For those of us engaged in higher education, our business is learning. We are committed to creating condi-tions for active, lasting learning. And we are continuously researching and improving how we engage learners. So why not use that information to improve outcomes in boardrooms as well as in classrooms? Why not apply our expertise in learning to improve one of the most important but potentially ineffective learning experiences for incoming trustees: the new board member orientation?
Tools that allow for online conferencing, video sharing and storytelling, and classroom opinion polls via cell phone voting are now standard operations in many of today’s institutions of higher education. We rely on technology to help us deliver impactful experiences in the classroom, and we can also do this in the board-room. Colleges and universities have the power to model board orientations on what effective professors are already doing by flip-ping their classrooms and providing hands-on experiences.
We should be using our most effective tools to help our new trustees learn about our institutions and their roles. This obligation is especially pertinent given the complexity of universities—they are essentially small cities with a dizzying array of functions, responsibilities, and stakeholders who have diverse values, needs, and expectations for what we do as higher education institutions. Further, unlike most organizations with which trustees might be familiar, universities operate with a shared governance model, which makes us stronger but often seems odd and inefficient to board members. There is a lot for a new trustee to learn if he or she is to embrace the new role: understand the industry overall, the individual institution, and engage fully in university governance. And, of course, we generally learn best on our own terms—when we are ready to learn—and not on an arbitrary orientation schedule.
Traditional Orientation Models Are Not Designed for Learning. Often consisting simply of a full day of face-to-face information transmission, new trustee orientation is time consuming for busy board members so it must be well spent and worth the personal sacrifice and commitment. More importantly, the traditional orientation may be time-honored but is not optimally effective because it is based on flawed learning principles. Among these principles that we now know to be unsound: that transmission of information leads to learning; that a day of force-fed facts will provide knowledge; that new information can be assimilated without time to reflect while learning; and that sitting and listening to a parade of institutional leaders talk about what they do will provide information that can be recalled at the appropriate time in the future. Everything we have traditionally done in new trustee orientation flies in the face of research-based learning theory—in fact, it resembles ineffective cramming for an exam rather than creating conditions for lasting learning. We can do better for our dedicated volunteers and we owe it to them to do so.
Flipped Orientation: A Powerful Alternative. At Widener University, we developed a flipped orientation model for our board of trustees that is based on evidence about how to best promote engaged and lasting learning. As in a flipped classroom model, preparation before the orientation session lays the groundwork for a face-to-face meeting that focuses on interaction, discussion, and experiencing the campus. During the two months leading up to the orientation meeting, we send a brief weekly learning module on a key topic that includes a five-minute video (featuring faculty leaders, deans, and other leaders) and one or two brief documents such as a related article and a relevant university policy.
Online Learning Modules Available On-Demand. Each week new trustees devote about 20 minutes to a learning module. The following modules are currently included and others, such as enrollment management, risk management, and instructional and enterprise technology, are under development:
■ Shared Governance
■ Modules for each School and College
■ Budget
■ Athletics
■ Student Affairs
■ Fundraising
■ Board Committees
■ Accessing Board Materials
The videos are easily developed using an online screen casting solution and a free file sharing solution such as Dropbox. While most of the module materials, including videos, remain relevant year after year, we develop new modules and revise existing ones based on feedback from trustees, developing issues in higher education, and new trustees’ evaluation of the orientation program.
With this flipped approach, the basic information new trustees need is delivered to them in manageable portions to consume when they have the opportunity, and it is much easier to assimilate because it is spread out over time and they can return to it as needed. That allows us to spend the face-to-face time we have with them far more effectively.
Face-to-Face on Campus. For the face-to-face orientation meeting on campus, we begin with a purely social evening event to build community among new trustees and our board leaders. Next, when they are on campus for the day, rather than a series of presentations in the boardroom and a standard campus tour, new board members actively experience classrooms, labs, extra-curricular spaces, and student service centers such as the Office for Career Design and Development or the Office for Student Success and Retention firsthand. They spend time in these spaces and get to know them as our students, faculty, and staff do.
In each space they meet with faculty, staff, or students and talk with them about what they do and their experiences at the university. For example, the first stop is our FISH Tank (Faculty Innovations Support Hub) where our teaching and learning technologies staff help faculty adopt new pedagogical approaches. There, new board members meet with academic leaders to ask questions and engage in conversation about innovation and the academic direction of the university.
The day continues with meetings across campus, in a variety of buildings, where new trustees engage in conversation rather than listen to presentations. We have found that after reviewing all of the modules, our new board members arrive with lists of questions and that conversation ensues naturally and flows freely. In fact, they leave each meeting energized and often express the sentiment that they wish they had even more time to discuss the topic.
Deeper Conversations and Meaningful Learning. What’s the response to the flipped orientation? Not surprisingly, our new trustees most value the chance to talk with people and ask questions. They enjoy time with students, in particular, and they are fascinated by their time with faculty, as faculty governance processes seem complex and foreign yet the faculty’s work and obvious commitment to students is exciting and engenders pride in the university. Because they have previously reviewed modules on everything from athletics to faculty governance, it’s much easier to have these conversations in an informed and meaningful way. Additionally, through a day of conversations and experiences, new trustees discover quickly where we excel and where we have work to do, making them better prepared to guide the university.
We also share the modules with continuing board members and, having experienced only the traditional orientation, in some cases many years ago, they have found these “refreshers” very enlightening as well. Their feedback has been positive, and the knowledge they have gained is relevant in board meeting discussions and decisions. The on-demand orientation modules allow any trustee to get just-in-time information to help prepare for important votes or just to re-familiarize themselves with key university activities. By providing the content on demand, we are empowering board members to learn and explore when they are ready.
As universities, we are in the business of learning, we have dedicated volunteers eager to know all they can to do their jobs well as trustees, and we know how to help them learn best. The flipped orientation is a solution that has worked well for Widener University and could work equally well elsewhere. We invite you to join us in dis-covering the power of flipping your board orientation.
Julie E. Wollman, PhD, is the president of Widener University.
Katie Herschede, EdD, is the vice president for strategic initiatives and chief of staff at Widener University.
Takeaways
■ Technology is already being used in college classrooms to deliver impactful experiences. These same methods can be translated to use in the boardroom. This can be particularly impactful when it comes to educating new trustees about their institution and roles.
■ Traditional face-to-face orientation models are not conducive to learning. They are time consuming and based on flawed learning principles. A “flipped” orientation, such as the one Widener University developed, gives brief weekly modules and documents to new trustees in advance of the orientation meeting so that the meeting is effective for everyone.
■ Since new trustees are prepared before the meeting with a foundation of basic knowledge, the on-campus meeting can be more focused on getting familiar with the campus, students, faculty, and staff. All of this leads to deeper conversations and meaningful, impactful learning.
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