Discusses how a college board of trustees can get beyond academe's famed turf battles to build a governance culture that embraces all constituencies and improves its own work. Addresses the best practices of strategic vision, presidential leadership, cohesive teamwork, continuing trustee education, faculty as partners, and effective board…

The traditional governance culture in which most school boards function contributes to role confusion. Most board policies focus more on operational concerns than on governance. Several Colorado boards have applied John Carver's Policy Governance model to define their parameters. A sidebar summarizes (positive) results of two superintendency…

Adversarial board situations are draining. To succeed in the face of strained relations with the board, superintendents must preserve their inner strength and confidence, keep the whole board informed, involve the community in district activities, and provide joint training on maintaining an effective relationship. (MLH)

To improve board-administrator relations, superintendents should establish a firm foundation for teamwork, nurture mutual respect and support, understand their roles, be a supercoach, encourage frequent, two-way communication, avoid surprises, discourage micromanagement, avoid wasting teammates' time, tackle conflict, and assess the team's…

Advocates of corporate governance reform hailed passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 as a long-overdue raising of the accountability bar for corporate directors. Although SOX, as the law is widely known, does not legally apply to nonprofit boards, it has profoundly influenced the way many trustees, especially current and former corporate…

Findings of a study that examined the exiting superintendent phenomenon are presented in this paper. Interviews were conducted with five state administrator association executives from California, Massachusetts, Florida, Colorado, and Indiana. Findings indicate that a trend of exiting superintendents does exist; however, the trend varies by state.…

The lack of understanding between principals and their superiors or school boards was considered with the intention of defining just how much autonomy each has. Several suggestions for correcting the situation were provided. (RK)

The position of principal is due for a fundamental reevaluation. Several aspects of the position are discussed: (1) history of the position; (2) impact and self-perceptions of the principal; (3) current challenges of the principal; and (4) role and style of the principal. Central to the utilization of the principal in the district is the choice of…

All first-year Ohio superintendents were surveyed regarding their board of education relationships. The administrators were sent a questionnaire asking about the boards' trust and confidence in them, the nature and extent of board/superintendent communications, and the superintendents' job satisfaction. Of 63 questionnaires mailed out, 58 (92.1…

Intended for use as a workbook, this publication is designed to provide examples of the respective roles of the school board and the superintendent in the operation and management of a school district. The first section (white pages) provides statements, in parallel columns, describing possible board/superintendent roles under the following…

School board members with concerns for success benefit the entire school district. An ambiguity between administration and policy-making necessitates a clarification of the role of the school board. The board should care about the quality of education and the district, recognize the increasing complexity of education, and represent the goals of…

A policy is a general statement of intent to act in a particular manner when confronted with a given situation or to achieve a given result in the future. Because policies ensure consistency and fairness, policy making is the most important function assigned to a governing board. Policies are not only the vehicle by which a board expresses and…

A discussion of college governance by lay boards of trustees focuses on the sources and nature of trustees' authority and, by extension, of faculty and administrators' influence on boards. It chronicles briefly the history of the lay board and the reasons for its continued use in modern institutions. Criticisms and defenses of lay trusteeship are…

A questionnaire completed by 251 school board members from across Texas revealed wide disagreement over the role of the school superintendent. Respondents identified the sizes of their districts, their educational attainment levels, and their lengths of tenure, then indicated whether responsibility for each of 29 tasks in 4 broad areas should rest…

This paper examines the degree of superintendent turnover in Nebraska, a state dominated by rural school districts. It also lists the causes of turnover as reported by short-term superintendents. This study finds that turnover is higher in the subject rural districts than the national average. Superintendents report that they leave these rural…