Board Retreats & Workshops • Board Self-Assessment • Board Orientation & Education
Board Retreats & Workshops
Board development and governance services are among ISC's most frequent consulting engagements with schools.
ISC has developed board workshop models designed to assist trustees in the identification and assessment of their roles, their responsibilities, personal and collective agenda, and vision for the school.
One workshop model emphasizes the "basics' of trusteeship, and is often chosen for orientation of new trustees or "re-educating" a board that has not recently done a self-evaluation. Other models cover the basics in a more concise way and then elaborate on planning, fund-raising, or board organization and committee effectiveness.
A board workshop focusing on "board readiness" and its role in fund-raising might be particularly effective in preparing for a capital campaign. |
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Board Self-Assessment
Can your school's governing board members answer "yes" to all of the following questions?
• Does the school have a clear, concise and updated mission statement?
• Does the school have a long-range/strategic plan?
• Does the Board establish annual goals for itself?
• Does the Board have a pool of future members?
• Is the committee structure of the Board effective in monitoring the needs of the school?
• Do Board members clearly understand the difference between setting policy and operation?
• Is there a structured Board education program?
Most boards desire to be effective in their work on the institution's behalf. Members voluntarily give up their time and resources to serve the school or other non-profit organization and want to see the institution flourish.
Yet, without a means of assessing its own performance, and despite its members' good intentions, a governing board can become inefficient and ineffective in guiding the advancement of the school.
A board that does not self-assess invariably discovers its own shortcomings when the school changes heads, and the subsequent search for new leadership gives a hint of governance problems to candidates. Or when the long-serving board chair steps down and is not replaced by equally effective leadership. Or when it is challenged to identify strong leadership to insure the quality of sub-committee work. Or when the school completes a long-range plan and then cannot muster board leadership gift support for the ensuing capital campaign.
Such symptoms on a board inhibit its ability to foster the advancement of an independent school.
ISC's broad experience in developing governance boards includes assisting the creation of a board self-assessment approach that will optimize board performance and effectiveness.
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Board Orientation & Education
Every year most schools experience a shift in the composition of the board of trustees, usually brought about according to the by-laws. While some turnover is, for the most part, good because it brings fresh ideas and new perspectives into the boardroom, it does establish the need to properly orient new board members regarding the school and the board's responsibilities.
Additionally, it is vital to the effectiveness of a board that there be a program designed for the purpose of educating the board about issues that will, in all likelihood, impact the board's decisions about school direction.
ISC is able to draw upon the vast school experience of its consultants in providing orientation and education programs and workshops for schools.
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