Student Activities: Student Participation in University Governance

University of Portland students are afforded many formal and informal opportunities to have a voice in University governance, particularly through the Associated Students of the University of Portland (ASUP). The list below sets forth the opportunities available at the time of publication of this handbook.

ASUP Executive Board

The ASUP president and other officers of the student government have meetings with members of the faculty, the staff, and the top levels of the administration, including the University president; these discussions are instrumental in keeping the administration and others informed of students’ views and are valuable opportunities for these student leaders to learn about issues the University is addressing, in order to inform the Student Senate and student body about them.

ASUP Senate

The Student Senate frequently invites administrators of various departments to speak on topics of interest at the start of the weekly Student Senate meetings; these occasions afford all the student senators an opportunity to receive information, ask questions, and share their student constituents’ points of view.

ASUP Senate Committees

The Student Senate has standing committees on Academic Concerns, ASUP Awareness, ASUP, Oversight,Athletic Programs,Campus Security and Maintenance, External Affairs, Food Services, Campus Affairs, Sustainability,Technological Affairs, and Club Recognition; the student senators on these committees field student concerns forwarded to them through the Student Senate and work with appropriate departments of the University to address those concerns, reporting back to the student body through their senators.

Board of Regents Committees

The ASUP president and vice president serve as non-voting, ex-officio representatives to two committees of the Board of Regents at Board meetings held on campus, typically twice a year; the ASUP president attends the meeting of the Committee on Student Services and the ASUP vice president attends the meeting of the Committee on Academic Affairs.


Academic (Faculty) Senate

The ASUP vice president and ASUP secretary serve as voting, ex-officio members of the Academic Senate which is responsible for developing the University’s academic policies in a number of areas, as well as advising the administration in some non-academic areas.

Academic Senate Committee on Curriculum and Academic Regulations

Two seats of this committee are filled by students, one undergraduate and one graduate student, who discuss, deliberate, and vote on matters pertaining to the academic programs.

Presidential Advisory Committees

Students recommended by the ASUP president and appointed by the University president serve alongside faculty and staff on five Presidential Advisory Committees, which are Student Media, Athletics, Health and Safety, Informational Technology, and Sustainability.

Other advisory committees

Several programs and departments have formal advisory committees which either include students or are made up entirely of students:Office on Students with Disabilities Advisory Committee (University Health Center); Student Athlete Advisory Committee (Athletics); Advisory Committee for Club Recognition (Student Activities); Cadets Funds Board (Army ROTC); Consortium for Educational Advisement & Development Committee (School of Education); and the School of Nursing Committees on Community, Curriculum, Evaluation, and Students.

Other opportunities

Other schools, departments and programs provide for student input into policy, planning, and budgeting recommendations as those units deem necessary for their decision- making. Some turn to existing student organizations or committees or to student eaders or student employees in their departments for input. Other departments ga ther information from surveys conducted on an on-going or a periodic basis. And at times students are appointed to ad hoc committees, such as committees which interview prospective faculty or administrators for positions with the University.