees.

The Trustees of Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu/vpsec/trustees/