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Building a stronger board
Building a board with informed and active trustees is a complex equation. A new report, based on a 2006 Chronicle of Higher Education survey of trustees shows that alumni trustees feel no better prepared for board service than colleagues who graduated from other institutions. As ACTA has emphasized, the essential characteristic of an effective trustee is willingness to ensure high academic standards, academic freedom, and efficient, affordable operating procedures. And, most important, to be a fiduciary: to safeguard the academic and financial strength of your institution, while serving the interests of your state and nation. To achieve these ends, the fiduciary will challenge when necessary both prevailing policy assumptions and prevailing authority. Alumni status may or may not predict fiduciary ability or even detailed knowledge of the institution. ACTA recommends casting the net wide for talented new board members--both alumni and non-alumni--including faculty from other institutions and representatives from appropriate public policy and professional organizations. Significant board orientation and regular training for all members is essential. As we learn from trustees, the goal of such training--like the selection of new trustees--is not consensus-building, but informed, independent governance.
Posted by Michael Poliakoff on April 30, 2010 at April 30, 2010 04:10 PM
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