Administration & Governance
The president's direct support staff are Deana Bandilla, Executive Assistant to the President and Office Manager, and Donna Zuidema, Administrative Assistant. The president meets weekly with the Washburn Group, whose members are the provost and the vice presidents. Members of the Washburn Group meet biweekly in a larger group of administrators, including the academic deans and the dean of students, called the Goddard Group.
Formal governance structures define the responsibilities and operating procedures for both the faculty and the Board of Trustees. Faculty governance is organized into monthly meetings of the faculty as a whole, and a set of governance committees, some with membership by both faculty and administrators, that meet weekly. These committees include those on governance, academic programs, academic operations, administration and finance, tenure and academic freedom, and student life. The Board of Trustees also has a set of committees, including executive, nominations and governance, advancement, academic planning, student affairs, facilities and campus infrastructure, budget and finance, and marketing. The last five named committees each include two members of the faculty who are nominated by the faculty Committee on Governance and selected for three year terms by the board Committee on Nominations and Governance. Faculty members serve with full voting privileges. Members of the Board of Trustees comprise the WPI Corporation, which meets three times per year. The Secretary of the Faculty and the Chair of the Faculty Committee on Governance attend meetings of the Corporation, the former as a non-voting participant and the latter as an observer. The Executive Committee is authorized to act on behalf of the Corporation between meetings of the latter. The President serves as a member of the Board of Trusees ex officio.
