Executive Summary

This AGB Board of Directors’ Statement on Influences Impacting Governing Board Independence and Leadership builds on the AGB Statement on External Influences on Universities and Colleges (2012) within the context of the changing and often challenging dynamics now surrounding modern higher education in the United States. The 2012 statement contained four principles that remain actionable and relevant today and are intended to guide boards in the governance of colleges, universities, and systems; inform them of their roles and responsibilities; and clarify their relationships with presidents, administration, faculty, and others involved in the governance process. The four principles from the 2012 statement call upon governing boards to:

1. Preserve institutional independence and autonomy.
2. Demonstrate board independence to govern as established in charter, state law, or constitution.
3. Keep academic freedom central and be the standard bearer for the due-process protection of faculty, staff, and students.
4. Assure institutional accountability to the public interest.

Yet while those principles are still bedrock, governing boards need fresh guidance on how to apply them currently. More than a decade has passed since the 2012 statement was published, and the national and global environments have changed significantly. Those changes include the sharpening of political and cultural agendas from both sides of the political spectrum, increasing concern about the United States’ global competitiveness, and a decline in the public’s belief in the value of higher education to improve economic and social mobility. At the same time, the demands upon governing boards have expanded due to a heightened realization of the important responsibilities they have in encouraging student and institutional success, implementing best governance practices, and addressing the growing financial and enrollment challenges confronting many institutions.

Governing boards of colleges, universities, and institutionally related foundations are fiduciary entities, and their members, in collaboration with chief executive officers, are collectively responsible for their institutions’ or related foundations’ missions, sustainability, and strategic outcomes. Meeting those responsibilities has never been more crucial: strong American higher education institutions are essential to the health and vitality of a civil democracy and functioning national economy. To fulfill their duties as consequential, exemplary fiduciaries, governing board members must be open to listening and understanding a wide range of viewpoints and approaches from myriad important constituencies, for new ideas and diverse perspectives are essential to effective decision-making. Governing boards need input from many stakeholders, experts, and others to help them understand, for instance, the various dynamics of a complex issue or the financial implications, risks, benefits, and anticipated or unanticipated outcomes associated with a particular investment.

At the same time, however, governing boards must also sharpen their ability to…