Board Roles & Responsibilities

Your professional experience and ability to think critically are essential to your service as a trustee. In fact, lacking these, you likely would not have been appointed in the first place. You will apply the insights they produce throughout your …

A former college president's view on what trustees need to consider today to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. We all know the song’s lyrics, “when will they ever learn?” It is a great question that can be used in different contexts. One …

AGB is pleased to share this eighth publication in a series of informational briefings developed as part of The Guardians Initiative: Reclaiming the Public Trust, an effort to educate and engage trustees as advocates on key issues in higher education. Most …

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) hold an iconic position within American higher education. But HBCUs are at an inflection point. While HBCUs include iconic liberal arts colleges and leading research universities, many struggle financially and are finding it difficult …

As you prepare for your fall board meetings focused on advancing your students’ success and your institutions’ vitality, I urge you to reflect on your boards’ roles of accountability. This preparation requires discussion not only to identify and prioritize agenda …

University board work is often forward focused. We spend most of our time thinking strategically about where our institutions might be years down the road. A less tangible element of our fiduciary responsibility, yet no less important, is to protect …

I recently read that a high school student who graduates this year will have 11 ½ jobs in their lifetime and that 50 percent of those jobs do not yet exist. The authors of the article observed that many of …

Trusteeship is more than meetings, but a well-designed board meeting can serve as the well-spring for a high level of board engagement and organizational alignment, ensuring that trustees, the president, and the president’s leadership team keep a disciplined focus on …

I started my postgraduate career in the 1970s, involved with both large private and public universities after at tending an excellent liberal arts college, Manhattanville College. Looking back at the educational environment and leadership from these schools—the University of Notre …

For those in the public eye, a trip to the super-market invites more than shopping. A stroll down the frozen food aisle opens the public servant to inter-action with a passionate faculty member, an armchair quarterback informed by news headlines, …