1. COMMUNITY COLLEGE GOVERNANCE
Presidents and Trustees: Forging a Culture of Trust and Accountability
MICHIGAN
Community College
Leadership Academy
September 22, 2016
Cameron Brunet-Koch, Ph.D.
North Central Michigan College

2. Community college governance
Roles & responsibilities

3. ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
BOT
Does not run the College, but assures that it is well run.
APPROVES
Mission, Vision, Values, Philosophy
Broad College policy
Annual operating and capital budgets
ASSURES
The College’s financial viability
The College’s fiduciary conduct
That the College has an effective system of governance
EVALUATES
The state of the College relevant to its vision and mission.
APPOINTS
Evaluates and supports the President
ADVISES
The College about its strategic direction
External forces that may influence its strategies
ANTICIPATES
and prepares for future issues
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Board of Trustees

4. CULTIVATES RELATION-SHIPS
PRESIDENT
Runs the College by building the right operational team
IMPLEMENTS POLICY
DELIVERS PROGRAMS
CULTIVATES RELATION-SHIPS
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
President

5. WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR STUDENTS AND THEIR SUCCESS?
BOT
President
Evaluate
Advise
Involved with Strategic Planning
Deliver
Implement
STRIKING A BALANCE
between the policy role of the board and the management role of the president is one key to a strong board and a visionary college.
WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR STUDENTS AND THEIR SUCCESS?
CORE
FOCUS

6. Community college governance
CREATING AND SUSTAINING A HEALTHY AND PRODUCTIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIP among board members and between board members and the president is another key to a strong board and a visionary college

7. STRONG HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS DEPEND ON:
Open, honest communication
Clarification of goals and priorities
Persistence in communicating same message (over and over) to different audiences
Familiarity – others know your values
and what you represent
RELATIONSHIPS
Educational Partners
Board
Faculty
Staff
Community
Legislators
Students

8. STRONG BOARD-PRESIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE NOT WITHOUT THEIR CHALLENGES
Managing relationships with seven people
7 “bosses”
Managing the relationships between board members
Delivering information on potential problems
How to balance providing information and appearing not in control of situation
Clarifying Roles
Better done one-on-one and reinforced as a group. All hearing the same message.

9. HEALTHY EFFECTIVE BOARDS DEPEND ON STRONG BOARD-PRESIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS
The board and the president should act as a team, with total transparency between the board chair and the president
All board members should have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities
The president needs to cultivate a working relationship with all members of the board, but focus on the relationship with the board chair
The president should set expectations regarding how senior staff members interact with board members

10. Community college governance
Managing dissent and conflict

11. MANAGING DISSENT AND CONFLICT Root causes: how board conflict emerges
Disagreement concerning an issue they care about deeply
Differences of opinion about mission and key activities (sometimes people’s answers depend on their values, not on objective criteria)
Differences of opinion about the competence of the president (sometimes discussion gets personal, and not based on a regular evaluation process)
Generational or organizational transitions (sometimes there are generational differences in experience, perspectives and ways of doing things)
Bad things can happen (sometimes in a crisis situation people’s emotions can get in the way of clear thinking and reasoned discussion)

12. MANAGING DISSENT AND CONFLICT Root causes: how board conflict emerges (cont.)
The board lacks the tools needed to manage disagreement
Difficult issues do not always generate conflict. Dissent turns into conflict when there are no mechanisms for working through differences or crises. This may be due to:
A lack of understanding about how to manage conflict
A board chair who does not know how to lead the board through the conflict
Boards that prefer to avoid disagreements

13. MANAGING DISSENT AND CONFLICT Root causes: how board conflict emerges (cont.)
People behave in provocative, unproductive ways
Conflict can arise when one or more people engage in behaviors that others experience as confrontational, inappropriate or otherwise disagreeable
On a board of people with diverse personalities, experiences and backgrounds, being “direct” may be seen as “rude.”

14. MANAGING DISSENT AND CONFLICT Root causes: how board conflict emerges
Structures promote factions
Conflicts can emerge from misplaced loyalties.
A board member actively guards the interests of the group with whom he/she aligns (inappropriate)
A board member supports a friend on the board
Committees can promote conflict
Nominating committees that only recruit like-minded candidates
Finance committees that place financial matters ahead of all other issues

15. MANAGING DISSENT AND CONFLICT
Disagreement is present in healthy relationships
Do not “personalize” the conflict
Go back to What’s Best for the Students

16. Community college governance
Strategies for building a strong board culture

17. STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING A STRONG BOARD CULTURE
Create a base upon which members can build effective working relationships, such as:
Talk about the kind of culture you want for your board and create that structure
Agree on meeting protocols (Robert’s Rules)
Agree on communication protocols (Normal and Crisis)
Outline board member expectations
Hold board retreats 2-3 times per year

18. STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING A STRONG BOARD CULTURE
Encourage vigorous discussion about important decisions facing the college
Give board members the organized information they need, in a timely manner, to fully understand the issues and choices they are addressing
Organized, predictable agenda
Board packets sent out 3-7 days in advance of a meeting
Hold each other accountable for agreements made as a group, not just the board chair

19. Community college governance
8 STRATEGIES FOR PRODUCTIVE BOARD MEETINGS

20. 8 STRATEGIES FOR PRODUCTIVE BOARD MEETINGS
Start with Mission – Make it Meaningful
Board members can get tired of the same committee reports, numbers, motions, etc. Most members joined your board because they care about your mission. Yet, many board meetings are utterly disconnected from the mission and vision of the college.
Have a mission-related item for each board meeting that reconnects board members with the heart of your college
Have a Firm Agenda
Sent out beforehand
Enforced by the board chair

21. 8 STRATEGIES FOR PRODUCTIVE BOARD MEETINGS
Send a Pre-Meeting Packet (3-7 days before meeting)
Board Agenda
Backup Items and Resources
Copy of Budget
Start and End Meetings on Time
Allowing meetings to begin late fosters terrible habits, and makes even more board members arrive late, because meetings never start on time
Likewise, if they begin late, then they will likely end late
Make Your Board Meetings about Decisions, not Updates
Move critical strategic discussions to the front of the agenda instead of wasting the majority of your time on updates that are contained in the pre-meeting packet

22. 8 STRATEGIES FOR PRODUCTIVE BOARD MEETINGS
Don’t Let One or Two Board Members Dominate
Encourage everyone to get involved and talk
Intervene when there are board members who speak at, not with the other members.
Ask for Action
Don’t say, “We really need help finding new major donors.” Instead say, “Would you each be willing to help John meet one new major donor this month? It won’t be for an ask, just a get to know you meeting. Who can help?”
No Surprises
Board meetings should not contain surprises
Any significant surprise, good or bad, anticipated or not, tell your board in advance

23. Community college governance
Other suggestions . . .

24. OTHER SUGGESTIONS . . . Build a great board
Encourage individuals who support the college to consider running for board of trustees.
Populate your board with people who you believe can really help the college.
Board members are professional, accomplished in their field and respected in the community
Use their expertise, listen to them, they are your antenna to the community.
Board members are busy people
Be mindful of their time
Push Back
Sometimes trustees have silly ideas and give bad advice. Be open to different perspectives, but push back when it makes sense

25. OTHER SUGGESTIONS . . . Be passionate!
Show the board your genuine commitment – the fire in your belly!