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Florida A&M University
Board of Trustees RetreatMay 4, 2014
Carol Cartwright, Ph.D.
Alvin Schexnider, Ph.D.
Senior Consultants
Getting Started
Introductions
Agenda
Goals
Context
National Issues and Trends
Issues Specific to HBCUs
What is Culture?*
“A culture is a system of beliefs and actions that characterize a particular group. Culture is the unique whole—the shared ideas, customs, assumptions, expectations, philosophy, traditions, mores, and values—that determine how a group of people will behave.”
*from “Leading Change” by James O’Toole, 1995
Culture Matters*
The cultural dimension is central to organizational life.
Even if it is not explicit, it matters.
*from “Understanding Organizational Culture” (2nd ed.) By Mats Alvesson, 2013.
Do Shared Values Make a Difference?*
“Leaders need to understand explicitly what they stand for, because values provide a prism through which all behavior is ultimately viewed.
The leader’s values serve as the standards for others about what is important in the organization.”
*from “The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations” by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, 1987.
Values are important Because*
They form the bedrock of an organization’s culture.
*From Kouzes and Posner
Shared Values*
● foster strong feelings of personal effectiveness
● promote high levels of loyalty
● facilitate consensus about key goals
● encourage ethical behavior
● reduce levels of stress and tension
*from Kouzes and Posner
Common Characteristics of Effective Value Systems*
● clarity: know what the organization stands for
● consensus: understand the values, share and
agree with them
● intensity: feel strongly about the worthiness of
the values
*from Kouzes and Posner
Go Deep*
Significant beliefs are often under the surface. It is important to identify values, beliefs and priorities at all levels of the organization because they are the framework that determines performance.
*adapted from www.culturalresearch.com
11
Changing Board Culture
Purpose of Identifying Beliefs*
Beliefs Create Decisions
Decisions Create Actions
Actions Create Results
*from www.culturalresearch.com
Broad View of Culture*
Culture is
● shared world of experiences, meanings, values
and understandings
● which inform people
AND
● lead to concrete actions
*adapted from Alvesson
Summary
How people THINK, FEEL, ACT, VALUE
Is guided by IDEAS, MEANINGS, BELIEFS
That are SHARED
Summary
SHARED Ideas
Beliefs
Meanings
LEAD TO
Coordinated Actions
Which Lead to Results
Defining the Culture of Your Board
What are the characteristics of your Board culture?
How do you know? What observable behaviors define the Board culture?
What resources do you have to achieve your ideal Board culture?
What strengths, talents, and networks do you have?
Public Trusteeship – Core Principles
• Respect the public trust.
• Ensure that public purposes of higher education are served.
• Be advocates for the value of public higher education.
• Reflect the best interests of the university even when there are competing forces.
• Engage in vigorous debate but speak publicly with one voice.
Effective Governing Boards*
Mission• Ensure that the institution’s mission is kept current and aligned with public purposes.
Chief Executive
• Select a chief executive to lead the institution.
• Support and periodically assess the performance of the chief executive and establish and review the executive’s compensation.
*From “Effective Governing Boards: A Guide for Members of Governing Boards of Public Colleges, Universities and Systems.” AGB, 2010
Effective Governing Boards (continued)
Strategic Planning
• Charge the chief executive to lead a strategic planning process and participate in the process.
• Approve the strategic plan.
• Monitor progress on implementing the plan.
Effective Governing Boards (continued)
Fiscal Integrity
• Ensure the institution’s fiscal integrity.
• Preserve and protect assets.
• Engage in fundraising and philanthropy.
Education Quality
• Ensure the educational quality of the institution and its academic programs.
Effective Governing Boards (continued)
Autonomy, Policies and Constituencies
• Preserve and protect institutional autonomy, academic freedom and the purposes of higher education.
• Ensure that institutional policies and processes are current and properly implemented.
• Working with senior administrators, engage with the institution’s major constituencies.
Effective Governing Boards (continued)
Conduct of the Board
• Conduct the board’s business in an exemplary fashion and with appropriate transparency, adhering to the highest ethical standards and complying with applicable open-meeting and public records laws.
• Ensure the currency of board governance policies and practices.
• Periodically assess the performance of the board, its committees and its members.
BOARD PERFORMANCE
Board and institutional performance are closely related.
Boards have major impact-positive or negative
Reputation Counts in Higher Education
Donors
Recruiting Faculty & Best Students
State Funding
24
BOARD PERFORMANCE
25
Boards have reputations of their own
mostly based on how they conduct
board business and themselves
Internal constituencies
External constituencies
Board meetings should be models
of good governance
Board Leadership Board Performance
Boards Must be Self Regulating
A president cannot police the board
Challenge: Governance is a team sport
but boards are mostly composed of
quarterbacks
A Team of Equals
26
27
An Effective Board• Understands and respects the
difference between governing
and managing.
• Balances advocacy and
oversight
• In spite of differing views,
speaks with one voice
28
• Observes the highest ethical
standards–no conflict of interest
• Balances the institution’s
interests with state needs
• Listens to all constituencies
without giving any veto power
An Effective Board
29
• Monitors to ensure the quality of
the educational experience for
students
• Is committed to due process and
academic freedom for students and
faculty
An Effective Board
30
An Effective Board
• Pursues board education
Is informed of national trends in
higher education; state and
regional needs
• Makes decisions that are data
driven
• Regularly assesses its own performance
and its governance capacity
31
Board Process and
Organization
Committees, Meetings
and Agendas
32
EFFECTIVE BOARD
MEETINGS
Key Issues
• Too many or not enough
• Too long or too short
• Stimulating and engaging,
or dull and non-participatory
33
EFFECTIVE BOARD
MEETINGS
• Satisfied board members who feel
their time is well spent and their
contribution well used, make up more
effective boards.
34
EFFECTIVE MEETINGS:
SOME SUGGESTIONS
• Put important policy matters at the
beginning of the agenda.
• Consider a consent agenda for
routine matters.
• Occasionally include an item for
discussion only, which anticipates
a future challenge.
35
• Have a yearly or biennial board
workshop where members can
critique meeting processes and
board arrangements and consider
trying on new practices.
EFFECTIVE MEETINGS:
SOME SUGGESTIONS
36
Board Organization and
Process: Best Practices
• Ensure board time is efficiently
utilized
Agendas avoid management detail and focus on policy
Utilization of consent agendas where appropriate
Effective boards have effective committees
37
THE DISTINCTIVE
REALITIES OF
PUBLIC TRUSTEES
• Their institutions are owned by the state
and are responsible to the state.
• Politics are often involved.
• Access is a mission priority.
High-Performing Boards
• Engaged and informed – understand and respect differences between governing and managing.
• Support presidential leadership – build a partnership around distinct roles of board and president.
• Balance oversight and advocacy – serve as ambassadors of the university and public higher education while ensuring institutional accountability.
High-Performing Boards (continued)
• Opportunities for meaningful deliberation.
• Forward looking and strategic.
• Understand value of informal and formal communication.
• Observe the highest ethical standards and avoid conflict of interest.
• Engage in robust debate and speak with one voice once decisions are made.
• Engage with important constituencies but reserve the authority for decisions.
Board Oversight and Delegation: Where is the Balance?
“While they cannot delegate their ultimate fiduciary responsibility for the academic quality and fiscal integrity of the institution, boards depend upon the president for institutional leadership, vision, and strategic planning, and they delegate to the president abundant authority to manage the operations of the institution. . . .A board must clearly convey the responsibilities it expects the president to fulfill and hold the president accountable, but it also must establish conditions that generate success for the president.”
From: “Board Responsibility for Institutional Governance” AGB, 2010.
Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities
• What belongs to the board?
• What belongs to the president?
• What belongs to the faculty?
“Clarity does not preclude overlapping areas of responsibility, but each group should understand whether its purview as well as that of others in the governance process is determinative, consultative, or informational.”
From: “Board Responsibility for Institutional Governance” AGB, 2010.
The Board-President Partnership
• Requires clear expectations.
• Based on shared vision.
• Mutual agreements about plans and priorities.
• Understand the roles of key stakeholders.
• Climate of trust and candor.
Components of Integral Leadership
• Strategic engagement of the board.
• Successful leadership of fully empowered president.
• Clear lines of responsibility, excellent communications, and shared commitment to mission by all university constituencies.
44
BEST PRACTICE:
COLLEGIALITY
Willingness to listen to and understand
another’s point of view
Not the same as compromise or consensus
Spirited debate is good and healthy.
Central to the notion of deliberative
democracy is that everyone gets a chance
to be heard.
45
THOUGHTS ON
COLLEGIALITY
Civil disagreements among board members are expected and healthy.
Collective thinking is smarter than individual opinions.
Respect the right of others to disagree.
Avoid impugning the motives or integrity of others with whom one disagrees.
46
FURTHER THOUGHTS:
COLLEGIALITY
Willingness to live by majority rule
Willingness to let go of bad
feelings about past decisions
Civility and collegiality enhance the
board’s stature and influence.
The Role of the Board Chair
Job Description…• Serve as liaison between Board and President.
• Set agenda with President and Executive Committee.
• Turn Board goals into action plans.
• Lead orientation for new members.
48
49
• Plan Board retreats and education.
• Lead in evaluating and setting compensation for the President.
• Attend meetings and events for the institution.
• Keep Board on policy and not management.
(Adapted from James Orlikoff’s “A Board as Good as It’s Chair”)
Job Description…
(continued)
Leadership
Strategies for
Board Chairs
“Governance is a Team Sport”Rick Legon, AGB President and CEO
51
Before taking office confer with your
board colleagues on their priorities.
Ask the President’s view as well.
Poll the board members for their
committee preferences.
Board Chair Strategies
Board Chair Strategies
Understand how the Board works:
Policies
Procedures
By-laws
52
Board Chair Strategies
Harness Board member talents and
interests.
Expose the Board to students when
possible.
53
Board Chair Strategies
Share the credit.
Acknowledge the good work of the
president, staff and faculty when appropriate.
54
Board Chair Strategies
Strive for Transparency
Mistrust abounds if legislators, alumni,
faculty, students, and taxpayers feel they
are out of the loop.
55
Board Chair Strategies
Select the Right President
Insist on a Strategic Vision
Set Goals and Assess Performance
Develop Future Board Leaders
Embrace Board Education
Make Trusteeship Enjoyable
(Adapted from EB Wilson’s “It All Boils Down To This”)
56
BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE BOARD
COMMITMENTS
• Commit to the Public Trust
• Seek First to Understand
• Attend and Engage
• Maintain Confidentiality
• Avoid Conflict of Interest
• Be Objective and Fair
• Avoid Personal Comments
58
59
COMMITMENTS
• Respect the Final Decision
• Chair and President as Spokespersons
• Build Strong Relationships
• Seek Views of Others and Accept Criticism
• Trust Other Board Members and
Be Worthy of Their Trust
60
TRUSTEESHIP… An art worth cultivating.
Thank you!
Alvin and Carol
Thanks also to Tom Meredith and Carolyn Long for permission to adapt some of their slides.