The Committee on Trustees AKA Trustees Committee Governance Committee Nominating Committee

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The Committee on TrusteesAKA Trustees
CommitteeGovernance CommitteeNominating
Committee
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Pop Quiz on Board Practices

• 1. Is your board a self-perpetuating, co-opted
  board? (except for non-voting, ex-officio
  members)
• 2. Does the committee on trustees conduct a board
  profile analysis before determining current needs
  of the school and identifying priority candidates
  accordingly?
• 3. Is there a clear process to recruit candidates
  for the pool of potential nominees?

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Pop Quiz on Board Practices (continued)

• 4. Is the pool of candidates rich enough to fill
  the identified needs of the school and greater
  than the number of seats available?
• 5. Does your board conduct an annual
  self-assessment?
• 6. Does your school have a clear plan for board
  leadership succession?

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Pop Quiz on Board Practices (continued)

• 7. Are new trustees given a thorough orientation?
  
• a. Meet all senior administrators
• b. Receive a comprehensive binder
• c. Get a tour of the school
• d. Receive a thorough briefing with opportunities
  for questions?
• 8. Are all board meeting dates set for the entire
  school year and distributed to all trustees
  before the first meeting of the year?

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Pop Quiz on Board Practices(continued)

• 9. Do committees reports, heads report, minutes
  and all other documents related to board meetings
  arrive several days in advance of the meeting?
• 10. Does your school have
• a. Current bylaws which reflect current best
  practices
• b. A trustee pledge
• c. A conflict of interest policy
• d. A nepotism policy
• e. A confidentiality policy statement

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The Committee on Trustees Multiple
Responsibilities

• Populate the board
• Nominate the chair
• Ensure leadership succession
• Orient new trustees
• Educate and Evaluate
• Nurture
• Ensure effective board management

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1. Populate the Board
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Assemble a Pool of Nominees

• Analyze current composition of the board
• Establish clear criteria and priorities
• Determine specific needs to be filled to achieve
  current and future school goals
• Cultivate potential nominees
• Develop a rich pool of potential trustees

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Determine General Criteria

• Seek
• Pro-active visionary thinkers
• Well-connected individuals
• Persons of high character
• Broad thinkers with no personal agenda
• Respectful of the mission and philosophy of the
  school

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Determine General CriteriaContinued

• Collegial individuals
• People willing to give and get
• Individuals not afraid to speak up
• Representative of the schools diversity

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Gather Nominations

• Reach out to the community both internal and
  external for potential nominations
• Current trustees, administrators, parents,
  faculty, former trustees, alumni, friends of the
  school, grand parents, etc.
• Community leaders
• Association executives
• Colleagues
• Neighborhood advocates

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Determine Fit

• Review skills, background and expertise candidate
  offer
• Compare to current set of needs
• Conduct some preliminary due diligence
• Evaluate level of candidate interest
• Rank order candidate pool

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Recruit/Screen Potential Trustees

• Competence and commitment needed
• Bring with them the 3 Rs (Raise image, students
  and money) and the 3 Ws (Work, Wealth, and
  Wisdom)
• Exert due diligence before extending an
  invitation to join the board
• Have a track record as team player who will fit
  into the culture of the board
• Vet nominees on board committees
• Make the 1st term a 1y2y format

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Establish a Clear Process

• Develop a well thought out, consistent
  cultivation and recruitment protocol and script
  when contacting candidates
• Assign committee members to meet with prospective
  nominees
• Inform potential candidates of requirements at an
  initial meeting (No surprises)
• Establish a clear process for renewal of current
  trustees term
• Manage the re-nomination process

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Establish a Clear ProcessContinued

• Present nominees for board vote
• Advise new trustees of their election
• Assign a mentor
• After a few months debrief with each new trustee

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Make the Process Clear to All

• Importance of transparency
• Share criteria
• Convey the professionalism of the process
• Consider including the process description on the
  website
• Run potential nominees by the full board
• Ensure the committee is not perceived as an inner
  circle, nominating friends
• Encourage the submission of nominations from all
  constituencies

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2. Nominate the Chair
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Select the Chair

• Key criteria
• Knowledge of the school, commitment to its
  mission
• Ability to lead and run meetings
• A pro-active broad thinker
• People skills (able to resolve conflicts)
• Respected by all constituencies
• Prepared and able to work well with the head
• Willing and able to devote the necessary time to
  the task

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3. Ensure Leadership Succession
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Select Other Officers

• Key criteria
• Knowledge of the school, commitment to its
  mission
• Possesses necessary expertise for the position
  (particularly important for Treasurer)
• Ability to see the big picture
• Willing to give the time necessary
• Respected by other trustees
• Able to work well with the head
• Potential for leadership succession (make
  judicious committee or officer appointments with
  this in mind)

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4. Orient New Trustees
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Conduct Effective Orientation of New Trustees

• Ensure that new trustees
• Have been assigned a mentor
• Understand their role vs. the administrations
  role
• Board and board members expectations
• Receive a complete tour of the facilities

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Conduct Effective Orientation of New Trustees
(Continued)

• Meet with and hear from senior administrators
• Benefit from a thorough orientation meeting with
  enough time to ask questions
• Understand board structure and organization

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Conduct Effective Orientation of New Trustees
(Continued)

• Prepare a complete binder including
• NAIS Trustee Handbook and a complete set of
  Principles of Good Practices
• The Schools history
• Publications Brochures, newsletters, Annual
  Report, students publications
• Board Organization
• Bylaws,
• board committees description,
• Board roster,
• Minutes from recent board meetings,
• board policy manual

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Conduct Effective Orientation of New Trustees
(Continued)

• Finances
• latest audited financial statement
• budget
• financial aid info, etc.
• Statistics
• enrollment (admission funnel, attrition,
  demographics)
• HS or College admissions,
• academic results (ERB, SAT, ACH, AP, IB, etc.)

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Conduct Effective Orientation of New Trustees
(Continued)

• Programs
• Most recent Strategic Plan
• Board responsibilities and ethical standards
• Duty of care (making decisions while fully
  informed)
• Duty of loyalty (putting the school first)
• Duty of obedience (respecting the schools
  mission)
• Confidentiality,
• Conflict of interest,
• Nepotism
• Recent key committee reports

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5. Educate and Evaluate
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Encourage Board Development

• Ensures that
• Productive board retreats are planned
• Invite experts to make presentations
• Trustees attend relevant associations conferences
  
• Identify areas needing further information
• Legal
• Organizational

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Board Retreats

• The expanded time offered by board retreats
  yields many benefits
• They are an opportunity for trustees
• to become better acquainted with each other
• to receive in depth training on best practices of
  trusteeship
• to revue and update the long range strategic plan
• to carry in-depth discussions about complex
  issues

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Board Development/Evaluation

• Produce a board member pledge and ensure
  compliance
• Conduct an annual self-assessment of the board
  and make a report to the board
• Assess individual trustees, officers and
  committee chairs
• Evaluate board meetings efficiency/effectiveness
• Establish a process for easing ineffective
  trustees out of the board

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6. Nurture Trustees
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Nurture Trustees

• Ensure that
• A proper welcome is extended and announcements
  are made
• Board meetings calendar is distributed at the
  beginning of each year
• Documents for meeting preparation are sent in a
  timely fashion
• Board meetings are run efficiently
• Adequate refreshments and comfortable meeting
  space are provided

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Nurture Trustees (continued)

• Trustees are not overburdened with meetings
• Encourage conference calls meeting
• Make judicious committee assignments
• Extra effort and contributions are recognized
• Exit interviews with departing trustees are
  conducted
• A trustee recognition program is implemented
• Note (many of these items will be implemented by
  the board chair and the head, but the committee
  on trustees must make sure it happens)

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7. Ensure Effective Board Management
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Oversee Board Management

• Maintain bylaws and board policy handbook up to
  date (conflict of interest, confidentiality,
  nepotism, etc.)
• Institute the practice of a trustee pledge
• Assist board chair with recommendations for
  chairs of committees and membership of each
  committee
• Ensure board committees create yearly goals which
  advance the schools strategic plan
• Foster good communication between the board and
  the community (typically carried out by the board
  chair)

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A.M.P. Associates, LLC

• Anne-Marie Pierce, President
• 536 Parker Avenue
• San Francisco, CA 94118
• Tel. [phone]
• Fax. [phone]
• Cell 415-671-9943