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The Douglas College Council (more often referred to as simply the College Council) was founded in March 1969. Amendments to the Public Schools Act six years earlier required that all colleges in the province of British Columbia be governed by a College Council. The stated purpose of these councils under the amendment was the management, administration, and control of the property, revenue, business, and affairs of each respective college. Citizens who wanted a college in their region could vote in a plebiscite to contribute to the institution's costs through their local school taxes. School districts in Richmond, Delta, Surrey, Langley, Burnaby, New Westminster, and Coquitlam voted on March 9, 1969 in support of the college's creation. The government established the first college council, which was required by law to consists of one member appointed by each participating school board, members appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, and one District Superintendent of Schools from one of the participating districts appointed by the Minister of Education. Jack Smedley was the first chairperson of the Douglas College Council, and he held the position from 1969-1970.

The Council was responsible for recruiting the College's founding principal, George Wootton, and the secretary-treasurer, M.F. (Bill) Morfey. The council was also involved with hiring other key personnel, developing the College's first budget, and procuring facilities.

Other powers and responsibilities of the College Council included: appointing necessary instructional and other staff; determining student fees and tuition; overseeing the management and carrying-out of the college's curriculum and instruction; preparing annual budgets; and determining admission requirements.

In 1979, following the passage of the College and Institute Act, the Douglas College Council became the Douglas College Board.

The Office of Director of Libraries (a position originally called Chief Librarian) was responsible for the management of librarians and staff while also leading the development of library policy, coordination with other branches of the College, and generally providing for the administration of the libraries at each of the seven campuses by the end of the 1970s.

The library as a department within the College began in January 1970 with the appointment David R. Williams as Chief Librarian. By the end of the first academic year there were fully functioning libraries at the New Westminster, Richmond, and Surrey campuses. These libraries were housed in the modular, prefabricate buildings ubiquitous at Douglas College during its early years. The collection of books and other materials was originally processed through an agreement with Simon Fraser University. The library's first ten years were characterized by rapid growth as new campuses with libraries were opened in Coquitlam, Langley, and Surrey's Newton town centre. Library services were also available at the Maple Ridge campus and the Agnes Street annex in New Westminster. When Douglas College was "split" to create Kwantlen College, the library's collection and personnel were also divided between the two institutions. Williams went on to become the Vice-President of Kwantlen College and was succeeded as Director of Libraries by Virginia Chisholm.

In 1982, the Coquitlam and New Westminster libraries were amalgamated in the recently completed permanent campus at Royal Avenue in New Westminster. This roughly coincided with a reorganization in which the Department of Learning Resources was created to oversee the direction of both the library and Instructional Media Services (IMS).

The Douglas College Student Society (DCSS) was incorporated in 1972 under the Society Act with a mandate to represent and protect the rights and interests of students. The makeup of the Society's executive membership has changed over time, but typically included a President, Vice President(s), Secretary, Treasurer, and campus- or program-specific representatives. At different times in the history of the DCSS, the records of the Executive were collected by a staff person who was also responsible for the management of Society business/administration.

When the DCSS was formed it represented students from three campuses: New Westminster, Surrey, and Richmond. For this reason, the earliest governing body of the DCSS - the Student Council - was also sometimes called the Tri-Council. By 1979, five additional campuses were also being represented by the DCSS: Coquitlam, Langley, Maple Ridge, Agnes Street, and Newton Centre. Consequently, the DCSS's governing body became the Multi Campus Council. In the early 1980s, following the College's split into two separate institutions, the DCSS updated its Constitution and its governing body was reorganized as the Senate. Rather than a campus-specific focus like its predecessor, the Senate used a model of representation based on areas of study.

In 1992, DCSS membership voted to leave the Canadian Federation of Students, only to re-join the national organization six years later. In 1999, the DCSS underwent a restructuring in which it was renamed the Douglas Students' Union (Canadian Federation of Students, Local 18).

The Douglas Students' Union (DSU) is a non-profit society incorporated under the BC Societies Act. The Union represents students on matters of school policy, provides services and hosts events aimed at enriching campus life, and engages in advocacy on behalf of its members.

Established in April 1981 (with its initial meeting held the following month), the Education and Services Committee was committee of the College Board. It was a new iteration of the Program Review & Development Committee, and it shared mostly identical terms of reference as its predecessor. These included reviewing proposals and presenting reports and recommendations to the College Board related to program development, educational priorities, new systems of instruction, admission policies, and financial matters impacting instructional activities.

By 1993, the Committee’s mandate had been updated to include reviewing proposals “on matters relating to instruction, College services, and College-community relationship and to present reports and recommendations to the College Board.” Public information and community development activities were added to the existing list of the Committee’s areas of focus.

In January 1996, the Education and Services Committee became the Education Committee.

In January 1996, the Education Committee was established as the successor to the College Board’s Education & Services Committee. Initially it maintained many of the same responsibilities as in its previous iteration but with a new emphasis on providing a link between the College Board and the Education Council. By 1999, much of the Committee’s responsibilities were set out in the College and Institute Act, which had become legislation in 1996. The Committee endeavoured to clarify and foster the link between each of the College’s governing bodies, reviewing information and advice the Board received from the Education Council. The Committee also reviewed matters requiring joint approval of the Board and the Education Council, and it carried out any responsibilities delegated to it by the Board.

The Education Committee was discontinued in 2000 following a re-evaluation of the Board’s committee structure.

EVENT is a literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, non-fiction, notes on writing, and book reviews by emerging and established writers. It was founded in 1971 due in large part to the efforts of creative writing professor David Evanier, who was also the magazine's first editor. Associate editors were made up of faculty from the Department of English and Communications.

When Kwantlen College was formed in 1981, responsibility for EVENT shifted to that institution, which is where key faculty involved with the publication had been re-assigned. When Kwantlen announced its plans to cease funding EVENT at the end of the 1984-85 fiscal year, then-editor Leona Gom launched a campaign to save the publication. Readers, past contributors, and other members of the Canadian literary community rallied to the cause and Douglas College agreed to take back control for the magazine in 1985.

Contributors to EVENT have included writers like Gordon Pinsent, Carol Shields, Susan Musgrave, Madeleine Thien, Timothy Taylor, and Alistair MacLeod. The magazine has also been the recipient of numerous National Magazine Awards and Western Magazine Awards.

Past editors include: David Evanier (1971-1973), Robert W. Lowe (1974-1975), Monica Ochs (1975), Rona Murray (1975), John Levin (1976-1980), Leona Gom (1980-1984), Dale Zieroth (1983-1986), Calvin Wharton (1997-2001), Cathy Stonehouse (2001-2004), Billeh Nickerson (2004-2007), Rick Maddocks (2007-2010), Elizabeth Bachinsky (2011-2014), Ian Cockfield (2014), and Shashi Bhat (2015- ).

The Finance Committee established in October 1997 had a mandate that was distinct from the earlier iteration of the same name, which had existed from the College's earliest years until 1981. The work of this newer Finance Committee focused on both finance and facilities. Its finance-related responsibilities included advising the Board and administration on significant financial affairs at the College, reviewing the operating and capital budgets, and reviewing financial statements. Its facilities-related responsibilities included making policy recommendations regarding building and site development, examining long-term plans for future developments, reviewing and recommending site acquisitions, meeting with government officials and local stakeholders regarding the acquisition of sites and facilities, and acting on behalf of the Board with respect to jointly owned facilities.

In January 2009, the Finance Committee became the Audit and Finance Committee.

When it was formally established as a standing committee of the College Council in 1975, the primary function of the Finance Committee was to advise the Council and Administration on significant financial and business matters, present recommendations on the disposition of financial documents, and make recommendations on proposals related to major financial decisions. The Committee was also tasked with reviewing drafts of the College’s operating budget, capital needs and the capital budget, financial statements, and voucher lists.

In 1981, following the split between Douglas and Kwantlen, the Finance Committee (by then a committee of the College Board) amalgamated with other committees to become the Finance, Facilities and Personnel Committee.