Association of Governing Boards

Trusteeship Articles By Topic: The Presidency

Setting the Diversity Agenda, Achieving Goals
Kevin P. Reilly
September/October 2009

Most experts agree that in the coming decades millions more Americans must attain a college credential if we are to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Given our nation's evolving demographic makeup, many more of these educated American workers will come from diverse backgrounds and populations not well represented on college campuses today.

Presidential Transition Teams: Fostering a Collaborative Transition Process
Richard B. Artman and Mark Franz
July/August 2009

So you've hired a new president, now what? Whether hiring a sitting president or one beginning a first presidency, the board of trustees should be keenly interested in ensuring that the new president's first months in office flow as smoothly as possible. Increasing attention has been paid in recent years to the idea of using a transition team to assist the new president, and our experience--as a newly hired president and as the leader of his presidential transition team--leads us to strongly endorse this approach.

Assessing Presidential Performance: How to Do It Well
Kenneth Alan Shaw
November/December 2009

A recent AGB survey revealed that 86 percent of private and 92 percent of public institutions are conducting annual presidential performance reviews. This number has steadily increased over the past decade. Not everyone is doing them, but just about.

Changing Presidential Styles
Graham B. Spanier
November/December 2009

The university presidency has evolved over the last three decades, from a phenomenon of curiosity to a topic of serious study, not to mention a popular focus of memoirs and self-help books. I recall the first such book I read 25 years ago, the Power of the Presidency by James L. Fisher. It was heavily advertised and promoted.

Assessing Presidential Effectiveness
Richard L. Morrill
January/February 2010

An evaluation of the president takes the board inside each of the critical leverage points within the institution. In evaluating critical performance areas such as finance, fundraising, and enrollment, and in reviewing critical processes including strategy and collegial decision-making, the board has the chance to gain an integrated view of the president's work as a central part of an integral leadership process. The board should come away from the evaluation with a sharper sense of its own agency in shaping the future through its support of the president's efforts to improve the work of the office and the institution.

What "Entrepreneurship" Entails
Adele Phelan
January/February 2009

In today's competitive world of higher educa­tion, in which seemingly no state budgets are at the levels appropriate for a nation that prides itself on valuing higher educa­tion, governing boards increasingly are seeking "entrepreneurial" presidents to diversify revenue streams and otherwise shake up traditional ways of doing business.