Board Inclusion Shared Governance

1. Board Inclusion Shared Governance Board GovernanceStrong CommitteesTom Susman West Virginia State University Board of Governors Chair

2. This is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. .

3. Types of Boards • President/Chair decides all • No real input from the Board • Everything goes to full Board • All day meetings nothing gets accomplished • Strong Committee process • Delegation and participation

4. Issues for Boards • Varied backgrounds • Limited availability • How to accomplish everything you set out to do? • Keep Board members involved • Shared governance (Sounds great, how does it function?)

5. Chair Must Realize • Only one vote • Facilitator/Conduit for Board • Facilitator/Conduit for President and administration • Facilitator/Conduit for the HEPC or state government • Conduit for faculty/students/staff and alumni (Select situations) • Point-person in time of crisis • You are the Chair, not the President. You and the Board hired a President to run the institution. • In times of crisis, your role will become more pronounced.

6. Committee Structure • Must rely on your Committee Chairs and members • Must appoint people who can get the specific job done because of background and desire • Must delegate tasks to Chairs and Committees (You must resist the urge to decide for the Committees.) • Insist that the President and VPs work with Committee Chairs to set agendas, bring issues to the Committee, and provide responses • Well defined roles and agendas

7. Committee Tasks Examples • Academic Policies - studies Compact issues (If needed, they can hold special meetings.) • Audit - all things audit • Just like the Legislature, you should respect the Committee process. • Acts as a training ground for Committee members • Shared responsibility/limits dominating personalities

8. CommitteeBenefits • Gives time to examine and fine-tune issues • Travel expense policy • Presidential review • Members and constituent groups have more input. • Provides oversight, but not intrusive - if role is defined • Audit reviews audits formal and internal • Board establishes process. • Members of the Board do not perform the audit themselves. • If there are issues, the Committee can bring them to the Board.

9. Shared Governance • Committee process, if done correctly, provides Board members with the feeling that they are included in process. • When members are involved, they are less likely to act alone. They will use the established process. • Administration understands they must work with the Board through Committees and that becomes part of the presidential expectations. This provides a process for oversight.

10. Inclusion • Committee time allows input from: • Board members • Students, faculty, and staff • Other stakeholders • Administration • Allows Board members to be subject matter experts • There is not enough time, if issue development is done just in Board meetings.

11. Other Items • Any question asked by a Board member between meetings is generally shared with all board members. • Personnel and legal issues may be not shared. • Our Board frowns on members trying to run the institution as an individual. • Our authority is only as a Board in total, not as independent members. • Understand members are volunteers

12. Final Thoughts • Process must be flexible. • Good discussion and debate are always welcome. • Do not beat a dead horse. • If an issue is not ready for prime time, send it back to Committee. • If something comes up during a Board meeting that needs further study, refer it to Committee. • Vote it up or vote it down; do not let a small minority delay the process.