Ultimate responsibility for governance of Kenyon College rests with its Board of Trustees, which is guided by the legal framework described in the Constitution of Kenyon College (See Appendix A).
Responsibility for developing and maintaining the programs of the College is delegated in large measure to the President and to the faculty. This responsibility informs the organization of faculty business and faculty participation in collegiate governance. Collegiate governance involves three distinct bodies: the administration, acting through the President and other administrative officers; the faculty, acting through the faculty meeting and the standing and ad hoc committees of the faculty; and the student body, acting through the Campus Government described in the Student Handbook. The Campus Government represents the concerns and interests of students, and acts under authority delegated directly by the President. The system of faculty governance outlined below acts out of powers invested in the faculty by the Board of Trustees as well as the President. It provides means of communication with other members of the College and of action on behalf of the faculty to determine the educational character of the College.
Because the conduct of the faculty's business is the business of all faculty members, the faculty of Kenyon College, in approving this system of governance, affirms its expectation that every faculty member will take part in the system. This expectation is grounded above all in the faculty sense that duties should be appropriately shared, but also in the recognition that active participation is a simple responsibility of faculty membership and contributes to faculty development.
The system of government herein described supersedes any and all previous legislation on the subject
(amended through section 3.2.6, May 1992)