This guide outlines the careful considerations and illustrative cases that help board members and campus leaders better understand the flash points surrounding freedom of speech, academic freedom, and the tensions between these free expression rights and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the present campus environment. It offers governing boards…

Public higher education is a major recipient of state funding and resources. As such, public colleges and universities directly respond to state needs for higher education and are required to provide transparency in decision-making, which is codified in state open-meeting and record laws. These laws, often termed "sunshine laws," present…

The issue of college completion has become a hot-button topic for higher education and the public in recent years. While completion is not a new issue, several national and state-level efforts, including President Obama's 2020 college-completion goal to increase the number of college graduates to 50 percent of the population, have brought…

This publication is part of an Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) series devoted to strengthening the role of key standing committees of governing boards. While there is no optimum committee system for institutions of higher education, certain principles, practices, and procedures prevail. The best practices…

"Updating Board Bylaws: A Guide for Colleges and Universities" represents the latest thinking on good governance in higher education by providing a concise deconstruction of the essential clauses in college, university, and system bylaws. Written by Robert O'Neil, former professor of law and president of the University of Wisconsin System and the…

Discussions among college and university administrators on improving marketing efforts often revolve around questions about whether the marketing function should be centralized or decentralized. An impetus of these discussions is the increased marketing sophistication of many boards. Many trustees are strongly urging their institutions to apply…

This completely redone edition is meant to be a primer on the financial responsibilities of trustees of colleges and universities and on complex trends and issues bearing on the responsibilities of governing boards. Trustees must deal with a complex blend of competing values, evolving information, and challenging analyses while taking into account…

Why do so many newly minted trustees experience difficulty finding their voice on the board? Nearly all come from successful and distinguished backgrounds in business and the professions. Over a lifetime they have carefully honed their personal leadership styles. They have found easy comfort in a variety of governing responsibilities and are…

The most difficult, self-effacing, and intangible role in higher education today is that of top management policy determination. Trustees carry the key management policy role and should neither be diverted nor shrink from it. Trustees must constantly assess their progress and modify their plans. Six points are suggested: (1) Trustees should devote…

A "trustee" means different things to different people. Some have suggested abolishing Boards of Trustees and handing all power to the students and faculty. Yet, if the University is to remain a center of learning and free inquiry, it will be easier to preserve this function with the support of a dedicated board of lay trustees. One responsibility…

The most appropriate form of governance for higher education in the U.S. is by boards of trustees. The strong hand of governing boards has been felt and has caused some alarm. Faculty and students in search of academic power, who had previously thought that it was to be had at the price of endless ennui in campus committees, are claiming seats on…

If our colleges and universities have not kept pace with the rapidly changing society that higher education has created, to what extent can this fact be laid at the door of trustees or ascribed to the relationships between policymaking bodies in higher education and the operating leadership in administration? It is to this question that this…

This book is designed to reduce the ambiguities that accompany a governing board's policy responsibilities for academic affairs. Boards have legitimate concerns about academic program quality and faculty work, and trustees expect to participate in the difficult decisions regarding these matters. Chapter 1, The Culture of Academic Decision Making,…

The questions "How much does it cost this institution to provide an education?" and "How much should students pay for that education?" are difficult to answer. In virtually all private institutions, and most public ones, today's students actually are paying a variety of prices, depending on the aid they receive and the financing methods they…

This booklet offers guidelines for conflict of interest issues and disclosure for members of governing boards of institutions of higher education. It urges institutions to develop conflict-of-interest policy documents to guide decisions concerning such topics as defining what constitutes "conflict of interest"; the board's role in cases of an…