New Research Released on Faculty, Governing Boards and Institutional Governance

Washington D.C., January 22, 2010--A wide-ranging study about the state of faculty-board relationships was released today by the Association of Governing Boards. The report, part of the TIAA-CREF Institute-funded Project on Faculty and Institutional Governance, indicates that faculty-board engagement is viewed as generally healthy and constructive, and that institution leaders express understanding of the causes of less-productive interaction. Among the recommendations for ensuring successful board and faculty participation in governance are enhancing mutual understanding and respect, clarifying governance policies and practices, and strengthening presidential leadership. The stated barriers include insufficient time, lack of mutual understanding and respect, governance policies and practices that are unclear or out-of-date, the complexity of higher education, and a general lack of interest.

Findings cover the role and impact of faculty governing bodies; orientation of faculty and board members; selection of faculty for participation in institutional governance; conditions, policies and practices for shared governance; joint engagement of faculty and trustees; and the characterization of faculty and board interactions. The project focused on governance at the institutional level where faculty and the board are most likely to interact directly on such areas as institutional priorities, strategic planning, and budgeting.

"AGB has long promoted the concept of integral leadership--collaborative strategic leadership toward a shared vision for the institution, where key stakeholders have clearly defined roles and responsibilities for institutional governance. This project has identified how boards and faculty interact in institutional governance and how they can do so more effectively," said Merrill Schwartz, the report's primary author. "The recommendations provide institutions with important guidance to ensuring constructive interaction, particularly useful in these trying economic times."

Key findings include the following:

• Most colleges and universities (90%) have an institution-wide faculty governing body and describe its role as "policy influencing" (59%).
• Over 92% of respondents describe the influence of the faculty governing body as either important (50%) or very important (42%).
• Governing boards are typically involved in granting promotion and tenure to faculty (68%); this involvement ranges from routinely approving recommendations of the administration (61%) to reviewing the qualifications of candidates (23%), to reviewing only resource implications (7%).
• Boards of independent institutions (26%) were more likely to review qualifications of candidates for tenure than were boards of public institutions (8%).
• More than 95% of colleges and universities surveyed conduct an orientation for new faculty; it almost always include a review of the roles and responsibilities of faculty in institutional governance. Only about 30% address the roles and responsibilities of the board. Most new trustees, over 90%, are provided with an orientation; it almost always includes the roles and responsibilities of the governing board (88%). More than half also include the roles and responsibilities of the faculty in institutional governance.
• The typical trustee's understanding of the role of faculty in institutional governance is comparable to that of the typical faculty member's understanding of the role of the governing board; only 23% indicate they understand the other's role "well" or "very well."
• About one-quarter of the respondents indicate faculty or the head of the faculty senate is a member of the governing board.
• In over half the respondent institutions, faculty serve on board committees. This practice is almost twice as common at independent institutions (61%) as it is atpublic institutions (32%).
• Substantive interaction occurs most often in connection with presidential searches, faculty presentations to the board, faculty and board member membership on president-established entities, and fundraising.

Specific recommendations are offered for the improvement of board-faculty engagement:

• Orient new faculty and trustees regarding board, faculty, and administrative responsibilities for shared governance, and expectations about faculty involvement in governance; continue education of both groups over time and especially for faculty when tenure is granted.
• Recognize faculty for service on governance bodies, including in promotion and tenure decisions.
• Create opportunities for board members and faculty to interact in meaningful ways in both informal and formal settings.
• Include faculty and trustees in strategic planning, accreditation, and other key work groups.
• Have the president provide regular reports to the board about work of the faculty and regular reports to the faculty about the work of the board, and be consistent in communicating to both groups.
• Establish comprehensible and accessible policies, procedures, and structures for institutional governance and review and update those documents regularly.
• Ensure transparent decision-making.
• Clarify the decision-making process and the role of faculty, administrators, the president, and board.
• Acknowledge in the governing board's policies the expectation that faculty exercise expertise and responsibility in certain areas of institutional operations, such as assessing and attesting to the quality of learning.
• Assert the board's responsibilities, accountability, and authority, along with the limits of faculty prerogative.

"The Association of Governing Board's report resulted in several tangible recommendations helping to advance effective higher education leadership-an area of strong focus for the TIAA-CREF Institute. We will continue to conduct and foster research and initiatives that yield practical results that support the ongoing vitality of our nation's colleges and universities," said Madeleine d'Ambrosio, Vice President, TIAA-CREF Institute.

The full report was published by both AGB and TIAA-CREF Institute.  It is available on the AGB Web site, as well as on TIAA-CREF Institute's.

About the Association of Governing Boards
Founded in 1921, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) is the only national association that serves the interests and needs of academic governing boards, boards of institutionally related foundations, and campus CEOs and other senior-level campus administrators on issues related to higher education governance and leadership. AGB serves more than 1,200 institutions and 34,000 individuals. Its work advances the practice of citizen trusteeship and helps ensure the quality and success of our nation's colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit www.agb.org.

About TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization with $402 billion in combined assets under management (as of 9/30/09) and is the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.For additional information, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.

About the TIAA-CREF Institute
The mission of the TIAA-CREF Institute, part of TIAA-CREF, is to foster objective research, build knowledge, support thought leadership, and enhance understanding of strategic issues related to higher education and lifelong financial security. For additional information regarding the TIAA-CREF Institute, please visit www.tiaa-crefinstitute.org.