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<p>The Board is primarily entrusted with the financial stability of the College, the policies that govern the College, and the evaluation of the President. The Board delegates the executive and administrative functions to the College President to implement within the framework set by the Board. The Board is not involved in the management of the College and is not empowered to make many of the changes requested by members of the College community.</p>
<p>The Board functions as the policy-making and strategic direction-setting body of the College, delegating the executive and administrative functions to the College President to implement within the framework set by the Board. Most governing boards function in this way, focusing on governance and leaving management to the administration. This is particularly true in higher education, and in fact, the <a href="https://www.msche.org/standards/"><em>Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation</em></a> set by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education specifically require that an institution's governing body "ensures that neither the governing body nor its individual members interferes in the day-to-day operations of the institution." Further, these standards require that the College's president "has the authority and autonomy required to fulfill the responsibilities of the position, including developing and implementing institutional plans, staffing the organization, identifying and allocating resources, and directing the institution toward attaining the goals and objectives set forth in its mission." (both, Standard VII--Governance, Leadership, and Administration).</p>
<p>While the Board does not manage operational matters, it is tasked with fiscal oversight. Monroe Community College has a budget of more than $120 million and the Board of Trustees takes its responsibility for fiscal oversight very seriously. In preparing to consider the budget for the coming year, the Board requested an assessment of the College's present finances in light of significant changes in higher education generally and community colleges specifically. The result was an in-depth report by the accounting firm Bonadio.</p>
<p>The Bonadio report has been instrumental in helping the Board understand the current financial situation at the College in order to make thoughtful and appropriate decisions regarding programming and policy. To assist the College community in a better understanding of the fiscal condition of the College, the Board requested CFO and VP Administrative Services Hezekiah Simmons, to provide a thorough explanation of the College's finances and the budget at the June Board meeting. As a result, the College community could understand the reasons for the Board's vote on the budget.</p>
<p>The Board of Trustees is also responsible for evaluating the president as we do every year with an evaluation form, a review by the Personnel and Program Committee, and discussion with the president about the thoughts and suggestions of the Trustees about the evaluation. In an effort to bring clarity and a broader understanding of evaluations at the College and to ensure that all members of the faculty and staff at the College are informed of their performance expectations, the Board requested that the President form a committee to assess the evaluation procedures at all levels of the College and have a response to the Board at the August 2019 Board meeting.</p>
<p>During the Open Forum, the Board has been criticized for not participating in College operations as well as asked to participate in aspects that are not covered in the Board's official responsibilities. I hope that by articulating the specific role of the Board both today and through the upcoming revision of the Shared Governance Policy, the College community will understand more fully the role of the Trustees in MCC's governance.</p>
<p>Barbara Lovenheim, Ph.D.<br />Chair, MCC Board of Trustees<br />and Professor Emerita, MCC</p>

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MCC Daily Tribune

The Role of the MCC Board of Trustees: A Message from Board Chairperson Lovenheim

Earlier this summer, President Kress, Faculty Senate Past President Colosimo, and Faculty Senate President-elect Pares-Kane shared the Faculty Council of Community Colleges' executive summary of observations and recommendations from its recent visit to our College. Together, these governance leaders committed to convening representatives of MCC's shared governance constituent groups to begin a process of revising our College's Shared Governance Policy. The MCC Board of Trustees endorses this commitment as a positive step in improving shared governance at MCC, in part by more fully and clearly articulating the role each constituent group holds within governance. In this context, it is important to clarify the role that the Board of Trustees plays in College governance.

The Board is primarily entrusted with the financial stability of the College, the policies that govern the College, and the evaluation of the President. The Board delegates the executive and administrative functions to the College President to implement within the framework set by the Board. The Board is not involved in the management of the College and is not empowered to make many of the changes requested by members of the College community.

The Board functions as the policy-making and strategic direction-setting body of the College, delegating the executive and administrative functions to the College President to implement within the framework set by the Board. Most governing boards function in this way, focusing on governance and leaving management to the administration. This is particularly true in higher education, and in fact, the Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation set by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education specifically require that an institution's governing body "ensures that neither the governing body nor its individual members interferes in the day-to-day operations of the institution." Further, these standards require that the College's president "has the authority and autonomy required to fulfill the responsibilities of the position, including developing and implementing institutional plans, staffing the organization, identifying and allocating resources, and directing the institution toward attaining the goals and objectives set forth in its mission." (both, Standard VII--Governance, Leadership, and Administration).

While the Board does not manage operational matters, it is tasked with fiscal oversight. Monroe Community College has a budget of more than $120 million and the Board of Trustees takes its responsibility for fiscal oversight very seriously. In preparing to consider the budget for the coming year, the Board requested an assessment of the College's present finances in light of significant changes in higher education generally and community colleges specifically. The result was an in-depth report by the accounting firm Bonadio.

The Bonadio report has been instrumental in helping the Board understand the current financial situation at the College in order to make thoughtful and appropriate decisions regarding programming and policy. To assist the College community in a better understanding of the fiscal condition of the College, the Board requested CFO and VP Administrative Services Hezekiah Simmons, to provide a thorough explanation of the College's finances and the budget at the June Board meeting. As a result, the College community could understand the reasons for the Board's vote on the budget.

The Board of Trustees is also responsible for evaluating the president as we do every year with an evaluation form, a review by the Personnel and Program Committee, and discussion with the president about the thoughts and suggestions of the Trustees about the evaluation. In an effort to bring clarity and a broader understanding of evaluations at the College and to ensure that all members of the faculty and staff at the College are informed of their performance expectations, the Board requested that the President form a committee to assess the evaluation procedures at all levels of the College and have a response to the Board at the August 2019 Board meeting.

During the Open Forum, the Board has been criticized for not participating in College operations as well as asked to participate in aspects that are not covered in the Board's official responsibilities. I hope that by articulating the specific role of the Board both today and through the upcoming revision of the Shared Governance Policy, the College community will understand more fully the role of the Trustees in MCC's governance.

Barbara Lovenheim, Ph.D.
Chair, MCC Board of Trustees
and Professor Emerita, MCC

Rosanna Yule
Government and Community Relations
09/04/2019