Report on Assessing Public Board Performance

Colleagues,

A copy of the complete report that follows can be found at the USC web site for the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis: http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/pdf/Performance.pdf

This document is pointed at state-wide educational boards but most of the points are applicable to local Boards of Trustees of COmmunity Colleges as well. Many of these same pointes were recently described in a Harvard Business Review article on Building Better Boards. What is your thought - do we need to add issues to the list or are too many of them not useful to you?
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Executive Summary:

The challenges now facing higher education require the presence of high-performing boards that are prepared to wrestle with increasing regulatory requirements, growing global pressures, elevated competition, and expanding access in a time of declining funds. This policy paper reviews a national study of the performance and improvement of public boards and provides several recommendations.

High-performing boards follow the practices outlined below:

• Create a common vision and purpose.
• Develop a broad-based, multi-year, annual agenda through a thoughtful, inclusive process.
• Ask tough questions and think beyond typical assumptions.
• Generate board chair leadership.
• Capitalize on board staff for information and educational needs.
• Clearly define the board’s role.
• Develop ad hoc committees based on the board’s agenda.
• Establish a committee to evaluate the board.
• Plan for board succession, turnover, and size.
• Nurture/model the desired qualities of board members.
• Build a culture of professionalism.
• Create an effective relationship between the president and the board chair.
• Establish communication between the president and individual board members.
• Engage university constituents outside of their board responsibilities with consultation of the president.
• Develop a strong orientation for new board members.
• Create a board education plan.
• Use evaluation results to determine development.
• Coordinate the governor’s and legislature’s strategic plan/goals with the board agenda.
• Establish joint goal-setting among the governor, stakeholders, boards, and presidents.
• Foster better communication across layers of governance.
• Gain access to the governor.
• Stay on agenda even as governors change and propose new paths, but be prepared to bend a little and negotiate a position.