The Council of Board Chairs is a standing advisory group of professional leaders, knowledgeable about the roles, responsibilities, and practices of effective governance for higher education boards. They also have a deep understanding of the challenges boards and board leaders face, and the importance of a proactive approach to short- and long-term planning and strategy.
Mary Papazian, PhD
Executive Vice President
AGB
Justin Augustine
Xavier University of Louisiana
Greg Bigman
Diné College
Paul Brajcich
Gonzaga University
Margo Cook
University of Rhode Island
Steve Golding
Washington College
Linda Gooden
University of Maryland System
Don Gould
Pitzer College
Jeffrey Harris
Rochester Institute of Technology
Mark Hatcher
Central State University
Jimmy Hazel
George Mason University
Edmond Hughes
Tougaloo College
Michal Jaworski
Langara College
Michael Jones
Dillard University
Jeff Keller
Colorado College
Paul Kenney
University of Nebraska
Carrie Killoran
Macalester College
Cynthia Lenton-Gary
Houston Community College
Vanessa Lugo Flores
Universidad del Sagrado Corazón
John Meyer
Western Washington University
Sandra Moore
Anne Arundel Community College
Jeffery Perry
Babson College
Sharon Reishus
Unity College
Chris Romer
Colorado Mountain College
Cynthia Shapira
Brandeis University
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
Laurie Silvers
University of Miami
JP Smith
Kansas City University
Grace Speights
George Washington University
Laurene Sperling
Duke University
John Stirek
Oregon State University Foundation
Lisa Stromberg
Goucher College
Marie Sullivan
Maricopa Community College
Ione Taylor
Guilford College
William Thompson
City University of New York
Nicole Washington
Miami Dade College
With thanks to AGB Mission Partner RNL for their support of this council.
Todd Abbott
Senior Vice President, Enrollment, Fundraising, Graduate & Online Enrollmen
“Board Oversight of Institutional Performance” was the topic of the February 8 meeting of the AGB Council of Board Chairs. Few areas of focus could be more critical in terms of board governance practices and captures the sentiments with which AGB CEO Henry Stoever opened the zoom meeting.
The November meeting of AGB’s Council of Board Chairs focused on the challenges that the environment of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA)[1] present to effective and strategic shared governance of America’s colleges and universities. The session began with a presentation by Council Ambassador David Maxwell, PhD, proposing the essential institutional characteristics necessary to survive and thrive in a VUCA world:
The topic of the August session of the AGB Council of Board Chairs was “Anticipating Strained Board-Constituent Relations.” The primary question put to the group was: “Are You Ready?” In advance of the session, the following list of potential factors impacting the campus environment and its constituents was offered to give participants opportunities and challenges to consider. Council ambassadors David Maxwell and Jill Derby offered an overview of these topics while emphasizing the challenges institutional leaders and boards face in addressing these issues as they emerge in an environment that has changed (and continues to change) in significant ways. There is definitely consensus that new approaches and creative solutions are needed in this post-pandemic world—across all sectors of higher education.
