[Alumni-chat] Trustees

[Art Dole]

On 1/10/08 3:44 PM, "Art Dole" <aadole at roadrunner.com> wrote:

> Since the day may soon come (I hope) when antioch C OLLEGE has its own
> independent Board of Tyrstees, it may be timely to consider the roles and
> functions of (a) real Ohio liberal arts college BOT's and (b) an idezl BOT
> yaillored to the revived Antioch College.
> 
> Under a, what are the legal and actual practices in Ohio? (As I recall Mort
> Raugh (?) years ago wrote a book on this topic.)
> 
> Under b, what should be considered in creating a BOT for the revived Anioch?
> How might it operate in relation to its stakeholders (especially
> students,faculty, administration, and staff) to the purpose of the college,
> to fiscal matters? How important is the affluence and generosity of its
> members, not to forget their power and their experience in higher education?
> 
> In  my experience I have been on several boards of non-profit organizations.
> One did all the hard work, much more than its one paid part-time employee;
> two rarely met but satisfied state  legal requirements. A new university in
> a foreign country listed me as a board member. with my permission, but
> nothing more  was expected of me. This leads me to the tentative conclusion
> within quite broad limits as set by a government authority of some sort a
> board may be the creature of the founding mothers and fathers of the
> non-profit organization
> 
> 
> 
The above was a draft that escaped from my computer before I could polish it
and add an afterthought. Here's my idea for the day.

The Better Business Bureau publishes a monthly,  Wise giving Guide.  Twenty
detailed Standards for Charity Accountability are applied to approximately
500 non-profits. Standard 1, for example, begins:  "A board of directors
that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its
staff..." 

Colleges and universities are not included. I assume there are accreditation
standards for them in respect to fund raising. If not, there should be.
Would AU BOT meet them in proposing to close AC?

 I look forward to comments and recommendations  from fellow alums.

Art Dole "46