CIC will offer its fourth Presidents Governance Academy January 3–4,
2017, in Orlando, Florida, immediately preceding the 2017 Presidents
Institute. The two-day intensive and highly participatory workshop will
focus on the president’s role in strengthening president-board
relations, aligning board bylaws with principles of good governance,
making bylaws more effective, and sustaining a high-performing board of
trustees.
The Academy is unique in its exclusive emphasis on the
perspective of the independent college president. CIC President Richard
Ekman explained, “While it respects the distinction between the
president’s and the board’s authority, the Academy starts with the
premise that the president must have the tools and the mandate to lead
an effective governing board and advance the institution.”
Open
to experienced CIC member presidents but limited to 20 participants, the
Presidents Governance Academy builds on the governance issues broached
during CIC’s New Presidents Program and Presidents Institute sessions and will be especially helpful to those who are at least a few years into their presidencies.
The Presidents Governance Academy will address many essential topics including the following:
- Desirable and undesirable bylaws provisions;
- Board committee structures;
- Committee on trusteeship and executive committee roles and responsibilities;
- Board membership issues and recruitment;
- Term limits for trustees and officers;
- Performance reviews of both the president and the governing board;
- Strategies for trustee education and board development;
- Effective board meetings and board retreats; and
- Shared governance with the faculty.
Participants in the previous offerings of the Academy have found the
advance readings, facilitator presentations, and discussion with
presidential colleagues especially helpful. “The program far exceeded my
expectations. In particular, I appreciated the consideration of board
assessment practices and procedures during the Academy,” commented
Laurie M. Hamen, president of
Mount Mercy University (IA). Lester C. Newman, president of
Jarvis Christian College (TX), said, “I found the readings extremely helpful. They put the workshop in context.” Sandra S. Harper, president of
McMurry University
(TX), added, “The expertise and experience of the program facilitators
and the wisdom and ideas of colleagues were two of the most helpful
aspects of the Academy.”
Richard T. (Tom) Ingram, CIC senior
advisor for president-board relations and former president of the
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and
Richard J. Cook, president emeritus of
Allegheny College
(PA), again will lead the program. The Presidents Governance Academy is
supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. For more
information about the program, visit
www.cic.edu/2017GovernanceAcademy.