Capacity and Commitment

A quality college has leaders with the capacity and commitment to facilitate the college’s journey toward its goals. Boards and presidents especially need the capacity to do what needs to be done. Whether or not a troubled college survives—or a mediocre college improves—boils down to two kinds of capacity. Obviously, colleges need resources to fix whatever problems they are facing. But the other equally critical capacity issue is one of leadership itself. Do the college’s leaders recognize what needs to be done to put the college on the right course? Are they able to get things going? Are they capable of deploying the college’s resources effectively to address problems?

At a quality college, the board and president are also committed to the best interests of the college and its students. Their time, energy, and active support concentrate on ensuring the five dimensions of quality and that the college is effectively fulfilling its responsibilities to its students and other stakeholders. And support is not just a matter of throwing money at something, say by sending a few people to a conference (Suskie, 2009). It is keeping priorities at the forefront and providing active, vocal, visible, personal support.

Capacity and commitment are embodied in the following traits, all discussed in this chapter:

• Empowered leadership
• Independent leadership
• Putting your college’s interests ahead of a third party
• Collaborative leadership
• Board engagement
• The right people
• Ongoing education and development

Empowered Leadership

Quality colleges have boards and leaders who are sufficiently empowered to act in the college’s best interests. Colleges must have a president empowered to act as chief executive officer, providing vision, strategy, and leadership, not just overseeing day-to-day operations. One president once defined empowerment to me this way: “I can say no.”

Independent Leadership

Quality colleges have boards and leaders who are sufficiently independent that they can view the college with an objective eye. When I ask a college’s board members how they came to be on the board and most of them say, “I’m an alum,” I worry. Will they be able to recognize that the college today cannot be the college they attended? Will they embrace the need for appropriate transformations?

When most board members tell me, “I’m a friend of the president,” again I worry. Will they be able to give the president the objective support he or she needs? Will they be able to recognize when the president is no longer effective and it is time for a change? Do they have a clear, impartial picture of the traits the college most needs in a president and what the president most needs to accomplish?

The Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ all expect a majority of corporate board members to be independent. This is a good rule of thumb, although my definition of independent board members is different from theirs, comprising only those with no affiliation with your college—even alumni status—or any affiliated entity. A silent majority of independent board members is inadequate, however. Independent members need to have backgrounds and credentials sufficient for their views to be treated with respect and given full consideration in decisions.

Putting Your College’s Interests Ahead of a Third Party

Leadership empowerment and independence may be a particular challenge when a college is overseen or controlled in some way by another entity or third party. These colleges may have boards or leaders who are responsible to the oversight entity. Such colleges include those that are

• Part of a public or private system of colleges or other operations, such as a high school, museum, or hospital
• Operated by a government agency
• Owned by an individual or corporation
• Sponsored by a church, order, or other religious organization

Many colleges in these circumstances operate successfully, of course, when the oversight entity recognizes that the path to a successful future, both for itself and the college, is fulfilling the college’s responsibilities listed in Chapter 5 and ensuring the five dimensions of quality. But sometimes the oversight entity may have goals that differ from—or are even at cross-purposes with—the college’s goals:

• If a college is operated by a church (or other organization) that is struggling financially, the church board may want to use college resources or excess revenue to support the church, rather than the college’s mission.
• If a college is public, its board’s priority may be furthering a political agenda such as minimizing taxpayer support, rather than ensuring the college’s ongoing quality.
• If a college is owned by a corporation (or private owner), the corporate board may want to maximize immediate shareholder return by expanding too quickly to maintain quality.
• If a college’s board is responsible for an affiliated high school or museum as well as the college, it may struggle to reconcile its dual responsibilities. If the high school or museum is struggling more than the college, will the college continue to receive its fair share of board attention and resources?

Solving these kinds of dilemmas is not always straightforward; the board of the oversight entity may have legal responsibility for the college and ultimate authority for approval of decisions affecting it. Possible solutions include establishing a separate board or a board committee that reports to the third-entity board but is charged with college oversight. Then the proof is in the pudding: whether the oversight board respects and endorses the actions and advice of the college board or committee or whether it often overrides them.

Collaborative Leadership

The work of college leaders is part of the work of the college community. As I discussed in Chapter 7, a quality college is characterized by a culture of communication, collaboration, and shared collegial governance. An effective board does not fulfill its responsibilities in isolation but consults with the college community, especially when determining the college’s purpose and goals and establishing broad policies.

Board Engagement

I have read through two years of some board minutes without seeing a single motion, just unending reports from administrators on how great everything is. I have seen other minutes that show attention to the college’s finances . . . but none to the college’s academic quality. I have seen others in which the strategic plan is never mentioned; the annual budget is approved without any apparent discussion of how the budget should help move the college toward its key goals. Board members need to ensure that the right items are on their agendas and that critical questions are raised and discussed during board and committee meetings. In particular, they need to make sure that they regularly receive information on student success, including student achievement of key learning outcomes (Bok, 2006; Kuh, Jankowski, Ikenberry, & Kinzie, 2014).

The Right People

Your board needs members who bring experience and expertise in all the board’s areas of responsibility, as well as in the significant directions that your college is pursuing. Consultants and advisory groups can be helpful, but they are not a substitute for board members who actively participate in board discussions and vote on board actions. If your college has made improving student retention and completion rates a priority, for example, consider adding board members with expertise in this. Planning, financial management, higher education administration, and higher education academics are other areas in which board expertise is needed. Here I counsel diversity, especially in financial expertise and in layers of financial review. Some college leaders and boards place too much faith in one financial officer, one board member with a financial background, or one financial advisor.

As I noted at the beginning of this chapter, perhaps the board’s most important responsibility is ensuring effective leadership. When a longstanding president leaves and some significant changes are needed, I encourage boards to consider hiring an interim president for one or two years. An interim president can make tough, unpopular, but necessary changes and pave the way for a smooth, successful transition to a new long-term president.

Ongoing Education and Development

Most presidents cannot possibly bring the vast array of knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their leadership positions at their colleges. Boards can support them by encouraging them to attend programs for new presidents, join relevant organizations, and develop networks with other presidents. This is especially important at what I call “outlier” colleges: those outside the higher education mainstream, such as proprietary colleges, and those serving a very narrow segment of the college-going population, such as those sponsored by a very small religious denomination or offering only a very specialized program. Outliers often want college leaders with backgrounds reflecting their college’s mission. Depending on how narrow the mission is, these colleges can have a hard time finding leaders with appropriate experience and expertise. Board encouragement of these presidents’ ongoing professional development is particularly important.

While board members generally bring some experience and expertise to their roles, their backgrounds are in contexts different from those of your college. Board members must understand your college’s history, culture, environment, students, and needs, but they generally do not have time to pore through lengthy reports or sit through long presentations. Chapter 16 offers ideas on sharing information concisely and effectively.