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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMicrosoft PowerPoint - Marilyn Gouthro Presentation 20 March 2012Ottawa Carleton DSB Aligning Effective Board Governance and Committee Structures and Purpose Boards of Trustees are supposed to be the ultimate guardians of institutional ethos and organizational values. Governance as Leadership Boards that are Smart and Healthy ■ Smart: Composed of people with individual competence and collectively complement each other's weaknesses as opposed to collective incompetence. ■ Healthy: A high level of trust and honesty, clarity around roles and the determination of members to subordinate personal interests to serve the interests of students and the district as a whole. Jim Brown The Imperfect Board Member Effective Governance Clarity ■Role of the Board ■Role of the Director ■Clear and Relevant Policy Clarity re: Governance and Decision- Making Structure ■Board Agendas reflect the business of the Board Committee Structure is purposeful and effective and used sparingly ■Delegation is clear Behaviour ■Discipline ■Purposeful ■Team Approach ■Respect for Diverse opinion ■Respect for Rules of Order as a tool to effective discource. Problems of Board Performance ■ 1. Disorderly discourse ■ 2. Disengaged Board members ■ 3. Boards do not know what their job is Where does OCDSB fit? Principles of Effective Board Governance ■ The Board of Trustees is the steward of the district's educational outcomes and resources ■ The Board of Trustees oversees the development of the vision, mission, values, strategy, and goals of the district, monitors its implementation and assesses its performance in achieving the strategy. • Four important roles: Policy Development; Decision - Making; Performance Monitoring; and Innovative Thinking. • The Board of Trustees understands its key stakeholders and works with them to achieve its vision. ■ The Board of Trustees oversees the allocation of resources based on the Board's strategic direction. ■ The Board supports and models the Community of Character attributes and fosters a culture of mutual respect, trust, candor and open dissent ■ The Board of Trustees understands the importance of the Board structure with respect to helping it meets its governance responsibilities ■ The Board of Trustees recognizes the importance of both effective and efficient Board and committee meeting processes ■ The Board of Trustees understands the important role that the chair of the Board plays in guiding the Board in its ability to meet its governance responsibilities. ■ The Board of Trustees understands the importance of having a robust process for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the Director of Ed ■ The Board of Trustees understands the importance of the evaluation of its own effectiveness and of its own development initiatives. ■ The Board of Trustees values the importance of good governance as an essential process for ensuring its focus on student achievement and well -being as it carries out its roles and responsibilities. +Thames Valley DSB Governance Principles ■ 1. The Board of Trustees exists to govern the school system in the best interests of its students. ■ 2. The Board of Trustees is accountable to its public school supporters. ■ 3. The Board of Trustees represents the interests of its students, parents and the community. ■ 4. The board of Trustees speaks with one voice through its policies and decisions. ■ 5. The Board of Trustees is responsible for defining the expected outcomes and policies essential to meeting the organization's mission and beliefs. ■ 6. The Board of Trustees holds the Director of Education accountable for implementation of Board policies and Board decisions. Key Board Functions ■ 1. Covering the Basics: The Board's Fiduciary Role ■ 2. Big Picture Thinking: The Board's Strategic Role ■ 3. Continuous Improvement: The Board's Generative Role ■ 4. Promoting Public Education: The Board's Co- creative Role + COVERING THE BASICS: THE BOARD'S FIDUCIARY ROLE ■Protect the interests, image and credibility of the school board, to ensure its financial viability, and to act in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and policies. Fiduciary Decisions ■ By constructing your role around the fiduciary work of oversight, board members are put in a position similar to being a substitute teacher + BIG PICTURE THINKING: THE BOARD'S STRATEGIC ROLE . Vision and purposeful planning to ensure that the children within the Board's jurisdiction have every opportunity to succeed in school and in life, and to give their parents confidence that schools provide a caring and save environment for their children. Strategic Decisions ■How do the agendas of our board meetings reflect our mission and our stated strategic priorities? +CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: THE BOARD'S GENERATIVE ROLE ■ If a board is operating in this mode of governance, they have ■ - meaningful discussions outside of the regulated format of the boardroom; ■ -a climate which is more accepting of robust, divergent discussions; ■ -more clarity about values, beliefs; +CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: THE BOARD'S GENERATIVE ROLE ■ more clarity about the goals /priorities of the board; ■ more knowledge about the art of governing; ■ a climate which is characterized by continuous self - evaluation of board goals, processes and relationships. Generative Discussions ■ To what extent is the board agenda dominated by routine items? ■Where would one observe a board with this level of maturity and leadership? ■ Is every individual's contribution valued? +PROMOTING PUBLIC EDUCATION: THE BOARD'S CO- CREATIVE ROLE ■authentic commitment to collaboration, cooperation and ethics: ■among trustees ■Within the community with other people and organizations that serve a common purpose. Co- Creative leadership ■ Where would one observe this? When trustees work well in all of these modes, the board achieves governance as leadership. What is the Business of the Board? Set direction Approve Deliberate Decide Consult Allocate Set policy ■Write ■Administer ■Describe how ■Do Role of Committees ■ A committee is a thing which takes a week to do what one good man can do in an hour." Elbert Hubbard "To get something done a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent." Robert Copeland "If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it." Charles F. Kettering (American engineer, inventor of the electric starter, 1876 -1958) A committee is an animal with four back legs. A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours. Milton Berle A committee is a group of the unwilling, chosen from the unfit, to do the unnecessary. Anonymous If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock. Goldberg Arthur If you see a snake, just kill it -don't appoint a committee on snakes. Ross Perot Role of Committees ■ Helps the Board do its job, reinforces the wholeness of the board's job. Never interferes with delegation from the Board to the CEO. ■ Assists by preparing policy alternatives and implications for board deliberation. ■ Not connected to operations. ■ May not speak or act for the board except when formally given such authority for specific and time - limited purposes. ■ No authority over staff. ■ Should be used sparingly and ordinarily in an ad -hoc capacity. ■ Unless specifically defined, has no authority to commit funds or resources on behalf of the board. OCDSB Committees ■ Advisory Committee on the Arts ■ Arts in the Community Arts recognition Awards ■ Business Services Committee(S) ■ Canada's Capital Cappies ■ Education Committee(S) ■ Election compliance Audit Committee ■ Human Resources Committee(S) ■ SEAC ■ Strategic Planning and Priorities Committee(S) ■ SALEP ■ Committee for Board Self- Evaluation process and Director Performance Evaluation process ■ Community council for Ethnocultural Equity ■ Audit committee ■ Appeals Hearing Panels ■ Expulsion Hearing Panels ■ Advisory Committees to the Board ■ Budget ■ Trades and Technology Steering Committee ■ Ottawa Carleton Education Network(OCENET) ■ Attendance Review Committee ■ Alternative Schools Advisory Committee ■ Children and Youth at Risk Advisory Committee ■ Parent Involvement Committee Must, Should, Could and Should Who sits on Committees? Decision - Making and Governance