Shared Governance

117: Manu Narayan brings artful insight to board leadership at Carnegie Mellon

This week on Navigating Change we welcome Manu Narayan to the show. Manu is a truly renaissance man. He’s an actor of stage and screen. He’s an accomplished musician. He’s a writer and producer. And for all his professional creative talents, he joins us to discuss his role of Young Alumni trustee on the board of Carnegie Mellon University.

95: Building Consequential Boards with Dr. Richard Chait

Listen to Building Consequential Boards with Richard Chait on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

Over the past month, we've talked with university presidents, trustees, and faculty, cultivating a dialog around building strong relationships between institutional leadership. In the face of strained board-president relationships, diffused shared governance practices, challenging financial and regulatory environment, stresses on the balance of leadership abound.

In light of the search for this careful balance of accountability, authority, and responsibility at the top, our conversation today focuses on the role of the board in helping the institution improve its decision-making prowess, provide leadership and vision at the strategic level, and above all else, to be consequential in the ongoing development and growth of the institution. What does it take to build a consequential board? What should we expect of the board of 2020? And what sort of impact does the board need to have in higher education?

This week we welcome Richard Chait to Navigating Change. Dr. Chait is Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and co-author of “Consequential Boards: Adding Value Where It Matters Most” published by AGB.

Links & Notes

 

About Richard Chait

Richard Chait (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin), Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Chair of COACHE's National Advisory Council, studies the management and governance of colleges and universities. Chait has expertise on terms and conditions of faculty employment, including promotion and tenure procedures, academic freedom, and faculty evaluation. He also studies the roles, responsibilities, and performance of boards of trustees, and has written on faculty work life. For over 20 years, Chait has taught in HGSE's summer institute programs for executives in higher education. He has been a professor at the University of Maryland and at Case Western Reserve University, and was formerly associate provost at Pennsylvania State University. In 2001, Chait was selected by the Fulbright New Zealand Board of Directors as a Fulbright U.S. Distinguished American Scholar. In 2005, Chait received the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Academic Leadership Award and a Research Writing Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). His recent books include Governance as Leadership (with W. Ryan and B. Taylor) (2004) and The Questions of Tenure, ed. (2002).

Photo Credit: Harvard Library by Matthias Rosenkranz — Creative Commons License

93: Governance — Authority, Accountability & Responsibility in Shared Governance with Dr. Stephen Fowl

Listen to Stephen Fowl on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

Our on-going series on governance brings us to the faculty perspective this week. From the point of view of an academic leader in the institution, we’re interested in putting a framework around expectations of governance, in particular: how do we do shared governance effectively in our institutions? Given the sometimes subtle nuance between authority, accountability, and responsibility for leadership, how do we know when we’re doing it well?

This week on the show, Professor Steve Fowl joins us to share his insights as an academic leader on what makes shared governance work. As former chair of the faculty senate, Steve paints a picture of an environment in which there exists clear and effective collaboration between faculty, administration, and board leadership. 

189: Preparing Grads for the World Beyond the Walls with Bentley President Gloria Larson

Bentley University President Gloria Larson returns to Navigating Change this week to share the story of her new book, Prepared U: How Innovative Colleges Drive Student Success. “How you go to college is more important than where you go to school,” says President Larson. In the book — and her work at Bentley University — Larson demonstrates the changes required for institutions to deliver both the hard skills and soft, and help cultivate graduates ready for the challenges ahead. 

150: "A Voice, a Vote, or a Veto" — A Human Approach to Shared Governance

Our conversation today serves as both a preview of Howard's upcoming feature in NACUBO Business Officer Magazine, and a roadmap of three key concepts that will help you and your administrative and academic units to approach shared governance with a keen eye on the objectives you seek to achieve. 

149: Gerald Hector Part 2 — The power of storytelling in driving participation across the institution

In part two of our conversation with Ithaca College CBO Gerald Hector, we take on the power of storytelling in moving the institutional mission forward. From using metaphor to explain complex financial subjects, to Hector's "Dollars & $ence" meetings, now central to his mission around campus financial leadership, his input provides valuable perspective far beyond his role as a technical finance leader.

143: Uncovering the Unknown Unknowns — A Systematic Approach to Institutional Risk Management with Janice Abraham

Within the context of academic structures, a robust discussion of risk today must include not just cooperation between academics and administration, but collaboration in preparing for risk scenarios. All this is on the table in this wide ranging conversation with our very special guest, Janice Abraham, president and CEO of United Educators.

139: Taking Risks, Releasing Control, and Strategic Planning with Valparaiso U. President Mark Heckler

Mark Heckler has served as president of Valparaiso University since 2008. In his tenure so far, the institution has achieved some notable wins: expanded facilities, expanded academic programs and a five-year campaign achieving the largest fundraising goal ever achieved by a Lutheran University. Today, Dr. Heckler is overseeing the implementation of the most expansive and comprehensive strategic plan in the university’s 150-year history.

99: Lessons from AGB's National Conference on Trusteeship

Recorded straight off stage from the 2015 AGB National Conference on Trusteeship, Howard Teibel shares his reflections on trusteeship, and lessons he learned working with trustees navigating their most challenging issues. From the coming closure of Sweet Briar to the challenges of institutionalizing change, Howard and Pete dive into the importance of changing our thinking from cooperation to collaboration and shifting adversarial relationships toward finding alignment across the entire institution.

97: Dr. Larry Baker Brings Communication, Humor to Trusteeship at Des Moines University Medical Center

Listen to Dr. Larry Baker on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

This week on Navigating Change, we continue our conversation on governance with trustee Larry Baker. Dr. Baker serves as medical director for the emergency department of UnityPoint health in Des Moines, But for our conversation today, his most important role is as trustee, serving as chair on the board of Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center. 

Our conversation has wound around a central theme: What is it that stakeholders in leadership look for in one another as they guide the collective institution? From the trustee perspective, how do you tell the story of relationship building with the president, senior administration, and beyond, balancing the needs of authority, accountability, and responsibility between parties? What is the role of the trustee in guiding and leading change in the institution? 

This week, Dr. Baker joins Howard Teibel and Pete Wright to discuss the key principles that guide his work as chair on the board of the Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center. 

 

Photo Credit: Phil Roeder, "September Sunset" (CreativeCommons)

92: Governance — Finding Balance Between the Board and Administration with St. Edward’s President George Martin

Listening to Balancing Board and Administration with George Martin on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

The university board has an opporunity to help guide the strategy of the institution. But striking the right balance between engagement and over-involvement in leadership can be a challenge.

From his perspective — and his 16-year tenure as president of St. Edward’s University — Dr. George Martin has cultivated a reputation of leadership and balanced communication with the board of his institution. This week on the show, Dr. Martin shares the critical importance of developing a discipline of strategic planning, creating a culture of leadership that is always asking: “How is what we are doing now contributing to the strategic plan of the university. 

Beyond the board relationship, Dr. Martin shares his perspective on the value of shared governance. “It’s a huge resource,” he says, “it allows you to take advantage of the tremendous minds and intellectual power that is on your faculty and to use that for advancing the university."

This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright investigate the careful balance between the board and the president in protecting, growing their institutions. 

91: Governance — AGB President Rick Legon on Breaking Norms to Build Great Boards

Listen to Building Great Boards with Rick Legon on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

In part two of our series on governance, we turn to Rick Legon. In his role as president of the Association of Governing Boards, Legon has worked with institutions around the world, helping to strengthen board relationships and further the dialog for change.

The challenge lies in creating a shared dialog, according to Legon. “Cultural norms exist to keep stakeholders in their place. We can’t continue that way, but the behavior is entrenched."

This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Rick Legon discuss the challenges in fostering strong board leadership to help institutions face their collective crises ahead. 

90: Governance — Leadership, Strategy, & Creativity at the Top

Listen to Governance Leadership Creativity in Boards on Navigating Change The Education Podcast
Howard Teibel

Howard Teibel

The forces impacting higher education add complexity to a carefully balanced system of leadership in our institutions. Unique issues face boards, administrators, and faculty, and finding alignment between them is key in demonstrating progress toward strategic goals.

Today we begin a series exploring governance in higher education from the perspective of leaders across the institution. In a series of conversations with trustees, presidents, faculty and beyond, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright host a dialog around authority, accountability, and responsibility for leadership. 

This week, we set the stage for our conversations to come and introduce the big questions we’ll attempt to answer as we take on governance—leadership, strategy, and creativity at the top.

See our complete Governance series.

86: AGB President Rick Legon on Board Leadership, Adaptability in the Face of Tectonic Change in Higher Ed

Listen to Rick Legon on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

The 2015 National Conference on Trusteeship from the Association of Governing Boards is coming up April 19-21 in Phoenix and this year’s event promises a rich line-up of leaders and board members tackling the biggest issues facing higher ed institutions around the world. Howard Teibel is on the docket  this year, joining the list of facilitators for the Leadership Institute for Board Leaders and Executives the day before the main session, April 18. 

We’re thrilled to welcome AGB President Rick Legon to the show this week. Rick has served as AGB President since 2006. This week, he shares his keen insights in the challenges facing board leadership in today’s institutions, and how the Conference on Trusteeship serves to align leaders to face them. How do we maintain an affordable education while ensuring the highest quality? How do we address the glass ceiling of tuition revenue in supporting the institution? How do we adapt to the changing relationship between state and federal regulation and the education experience? This is a wide-ranging conversation that dives into the fundamental question: how do we frame the board’s role as one critical piece of the institutional leadership puzzle?

30: Does Higher Ed Need Saving?

Listen to Does Higher Ed Need Saving on Navigating Change The Education Podcast

There is a sense from higher ed media that with great diligence and focus, we can fix all of our institutions' ills. But the changing technological and communications landscape is pointing in new directions. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright begin a discussion on reframing the call to fix higher ed and offer their thoughts on what it might take to create something altogether new.