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Board Assessment. A Key to Success. Board Fundamentals. Clear vision Mission Five years forward Appropriate membership Effective processes. Benchmarks of Excellence Effective Boards of Catholic Education--NCEA. Varied membership: alumni, business, limited parent membership
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Board Assessment A Key to Success
Board Fundamentals • Clear vision • Mission • Five years forward • Appropriate membership • Effective processes
Benchmarks of ExcellenceEffective Boards of Catholic Education--NCEA • Varied membership: alumni, business, limited parent membership • Take ownership of issues under their jurisdiction (budget, policy, mission, planning) • Set goals, review annually, use for self-evaluation
Active working committees • Contact and communication with constituencies • Assess progress periodically • Effective meetings • Provide training for new and continuing members
What to Assess Membership profile Meetings Board operations Individual Contributions
Who is on the Board? Do you have the right people to meet the challenges of the next five years?
Years of Service: Term Expiration Sex: Male Female Age: 21-35 36-50 51-65 Over 65 Race/Ethnicity: African American American Indian/Alaskan Asian/Pacific Islander Caucasian Latino Other Profession: Arts Banking Business owner Civil service Construction Board profile
Corporate Education: Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Finance Human relations Law Media Medicine Politics Religious/Priest Social services Area Of Expertise: Administration - General Education Facilities management Financial management Fund-raising/Development Health care Information systems Legal affairs Marketing Media/Public relations Mission Personnel management Sponsorship/Xaverian Strategic planning Technology Wisdom/Leadership Skills
Constituency: Alumni Parent Past Parent Friend XBSS Other Additional Characteristics: Time available Successful experience on other boards Commitment to process and shared decision-making Connections to people with clout Connections to people with funds Ability to give funds Willingness to give funds
(positives) (delta /change) How was this meeting?
MEMBERSHIP AREA SELF BOARD Board includes alumni and business people A B C D A B C D Members are recruited for talents and connections to the broader community A B C D A B C D Prior to nomination, members are interviewed to assess commitment, etc. A B C D A B C D Members are “doers and shakers.” A B C D A B C D OWNERSHIP Board members are certain they are shareholders A B C D A B C D Board members are involved in crafting and affirming the program’s philosophy or mission. A B C D A B C D Members set agendas for the board through long and short range planning. A B C D A B C D Through consensus, members have opportunities to articulate their support or non-support along with reasons why. A B C D A B C D RESPONSIBILITIES Board involvement in budget and finances has positively affected the school’s financial health. A B C D A B C D Board involvement in policy ensures justice for staff and students as well as the school’s future. A B C D A B C D Board involvement in the mission/philosophy impacts the manner in which it is lived out. A B C D A B C D Board has a plan for its work and plans a leadership role in the school’s strategic plan. A B C D A B C D
RATE THE BOARD’S PROGRAMS FOR: Board plays a strong role in development A B C D Board is active in marketing A B C D Board is active in public relations A B C D Board actively recruits students A B C D Estimate the percent of time spent in each area _____Budget and finances ____Student Recruitment ____Development ____Planning ____Public relations ____Mission/Philosophy ____Marketing ____Policy BOARD GOALS Area Self Board Goals are set annually A B C D A B C D Goals are assigned to committees A B C D A B C D Goals flow from the mission A B C D A B C D Accomplishments are celebrated A B C D A B C D
Other Topics • Committees • Communications • Mission • Meetings • Training • Achievements
Measuring the Mission NCEA Questionnaires for various types of boards, councils, commissions with scoring services
Questionnaire II • Short answer questions on: • Planning • Policy • Curriculum • Religious Education • Personnel • Community • Finance • Facilities • Board Operations • The most significant challenges our board faces are…. • To evaluate the usefulness of our board’s policies we should… • How should our chief administrator evaluate and report on the success of our school’s curriculum? • How can we encourage the faculty to develop into a model Christian community? • What can we do to improve the recruitment and orientation of board members? • Our process for reviewing and monitoring the annual budget could be improved by… • What is the appropriate role of our school’s chief administrator before during and after board meetings?
Process • Send Questionnaire I responses and demographic info to NCEA for tabulation and report. • Local coordinator summarizes answers to Questionnaire II. • Schedule one day board retreat with agenda based on comments and recommendations from Questionnaire II. • What do we want to know/learn? • What attitudes do we want to develop? • What commitments do we hope to engender?
XBSS Board Assessment Rubrics • Setting high expectations for both boards and individual members • Identify levels of performance • Highlight “distinguished” behaviors • Familiarize members with rubrics • Assist in orientation of new members
RESPONSE SHEET Responsibilities of the Governing Board Using the rubric provided, rate your experience of the overall functioning of the Board as a whole with respect to each of the listed responsibilities; consider the descriptors of the levels of performance. Give the Board a “0” for Unsatisfactory; “1” for Basic level, “2” for Proficient and “3” for Distinguished. _____ Clarify the school’s mission as… _____ Monitor and evaluate the performance… _____ Develop and approve long range plans… _____ Periodically review policies and procedures… _____ Evaluate/recommend improvement of programs _____ Oversee, evaluate and refine school policies… _____ Secure financial solvency _____ Require legal and ethical integrity… _____ Develop adequate communication… _____ Evaluate the performance of the Board… In the grid to the right indicate how important you think it is for our board to focus on this area over the next 1 to 2 years by checking “High” “Medium” or “Low”
RESPONSE SHEET Using the rubric provided, rate yourself on each of the listed responsibilities; consider the descriptors of the levels of performance. Give yourself a “0” for Unsatisfactory; “1” for Basic level, “2” for Proficient and “3” for Distinguished. _____ Actively supports and promotes school’s mission… _____ Attends all Board and committee meetings… _____ Reviews agenda and supporting materials… _____ Serves on committees and task forces… _____ Makes a personal financial contribution… _____ Suggests possible nominees…. _____ Keeps up to date in the field of education…. _____ Develops personal faith and spirituality…… _____ Follows conflict of interest and confidentiality… _____ Takes care in separating personal interests… _____ Assists the Board in carrying out fiduciary responsibilities… _____ Supports the chief administrator… _____ Develops certain skills… _____ Recognizes that authority is vested in the Board as a whole. _____ Serves as antennae for the institution… An area I commit to working on in the next 12 month is: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH BOARD RETREAT • 8:30 Coffee and donuts • 9:00 Introduction • Quiet reading and reflection • Sharing • Concluding prayer • 10:00 Framing our tasks • Sharing points from XBSS Forum Brainstorming Mount St. Joseph’s needs that ONLY the board can • address • Looking at formulating Board Goals • 10:30 Small groups prepare 2-4 goals on newsprint • 11:15 Large group sharing/reporting • Begin consensus building to formulate: • Board Goals • Who is responsible for implementing them • How the goals will be evaluated
12:00 Lunch 1:00 Continue large group synthesis --How do the morning’s discussions and conclusions frame your committee’s goals? 2:00 Committees meet to formulate specific goals 3:00 Large group sharing of committee goals Personal goal setting “I’d be satisfied if….” 4:00 Liturgy
MSJ Strategic Issues for Board Goals • Financial Aid • Strategic Plan • Board Formation and Operations • Funding/Development • Relationship with the local community
Board Formation and Operations • Make best use of meeting with focus on strategic issues and mission • Consider changing time of meeting to Saturday morning • Have protocol for communication between board meetings among members and committees • Have really clear, focused committee reports in advance so members can come prepared; identify key take-away points and questions or items for decisions or action by the full board • Consider having occasional “workshops” on issues of finance, development, facilities
Another source of board rubrics www.mckinsey.com/practices/nonprofit • The Dynamic Board: Lessons from High Performing Nonprofits • Appendix: Self assessment grid • Performance of Board on its core responsibilities • Perceived importance of responsibilities for next 1-3 years • Quality of board effectiveness enablers
A dynamic board in action Perceived importance
Impacting the Strategic Plan • Board Retreat • Membership • Work of the committees • More effective meetings
More effective meetings • Committee reports at the meeting should only focus on action items that are needed. People can read the rest—and should have read them ahead of time. • Fifty percent of board meeting should be spent on strategic issue discussion and/or board formation. • Have a Board policy book (one copy is sufficient); add a page for each meeting listing actions taken, policies initiated.
The board chair should act as a coach and do a debriefing session after the meeting—What worked today? What didn’t work? How can we improve our functioning? • Board minutes are legal documents so you need to be very careful about what is in them. • Board meetings should inspire Trustees!
www.xbss.orgClick on “Resources”for a copy of this presentation.