College governing boards are becoming more effective and engaged but continue to fall short in some areas, according to survey results released today by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. The association's survey of almost 700 public and private colleges, conducted last year and described as the first detailed…

According to a new survey conducted by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, about 80% of the governing boards of public universities say they are dealing with state budget cuts this year. Trustees also said they are working extra hours to cope with the financial strains on their universities, and they have enacted or…

This article reports that a pair of university presidents is among the people feeling the heat from the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns. Henry S. Bienen, president of Northwestern University, and the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, president of St. John's University, in New York, were among the 12 members of the Bear Stearns Companies'…

University presidents are attractive candidates for corporate boards. Their credentials and their university's name lend an air of academic prestige to the companies they oversee. Presidents are typically well compensated for their service on boards of directors, earning at least six figures each year in cash fees and stock awards. The role can…

For at least four decades, the University of California has been the international gold standard in public higher education. The system's 10 campuses are magnets for top-notch faculty members and students. With an annual budget of $18-billion, the university includes five medical centers and three national laboratories. And one of every 10 members…

The president and governing board at the College of William and Mary have parted ways in an unusually public split with a deeply partisan undercurrent. Gene R. Nichol says that the Board of Visitors forced him out for defending free speech and diversity on the campus, and that he turned down a generous severance package to go quietly. Board…

Financial stewardship by college governing boards too often stops at balancing the budget. That was the message two finance experts presented last week during the annual meeting of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Furthermore, the yearly budget exercise can give trustees a misperception of their institutions'…

Almost half of large nonprofit groups make insider deals with board members, and one-third of those deals occur without the prior approval of other board members, according to a new study by the Urban Institute. The study, which is described in a report released on Monday, "Nonprofit Governance in the United States: Findings on Performance…

In 2006, in the wake of a spending scandal involving a former president, American University's Board of Trustees made several broad changes in its procedures to, among other things, become more active in overseeing the president. Observers of university governance expected trustees at other institutions to follow suit. But despite the attention…

All college presidents technically hold employment contracts. But whether the terms of those contracts are spelled out clearly is a different story. This article reports that in a survey of 165 public universities where such documents are considered public information, one-third of public university chiefs do not have formal written agreements.…

In the not-so-distant past, an employment agreement between a university president and a governing board was often nothing more than a handshake. Today, formal contracts are requirements for presidents, with boards and presidents typically relying on lawyers to extensively document terms of employment, salary and benefits, and, perhaps most…

In this article, the author presents Roger W. Bowen who was a president of the State University of New York at New Paltz, in 1996 and now a general secretary of the American Association of University Professors, that he gave almost no thought to the annual salary of $108,000. Here, his experience as an underpaid president, is familiar to governing…