Governance plays a vital educational role at Antioch College. As a “laboratory for democracy,” Antioch seeks to provide students with an unusually holistic and rewarding learning experience through participation in shared governance and responsibility for community life. This active and vital role in community empowers students with the vision and skills necessary to effect important change in the world.
Antioch’s current governance model involves faculty, staff, and students. Community Meetings are held every other week during each term. At each Community Meeting, the members of the community gather as a general assembly and then break into small Community Groups to discuss issues in greater depth. Each group has chosen a Convener who facilitates the meeting and sits on a Council that crafts policy and responds to the needs of the community.
This is an evolving model that is sure to expand as the student body grows. In addition to the Council of Conveners, students also work with Community Life as staff members and facilitators; help plan events; participate in faculty searches, committees, and task groups as needed; and sit on the Community Standards Board. In Winter 2012, the Governance Task Group was elected by the community to work closely with the Council of Conveners in further formalizing a campus governance structure that is transparent in its processes, sustainable as a model, and accessible to all members of the community.