[Alumni-chat] Trustees

[Art Dole]

On 1/11/08 8:45 AM, "Sistersara at aol.com" <Sistersara at aol.com> wrote:

> 
> In a message dated 1/11/2008 6:58:22 A.M. Central Standard Time,
> aadole at roadrunner.com writes:
> 
> 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?
> 
> 
> 
> Art -- great topic for discussion, and yes, time to take it up  seriously.
> 
> I think you have to make an outline of all necessary structures and
> functions before you can fine tune what you expect of any one part of it.
> 
> In terms of law, most States (and I would assume Ohio) are interested in  the
> incorporation process for what will be a non-profit entities that hold
> property in trust dedicated to a particular educational purpose.  They will
> want 
> to see by-laws that conform to the rules for non-profits and that clarify  the
> board's fiduciary responsibility.  They will want to see by-laws that
> recognize the importance of the Board of Trustees as a degree granting entity,
> recognition of the function of the Ohio Education Regents, of North-Central
> and  
> the like, and probably if the college is to participate in Government Loan and
> Grant Programs -- conformity with these norms.  In other words, a BoT is  the
> legal face of the college, and intent and resources to conform with all such
> legal requirements has to be in place.  Simply said, one of the first  things
> that needs to happen is to collect a good sample of by-laws, get a lawyer  to
> review them, and then craft appropriate ones after full discussion of the
> implications.  
> 
> The normal things a BoT does are to select and appoint the top
> administrative level -- President, perhaps a VP who serves as Dean of Faculty,
> A  VP who 
> serves a Dean of Students and Student Services, a Chief Financial Officer  who
> may also serve as, or supervise a Development Officer.  While the  President
> probably should appoint his/her own cabinet, all of these functions  should
> mate 
> up with BoT committees, and the relationship should be both  oversight and
> assistance in the quality functioning of the administrators.
> 
> One way or another all the necessary functions need to properly fit into
> these Administrative Officers portfolios.  For instance, a VP Dean of
> Students 
> and Student Services would employ an Admissions Officer who would be
> responsible for developing a recruitment strategy, and executing it.
> Likewise, campus 
> housing would be a student service, so would dining halls, so  would
> classroom buildings, so would library, so would technology for all student
> matters.  
> One thing that really concerns me is the need to give the Faculty  ownership
> of curriculum, thus the position of VP and Dean of Faculty is in my  mind a
> very critical position.  This person would work between the BoT,  which would
> have oversight, and (hopefully) very active Faculty committees  building out a
> full Liberal Arts Curriculum.
> 
> This by no means covers everything -- but hopefully I have made my point
> that we need to start with a full outline of functions and responsibilities,
> and  
> only then can we get serious about the specifics as to the kinds of people
> that  need to be recruited for the BoT.  We want find people who can both
> raise 
> money and nurture these functions through BoT committee work.  Then  the BoT
> needs to be able to recruit and support the major administrative  officers.
> Obviously the BoT needs the ability to fire for cause if an  administrative
> officer is dysfunctional or just not doing a competent job.   Obviously the
> BoT 
> needs legal advice for writing contracts and job  descriptions for all of
> these 
> officers -- administrators should not necessarily  have tenure, but since
> above all the College is going to  need administrative personnel willing to
> make 
> a multi-year commitment,  (Staff churning has clearly not been healthy for the
> college) this needs to be a  consideration in initial hiring.  You would
> want, in my mind, a President  willing to commit to let's say a seven year
> contract, with performance reviews  at set times, and a decision about
> extension of a 
> contract after perhaps five  years.  If a new President is to be appointed,
> this leaves adequate time  for a proper search and transition.
> 
> Given the interest in Student Participation in all this -- I think much
> attention should be given to whether to restructure AdCil as perhaps the
> primary  
> way in which Students are included in committee work.  AdCil will need a  new
> charter, I suspect, that will clarify just exactly how this would work, and
> how it would fit in with the Administrative Officers responsible to the  BoT.
> I always thought that giving AdCil the responsibility to review
> recommendations going to the BoT provided a good means for including both
> student, staff 
> and faculty concerns as these recommendations are finalized  and pushed up for
> decision.  Done properly, it could make decisions very  transparent -- and
> hopefully end the culture of secrecy that has so damaged  trust among various
> parts of the college.  My notion of somehow  incorporating BoT members in the
> AdCil review process might be a way to enhance  communication.  Say the BoT
> has a 
> sub-committee that deals with Admissions  Strategies, and AdCil similarly has
> a committee dealing with this -- having a  BoT member sit in on some of the
> committee work just might avoid some of the  terrible divides and
> non-communication of past years.  Anyhow, someone  needs to draft a
> comprehensive outline
> of all this, set tasks, try to put the  ideas into budget terms, and then look
> at how each of the parts connect into the  whole structure.
> 
> Some years back the College hired a consultant to look at Antioch's
> governance, and the report apparently concluded we had one of the most complex
> governance systems in existence and that this contributed to our
> (comparatively)  
> huge budget for administration, and made clean decisions nearly  impossible.
> Someone needs to go to the archives and find that report and  look at the
> recommendations, and see if this isn't an opportunity to streamline  and
> simplify 
> things without any loss to the value of community engagement.   Put simply,
> for 
> the foreseeable future, I doubt if the College can afford a huge  and
> expensive administrative apparatus, and I rather doubt if donors  will be all
> that 
> interested in supporting it.  I suspect they will be more  interested in
> Teaching 
> Faculty, Academic Programs and the necessary repair  and rebuilding of
> infrastructure -- all of which are critical to whether we can  grow the
> student body 
> to the point that makes the college sustainable long  term.
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
GREAT COMMENT, SISTER SARA. I HOPE SOMEONE WITH POWER READS IT.
ART