The Board of Higher Education is the official governing organization of each of the nine state colleges in Massachusetts. The Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the Board and, in collaboration with the several Vice Chancellors and their staff establishes policy in areas mandated by the Commonwealth. Recently the Board is playing an active role in the areas of Mission refinement, admissions standards, program approval and assessment. The Board also has provided grants for special projects. In addition to working closely with each of the State Colleges the Board of Higher Education also consults with the Council of State College Presidents, which meets monthly to consider matters of general concern.

Salem State College is governed directly by its own eleven member Board of Trustees. The Board’s members are appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth for a renewable five year term. The Board meets five times annually and works through its committees: Executive, Academic Affairs, Finance and Facilities, Personnel, Student Life, and Long-Range Planning/Institutional Advancement. The Board oversees the College’s budget, contracts, and policies. The Board approves new programs and some personnel actions. The responsibilities of the Board are considerable. The Board communicates with the College community through the President of the College, but also through the administrative liaisons assigned to Board committees.

The organizational structure of the College is detailed in the Table of Organization included under "Institutional Characteristics". The President is the Chief Executive Officer responsible to the College’s Board of Trustees. The President’s full time responsibility is to the College and the Board has delegated to her appropriate authority to act effectively.

The administrative structure of the College includes four vice presidents (Academic Affairs, Student Life, College Advancement, and Administration & Finance) and the Chief Information Officer each of whom reports directly to the President. Also reporting to the President and included in her Cabinet are the Director of Human Resources, the Director of Equal Opportunity and Human Rights, the Dean of Continuing Education and Non-Traditional Programs, the Associate Dean for the Learning Center and Minority Affairs Director, the Special Assistant to the President. Reporting directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs are the Deans of the School of Arts and Sciences, the Schools of Human Services, the School of Business, the Library, Instructional and Learning Support, the Dean of the Graduate School and the Dean of Non-Traditional Programs (also to the President).

Through its governance structure the faculty provide oversight for curriculum development as well as academic policies. Through the College-wide structure the faculty oversee the integrity of the College’s programs and its policies. This oversight begins at the departmental level from which it proceeds through the college-wide organization.

As detailed in Article VII of the collective bargaining agreement College governance is tripartite in principle - faculty, students and administration – but with the faculty possessing decisive authority in practice. Governance, however, is advisory to the President. The principal governance committee is the All-College Committee including five representatives of the faculty/librarian bargaining unit, three student representatives and three representatives of the administration. The All-College Committee serves as the coordinating body for the entire system of governance. It has the right to make recommendations to the President contrary to those submitted by the other contractual committees.

The Curriculum Committee, with sixteen faculty representatives, Academic Policies with sixteen faculty representatives, and Student Life with five faculty representatives are the other contractual committees. Faculty representation on these committees is large enough to provide the faculty with a clear and ordinarily decisive voice in the development of academic policies, programs and curriculum.

In addition the collective bargaining agreement mandates the existence of a Graduate Education Council and permits the establishment of special and ad hoc committees ranging from the Council on Teaching and Learning to Library/Media to Parking. Faculty membership on these committees is determined by the Executive Committee of the faculty union.

Faculty personnel matters are reviewed through regular meetings between the Academic Vice President as administrator of the collective bargaining agreement and the principal officers of the faculty union.

The Division of Continuing Education and Non-Traditional Programs, including evening, off-site and week-end programs reports to a Dean who is, in turn, responsible to the Academic Vice President and the President jointly. The several academic department chairpeople work closely with the Dean of Non-Traditional Programs in relation to hiring and course scheduling.

Recent contract discussions between the Board of Higher Education and the Massachusetts State College Association reportedly addressed issues of college governance across the system with management reportedly seeking to expand participation in governance while removing the matter from the contract. The organization of College Governance is defined by the faculty contract and is dependent upon it. Governance, therefore, often does not function during extended periods of contract negotiation. As a result the deliberative process with regard to curriculum, academic policies, and matters relevant to student life grinds to a halt. Since a new contract was not negotiated that status of governance continues to remain unclear. Often, the contractual structure provided for Governance as well as the history of the process at Salem State College provides few opportunities for extended deliberation of College-wide academic issues.

At least two out of the last ten years saw Salem State without a functioning governance system because of work to rule decisions by the faculty union in response to the failure of contract negotiations. While this habit means that great power devolves to the administration to act arbitrarily if it chooses in practice governance slows and curricular and policy matters are delayed in implementation.

All All-College governance task force will be appointed to examine the governance process within the context of the faculty contract. The faculty is currently in a prolonged negotiation stage at the state level. Faculty contracts have been extended yearly since the last negotiation in 1995. Changes relevant to College governance will occur as negotiated in future contracts.