Achieving high performance in tough times is the most serious challenge facing presidents and trustees during this recession, when the temptation may be to substitute "getting by" for truly outstanding governance. Defining victory as making it through the fiscal year, with little thought to where the institution should be positioned in…

Offers a 25-question checklist for assessing whether an independent college or university governing board is adhering to best practices. The questions fall in the categories of "raise the bar," committee and board meetings, committee structure, and other initiatives. (EV)

Traditionally, new board members have taken up roles that were established and well-defined long ago. But globalization swiftly and utterly changed that mindset. Institutions now are directly affected by events occurring thousands of miles away, and it is no longer possible to rely solely on long-standing, accepted board practices to provide good…

Describes a two-day retreat held by trustees at Dickinson College (Pennsylvania). The retreat was preceded by self-study completed by individual trustees, which provided a basis for the group's development of proposals. Outcomes of the retreat included higher, clearer standards for board members; a new mechanism for trustee self-evaluation; and…

Discusses how to probe an institution's true commitment to undergraduate instruction, including these questions: How does your institution measure teaching quality? How is excellent teaching considered in the tenure and promotion process, and how much does it matter? How else does your institution publicly recognize truly superior teaching…

Discusses indicators to help boards assess the vitality of their institution: (1) total financial resources per FTE student; (2) expendable financial resources to debt; (3) expendable financial resources to operations; (4) average peak debt-service coverage; (5) applicants to admits; (6) tuition rate changes; (7) enrollment levels; (8) retention…

Describes how to perform a strategic financial assessment to enable the board to understand the fundamental internal and external challenges and opportunities confronting the institution when decision making and strategic capital planning. (EV)

A discussion of accreditation in higher education looks at current external criticisms and internal weaknesses of the system and suggests that to continue this privilege of self-regulation, higher education must address issues of educational quality and revise the accreditation model to be more effective. (MSE)

The State University of New York's chancellor and trustees devised an annual performance report to show constituents that they value accountability. The use of performance indicators would indicates how well the multicampus system meets its goals and provides data to enhance requests for more state funds and less regulation. (Author/MSE)