Sample Policies
Revised based on The
Board Member Playbook
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Versions:
Sample Ends
1.0 Temporary Global Ends
Statement
1.1 School District Ends Policy
Sample Executive
Limitations Policies
2.0 Global Executive Constraint
2.1 Treatment of Students and Parents/Guardians
2.2 Treatment of Staff
2.3 Financial Condition and Activities
2.4 Financial Planning and Budgeting
2.5 Emergency Superintendent Succession
2.6 Asset Protection
2.7 Compensation and Benefits
2.8 Communication and Support to the Board
Sample Board-Management
Delegation
3.0 Global Governance-Management Connection
3.1 Unity of Control
3.2 Accountability of the Superintendent
3.3 Delegation to the Superintendent
3.4 Monitoring Superintendent Performance
Sample Governance
Process
4.0 Global Governance Commitment
4.1 Governing Style
4.2 Board Job Products
4.3 Agenda Planning
4.4 Chair’s Role
4.5 Board Members’ Code of Conduct
4.6 Board Committee Principles
4.7 Board Committee Structure
4.8 Governance Investment
Policy
Type: Ends
Policy Title 1.0 Temporary Global Ends Statement
Whatever
Ends the board has stated or implied in previous decisions or approvals will
stay unchanged, pending formal adoption of Ends policies.
Policy Title: 1.1 School System Ends Policy
1. The
school system exists so that young people have the knowledge and abilities
needed to prepare them for the next stage of their lives and that justify the
expenditure of available funds.
2.A. The first priority is that students will be academically ready
to progress.
2.A.1. Students will have the numeracy and literacy
skills that reflect their utmost potential.
2.A.2. Students will understand art, science, and
technology at a level that prepares them for a complex world.
2.A.3. Students who are academically gifted, if they
desire to do so, will secure admission to four-year postsecondary education.
2.A.4. Students entering grade one will be ready to learn.
2.B. The second priority is that students will
have an understanding of the world in which they live as well as experience in
contributing to it.
2.B.1. Students will have an understanding of world
history and geography.
2.B.2. Students will be knowledgeable about the
world’s major political and religious ideologies.
2.B.3. Students will participate
in nonschool community activities that reflect their understanding of
citizenship.
2.C. The third priority is that students will
have the social skills to be successful in groups of increasing complexity.
2.C.1. Students will be able to share, negotiate
solutions to problems, respect diversity, and act assertively.
2.C.2. Students will have knowledge of factors that
should guide their decision making about drug use and sexuality.
2.C.3. Students will be capable of making decisions in
and for groups.
Policy
Type: Executive Limitations
Policy Title: 2.0. Global Executive Constraint
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow any practice, activity, decision, or
organizational circumstance that is unlawful, unsafe, imprudent, or in
violation of commonly accepted educational and professional ethics and
practices.
Note:
This policy is the broadest of all policies in the Executive Limitations policy
category and therefore the most open to interpretation. Any further Executive
Limitations policies will merely be a narrowing of the provisions of this
policy. The examples that follow demonstrate such further narrowing. Remember
that the Superintendent is granted the authority to use any reasonable interpretation
of the board’s words.
Policy Title: 2.1. Treatment of Students and Parents/Guardians
With
respect to interactions with Students and Parents/Guardians or those applying
to be Students or Parents/Guardians, the Superintendent shall not cause or
allow conditions, procedures, or decisions that are untimely, unclear,
undignified, or unnecessarily intrusive.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Elicit
information for which there is no clear necessity
2. Use
methods of collecting, reviewing, transmitting, or storing student/family information
that fail to protect against improper access to the material elicited
3. Fail
to operate facilities with appropriate accessibility and privacy
4. Fail
to establish with Students and Parents/Guardians a clear understanding of what
may be expected and what may not be expected from the service offered
5. Fail
to inform Students and Parents/Guardians of this policy or to provide a way to be
heard for persons who believe they have not been accorded a reasonable
interpretation of their protections under this policy
Policy Title: 2.2. Treatment of Staff
With
respect to the treatment of paid and volunteer staff, the Superintendent shall
not cause or allow conditions that are unfair, undignified, disorganized, or
unclear.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Operate
without written personnel rules that (a) clarify rules for staff, (b) provide
for effective handling of grievances, and (c) protect against wrongful
conditions, such as nepotism and grossly preferential treatment for personal
reasons
2. Discriminate
against any staff member for nondisruptive expression of dissent
3. Fail
to acquaint staff with the Superintendent’s interpretation of their protections
under this policy
4. Allow
staff to be unprepared to deal with emergency situations
Policy Title: 2.3. Financial Condition and Activities
With
respect to the actual, ongoing financial condition and activities, the
Superintendent shall not cause or allow the development of financial jeopardy
or material deviation of actual expenditures from board priorities established
in Ends policies.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Expend
more funds than have been received in the fiscal year to date unless the debt
guideline (below) is met
2. Incur
debt in an amount greater than can be repaid by certain otherwise unencumbered
revenues within sixty days
3. Use
any long-term reserves
4. Conduct
interfund shifting in amounts greater than can be restored to a condition of
discrete fund balances by certain otherwise unencumbered revenues within thirty
days
5. Fail
to settle payroll and debts in a timely manner
6. Allow
tax payments or other government-ordered payments or filings to be overdue or
inaccurately filed
7. Make
a single unbudgeted purchase or commitment of greater than $ _________.
Splitting orders to avoid this limit is not acceptable.
8. Acquire,
encumber, or dispose of real property
9. Fail
to aggressively pursue receivables after a reasonable grace period
Policy Title: 2.4. Financial Planning and Budgeting
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow financial planning for any fiscal year
or the remaining part of any fiscal year to deviate materially from the board’s
Ends priorities, risk financial jeopardy, or fail to be derived from a
multiyear plan.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, there will be no financial plans that
1. Risk
incurring those situations or conditions described as unacceptable in the board
policy “Financial Condition and Activities”
2. Omit
credible projection of revenues and expenses, separation of capital and
operational items, cash flow, and disclosure of planning assumptions
3. Provide
less for board prerogatives during the year than is set forth in the Governance
Investment Policy
Policy Title: 2.5. Emergency CEO Succession
To
protect the board from sudden loss of Superintendent services, the
Superintendent shall not permit there to be fewer than two other executives
sufficiently familiar with board and Superintendent issues and processes to
enable either or both in combination to take over with reasonable proficiency
as an interim successor.
Policy Title: 2.6. Asset Protection
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow district assets to be unprotected,
inadequately maintained, or unnecessarily risked.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Fail to
insure against theft and casualty losses to at least 80 percent of replacement
value and against liability losses to board members, staff, and the
organization itself in an amount greater than the average for comparable
organizations
2. Allow unbonded personnel access to
material amounts of funds
3. Subject
facilities and equipment to improper wear and tear or insufficient maintenance
4. Unnecessarily
expose the organization, its board, or its staff to claims of liability
5. Make any
purchase (a) wherein normally prudent protection has not been given against
conflict of interest; (b) of over $ _______ without having obtained comparative
prices and quality; (c) of over $ _______ without a stringent method of
ensuring the balance of long-term quality and cost. Orders shall not be split
to avoid these criteria.
6. Fail to
protect intellectual property, information, and files from loss or significant
damage
7. Receive,
process, or disburse funds under controls that are insufficient to meet the
board-appointed auditor's standards
8. Compromise
the independence of the board’s audit or other external monitoring or advice,
such as by engaging parties already chosen by the board as consultants or
advisers
9. Invest or
hold operating capital in insecure instruments, including uninsured checking
accounts and bonds of less than AA rating at any time, or in
non-interest-bearing accounts except where necessary to facilitate ease in
operational transactions
10. Endanger
the organization's public image, its credibility, or its ability to accomplish
Ends
11. Change the
organization’s name or substantially alter its identity in the community
Policy Title: 2.7. Compensation and Benefits
With
respect to employment, compensation, and benefits to employees, consultants,
contract workers, the Superintendent shall not cause or allow jeopardy to
financial integrity or to public image.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Change
the Superintendent’s own compensation and benefits, except as his or her
benefits are consistent with a package for all other employees
2. Promise
or imply permanent or guaranteed employment
3. Establish
or change compensation and benefits that deviate materially from the
geographical or professional market median for the skills employed
4. Create
obligations over a longer term than revenues can be safely projected, in no
event longer than one year and in all events subject to losses in revenue
5. Establish
or change pension benefits so as to cause unpredictable or inequitable
situations, including those that
A. Incur
unfunded liabilities
B. Provide
less than some basic level of benefits to all full time employees, though
differential benefits to encourage longevity are not prohibited
C. Allow
any employee to lose benefits already accrued from any previous plan
Policy Title: 2.8. Communication and Support to the Board
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow the board to be uninformed or
unsupported in its work.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Neglect
to submit monitoring data required by the board (see policy 3.4 on monitoring
Superintendent performance) in a timely, accurate, and understandable fashion,
directly addressing the provisions of board policies being monitored
2. Fail
to report in a timely manner any actual or anticipated noncompliance with any
policy of the board
3. Neglect
to submit unbiased decision information required periodically by the board or
let the board be unaware of relevant trends
4. Let
the board be unaware of any significant incidental information it requires,
including anticipated media coverage, threatened or pending lawsuits, and
material internal and external changes
5. Fail
to advise the board if, in the Superintendent's opinion, the board is not in
compliance with its own policies on Governance Process and Board-Management
Delegation, particularly in the case of board behavior that is detrimental to
the work relationship between the board and the Superintendent
6. Present
information in unnecessarily complex or lengthy form or in a form that fails to
differentiate among information of three types: monitoring, decision
preparation, and incidental.
7. Fail
to provide a workable mechanism for official board, officer, or committee
communications
8. Fail,
when addressing official business, to deal with the board as a whole except
when responding to officers or committees duly charged by the board
9. Fail
to supply for the board’s consent agenda, along with applicable monitoring
information, all decisions delegated to the Superintendent yet required by law,
regulation, or contract to be board-approved
Policy
Type: Board-Superintendent Relations
Policy Title: 3.0. Global Governance-Management
Connection
The
board’s sole official connection to the operational organization, its
achievements, and its conduct will be through the Superintendent of schools.
Policy Title: 3.1. Unity of Control
Only
officially passed motions of the board are binding on the Superintendent.
Accordingly:
1. Decisions or instructions of individual board
members, officers, or committees are not binding on the Superintendent except
in rare instances when the board has specifically authorized such exercise of
authority.
2. In the case of board members or committees
requesting information or assistance without board authorization, the
Superintendent can refuse such requests that require, in the Superintendent’s
opinion, a material amount of staff time or funds or is disruptive.
Policy Title: 3.2. Accountability of the Superintendent
The
Superintendent is the board’s only link to operational achievement and conduct,
so that all authority and accountability of staff, as far as the board is
concerned, is considered the authority and accountability of the
Superintendent. Accordingly:
1. The board will never give instructions to
persons who report directly or indirectly to the Superintendent.
2. The board will not evaluate, either formally
or informally, any staff other than the Superintendent.
3. The board will view Superintendent
performance as identical to organizational performance so that organizational accomplishment
of board-stated Ends and avoidance of board-proscribed means will be viewed as
successful Superintendent performance.
Policy Title: 3.3. Delegation to the Superintendent
The board will instruct the Superintendent
through written policies that prescribe the organizational Ends to be achieved
and describe organizational situations and actions to be avoided, allowing the
Superintendent to use any reasonable interpretation of these policies.
Accordingly:
1. The board
will develop policies instructing the Superintendent to achieve specified results
for specified recipients at a specified cost. These policies will be developed
systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels and
will be called Ends policies. All issues that are not Ends issues as defined
here are means issues.
2. The board
will develop policies that limit the latitude the Superintendent may exercise
in choosing the organizational means. These policies will be developed
systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels,
and they will be called Executive Limitations policies. The board will never
prescribe organizational means delegated to the Superintendent.
3. As long
as the Superintendent uses any reasonable interpretation of the board’s Ends
and Executive Limitations policies, the Superintendent is authorized to
establish all further procedures, make all decisions, take all actions,
establish all practices, and pursue all activities. Such decisions of the
Superintendent shall have full force and authority as if decided by the board.
4. The board
may change its Ends and Executive Limitations policies, thereby shifting the
boundary between board and Superintendent domains. By doing so, the board
changes the latitude of choice given to the Superintendent. But as long as any
particular delegation is in place, the board will respect and support the
Superintendent’s choices.
Policy Title: 3.4.
Monitoring Superintendent Performance
Systematic
and rigorous monitoring of Superintendent job performance will be solely
against the expected Superintendent job outputs: organizational accomplishment
of board policies on Ends and organizational operation within the boundaries
established in board policies on Executive Limitations. Accordingly:
1. Monitoring
is simply to determine the degree to which board policies are being met.
Information that does not do this will not be considered to be monitoring
information.
2. The
board will acquire monitoring information by one or more of three methods: (a)
by internal report, in which the Superintendent discloses interpretations and
compliance information to the board; (b) by external report, in which an
external, disinterested third party selected by the board assesses compliance
with board policies; or (c) by direct board inspection, in which a designated
member or members of the board assess compliance with the appropriate policy
criteria.
3. In
every case, the board will judge (a) the reasonableness of the Superintendent’s
interpretation and (b) whether data demonstrate accomplishment of the
interpretation.
4. In
every case, the standard for compliance shall be any reasonable Superintendent
interpretation of the board policy being monitored. The board is the final
arbiter of reasonableness but will always judge with a “reasonable person” test
rather than with interpretations favored by board members or by the board as a
whole.
5. All
policies that instruct the Superintendent will be monitored at a frequency and
by a method chosen by the board. The board can monitor any policy at any time
by any method but will ordinarily depend on a routine schedule.
|
Policy |
Method |
Frequency |
Month |
|
Ends |
Internal |
Annually |
Feb. |
|
Global Executive Constraint |
Internal |
Annually |
Mar. |
|
Treatment of Students and Parents/Guardians |
Internal |
Annually |
May |
|
Treatment of Staff |
Internal |
Annually |
May |
|
Financial Condition |
Internal |
Quarterly |
Jan., Apr., July,
Oct. |
|
|
External |
Annually |
Sept. |
|
Financial Planning |
Internal |
Quarterly |
Feb., May, Aug.,
Nov. |
|
Emergency Superintendent Succession |
Internal |
Annually |
Oct. |
|
Asset Protection |
Internal |
Annually |
Nov. |
|
Compensation |
Internal |
Annually |
Nov. |
|
|
External |
Biannually |
Sept. of
odd-numbered years |
|
Communication and Support |
Direct inspection |
Annually |
July |
Policy
Title: 4.0. Global Governance Commitment
The
purpose of the board, on behalf of [identify the ownership here], is to see to
it that [name of organization here] (a) achieves appropriate results for
students at an appropriate cost (as specified in board Ends policies) and (b)
avoids unacceptable actions and situations (as prohibited in board Executive
Limitations policies).
Note: The "moral
ownership" identity is to be inserted in the blank provided. This could be
"the general public," "the people of Montgomery County,"
"the membership," "the citizens of San Francisco," or other
such base of ownership.
Policy Title: 4.1. Governing Style
The
board will govern lawfully, observing the principles of the Policy Governance
model, with an emphasis on (a) outward vision rather than an internal
preoccupation, (b) encouragement of diversity in viewpoints, (c) strategic
leadership more than administrative detail, (d) clear distinction of board and
superintendent roles, (e) collective rather than individual decisions, (f)
future rather than past or present, and (g) proactivity rather than reactivity.
Accordingly:
1. The
board will cultivate a sense of group responsibility. The board, not the staff,
will be responsible for excellence in governing. The board will be the
initiator of policy, not merely a reactor to staff initiatives. The board will
not use the expertise of individual members to substitute for the judgment of
the board, although the expertise of individual members may be used to enhance
the understanding of the board as a body.
2. The
board will direct, control, and inspire the organization through the careful
establishment of broad written policies reflecting the board's values and
perspectives. The board's major policy focus will be on the intended long-term
impacts outside the staff organization(Ends), not on the administrative or
programmatic means of attaining those effects.
3. The
board will enforce upon itself whatever discipline is needed to govern with
excellence. Discipline will apply to matters such as attendance, preparation
for meetings, policymaking principles, respect of roles, and ensuring the
continuance of governance capability. Although the board can change its
Governance Process policies at any time, it will scrupulously observe those
currently in force.
4. Continual
board development will include orientation of new board members in the board's
Governance Process and periodic board discussion of process improvement.
5. The
board will allow no officer, individual, or committee of the board to hinder or
serve as an excuse for not fulfilling group obligations.
6. The
board will monitor and discuss the board's process and performance at each
meeting. Self-monitoring will include comparison of board activity and
discipline to policies in the Governance Process and Board-Management
Delegation categories.
Policy Title: 4.2. Board Job Products
Specific
job outputs of the board, as an informed agent of the ownership, are those that
ensure appropriate organizational performance.
Accordingly,
the board has direct responsibility to create
1. The linkage between the ownership and the
operational organization
2. Written governing policies that realistically
address the broadest levels of all organizational decisions and situations
A. Ends: organizational products, impacts,
benefits, outcomes, recipients, and their relative worth (what good for which
recipients at what cost)
B. Executive limitations: constraints on
executive authority that establish the prudence and ethics boundaries within
which all executive activity and decisions must take place
C. Governance process: specification of how the
board conceives, carries out, and monitors its own task
D. Board-Superintendent Relations: how power is
delegated and its proper use; the CEO’s role, authority, and accountability
3. Assurance of successful organizational
performance on Ends and Executive Limitations.
Note:
A board can set annual targets about integrity or completeness in these areas
either by expanding this policy or establishing a separate policy titled, for
example, “annual governance plan.” Other job "products" of the board
that may be appropriate for some organizations may include “legislative
change,” or other outputs for which the board chooses to hold itself directly
responsible. Be sure to include any decision areas that Executive Limitations
policies have denied to the Superintendent.
4. Advocate for
legislative change which positively impacts public education
In addition the board
has taken on the following non-governing output(s):
1. Negotiating union
contracts. [if the board decides to do this]
Policy Title: 4.3. Agenda Planning
To
accomplish its job products with a governance style consistent with board
policies, the board will follow an annual agenda that (a) completes a
reexploration of Ends policies annually and (b) continually improves board
performance through board education and enriched input and deliberation.
1. The
cycle will conclude each year on the last day of ______ so that administrative
planning and budgeting can be based on accomplishing a one-year segment of the
board’s most recent statement of long-term Ends.
2. The
cycle will start with the board’s development of its agenda for the next year.
A. Consultations
with selected groups in the ownership, or other methods of gaining ownership
input, will be determined and arranged in the first quarter, to be held during
the balance of the year.
B. Governance
education and education related to Ends determination (presentations by
futurists, demographers, advocacy groups, staff, and so on) will be arranged in
the first quarter, to be held during the balance of the year.
C. A
board member may recommend or request an item for board discussion by
submitting the item to the Chair no later than five days before the agenda is
to be warned.
3. Throughout
the year, the board will attend to consent agenda items as expeditiously as
possible.
a. An
individual board member can remove an item from the consent agenda for
discussion [This conflicts with the
governing style policy and allows one person to have the ability to determine
what the board discusses, rather than the majority of the board.]
or
a. Only
the majority of the board can remove an item from the consent agenda for
discussion [This is consistent with the
governing style policy.]
4. Superintendent
monitoring will be included on the agenda if monitoring reports show policy
violations, if policy criteria are to be debated, or if the board, for any
reason, chooses to debate amending its monitoring schedule.
5. Superintendent
remuneration will be decided after a review of monitoring reports received in
the last year during the month of _________.
Policy Title: 4.4. Chair’s Role
The
Chair, a specially empowered member of the board, ensures the integrity of the
board's process and, secondarily, occasionally represents the board to outside
parties. Accordingly:
1. The
assigned result of the Chair’s job is that the board behaves consistently with
its own rules and those legitimately imposed on it from outside the
organization.
A. Meeting
discussion content will consist solely of issues that clearly belong to the
board to decide or to monitor according to board policy.
B. Information
that is for neither monitoring performance nor board decisions will be avoided
or minimized and always noted as such.
C. Deliberation
will be fair, open, and thorough but also timely, orderly, and kept to the
point.
2. The
authority of the Chair consists in making decisions that fall within topics
covered by board policies on Governance Process and Board-Management
Delegation, with the exception of (a) employment or termination of a
Superintendent and (b) areas where the board specifically delegates portions of
this authority to others. The Chair is authorized to use any reasonable
interpretation of the provisions in these policies.
A. The
Chair is empowered to chair board meetings with all the commonly accepted
powers of that position, such as ruling and recognizing.
B. The
Chair has no authority to make decisions about policies created by the board
within Ends and Executive Limitations policy areas. Therefore, the Chair has no
authority to supervise or direct the Superintendent.
C. The
Chair may represent the board to outside parties in announcing board-stated
positions and in stating chair decisions and interpretations within the area
delegated to her or him.
D. The
Chair may delegate this authority but remains accountable for its use.
Policy Title: 4.5. Board Members' Code of Conduct
The
board commits itself and its members to ethical, businesslike, and lawful
conduct, including proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting
as board members.
1. Members must demonstrate loyalty to the
ownership, unconflicted by loyalties to staff, other organizations, or any
personal interests as Parents/Guardians.
2. VT REQUIRED POLICY HERE INSTEAD [May want to consider modifying VSBA model
policy to include not only removing oneself from decision making and
deliberations, but from the room as well.]
Members must avoid conflict of interest with respect to their fiduciary
responsibility.
A. There
will be no self-dealing or business by a member with the organization. Members
will annually disclose their involvements with other organizations or with
vendors and any associations that might be reasonably seen as representing a
conflict of interest.
B. When
the board is to decide on an issue about which a member has an unavoidable
conflict of interest, that member shall absent herself or himself without
comment not only from the vote but also from the room during any deliberation.
C. Board
members will not use their board position to obtain employment in the
organization for themselves, family members, or close associates. A board
member who applies for employment must first resign from the board.
3. Board
members may not attempt to exercise individual authority over the organization.
A. Members'
interaction with the Superintendent or with staff must recognize the lack of
authority vested in individuals except when explicitly authorized by the board.
B. Members'
interactions with the public, the press, or other entities must recognize the
same limitation and the inability of any board member to speak for the board
except to repeat explicitly stated board decisions.
C. Except
for participation in board deliberation about whether the Superintendent has
achieved any reasonable interpretation of board policy, members will not
express individual judgments of performance of employees and volunteers or the
Superintendent.
4. Members
will respect the confidentiality appropriate to issues of a sensitive nature.
5. Members
will be properly prepared for board deliberation.
6. Members
will support the legitimacy and authority of the final determination of the
board on any matter, irrespective of the member’s personal position on the
issue.
Policy Title: 4.6. Board Committee Principles
Board
committees, when used, will be assigned so as to reinforce the wholeness of the
board’s job and so as never to interfere with delegation from board to
Superintendent.
Accordingly:
1. Board
committees are to help the board do its job, not to help or advise the staff.
Committees ordinarily will assist the board by preparing policy alternatives
and implications for board deliberation. In keeping with the board’s broader
focus, board committees will normally not have direct dealings with current staff
operations.
2. Board
committees may not speak or act for the board except when formally given such
authority for specific and time-limited purposes. Expectations and authority
will be carefully stated in order not to conflict with authority delegated to
the Superintendent.
3. Board
committees cannot exercise authority over staff. Because the Superintendent
works for the full board, he or she will not be required to obtain the approval
of a board committee before an executive action.
4. Board
committees are to avoid over identification with organizational parts rather
than the whole. Therefore, a board committee that has helped the board create
policy on some topic will not be used to monitor organizational performance on
that same subject.
5. Committees
will be used sparingly and ordinarily in an ad hoc capacity.
6. This
policy applies to any group that is formed by board action, whether or not it
is called a committee and regardless of whether the group includes board
members. It does not apply to committees formed under the authority of the
Superintendent.
Policy Title: 4.7. Board Committee Structure
A
committee is a board committee only if its existence and charge come from the
board, regardless of whether board members sit on the committee. The only board
committees are those that are set forth in this policy. Unless otherwise
stated, a committee ceases to exist as soon as its task is complete.
Note: This is not a
list of suggested committees but rather an illustration of how legitimate board
committees should be described.
1. Ownership
Linkages Committee
A. Product: Options and implications for
board consideration with respect to the Ends decisions to be made by the
board—by no later than ______ XX, 200X.
B. Authority: To incur costs of no more
than $1,000 in direct charges and no more than fifty hours of staff time.
2. Legislative
Change Advisory Committee
A. Product: Options and implications for
board consideration regarding long-term legislative or regulatory effects to be
achieved by the board—by no later than __________ XX, 200X.
B. Authority: To incur costs of no more
than $3,000 in direct charges and no more than seventy hours of staff time.
3. Nominating
Committee
A. Product: Properly screened potential
board members—by no later than _______ XX of each year.
B. Authority: To incur costs of no more
than $1,000 in direct charges and no more than twenty hours of staff time per
annum.
4. Audit
Committee
A. Product: Work with auditor to
familiarize auditor with Policy Governance Model and applicable policies. To
ensure future audits will provide board with information required in policies
by no later than _______________.
B. Authority: To incur no more than $1,000
in direct charges and use of no more than twenty person-hours of staff time.
5. Board
Orientation/Development Committee
A. Product
B. Authority
6. Ends
Committee
A. Product
B. Authority
Policy Title: 4.8. Governance Investment
Because
poor governance costs more than learning to govern well, the board will invest
in its governance capacity. Accordingly:
1. Board
skills, methods, and supports will be sufficient to ensure governing with
excellence.
A. Training
and retraining will be used liberally to orient new members and candidates for
membership, as well as to maintain and increase existing member skills and
understandings.
B. Outside
monitoring assistance will be arranged so that the board can exercise confident
control over organizational performance. This includes, but is not limited to,
financial audits.
C. Outreach
mechanisms will be used as needed to ensure the board’s ability to listen to
owner viewpoints and values.
2. Costs
will be prudently incurred, though not at the expense of endangering the
development and maintenance of superior capability.
A. Up
to $____________ in fiscal year ____________ for training, including attendance
at conferences and workshops.
B. Up
to $ ____________ in fiscal year ____________ for auditing and other
third-party monitoring of organizational performance.
C. Up
to $ ____________ in fiscal year ____________ for surveys, focus groups,
opinion analyses, and meeting costs.
3. The
board will establish its cost of governance budget for the next fiscal year
during the month of _________.