a key partnership

A Key PartnershipBoard of Trustees and Head

of School

Board of Trustees

• Selects, evaluates, and supports the Head of School.

• Guards and promotes the mission.

• Sets strategic goals and policy decisions.

• Speaks in one voice once decisions are made.

• Assumes authority as a whole.

• Maintains confidentiality.

• Avoids conflict of interests.

• Individually and collectively owns fiduciary responsibility.

Board Composition

• Members and Ex-Officio Members

• Parents (Current and Past)

• Alumnae

• Fellow Head of School or Senior Administrator

• Friends of the School

• (Faculty/Student Representative: NOT ADVISED)

Board Committees• Standing Committees

• Examples:• Executive Committee

• Committee on Trustees/Nominating

• Development

• Finance/Investments

• Marketing

• Buildings and Grounds

• HR

• Academic and Student Affairs

Task Forces

• Examples:

• Strategic Planning

• Building Project Task Force

• Alternative revenue

• Make sure that the main thing is the main thing.

Developing the Board

• Attention to Mission

• Team Building

• Performance expectations

• Organizational structure, operating procedures

• School history, finances, program

• Fund-raising

• Strategic plan goals

Head’s Responsibility to the Partnership

• Listens to ideas/suggestions of constituencies; bring significant ones to BOT’s attention.

• Insists on timely, consistent meetings with Board Chair.

• Attends Board Committee meetings.

• Meets, within reason, with individual Trustees.

• With Board Chair, keeps BOT on task and in focus.

• Educates constituencies to role/function of BOT.

• Maintains confidentiality of Board discussions.

Board’s Responsibility to the Partnership

• Recognizes that the Head of School is CEO – vested and trusted with this responsibility.

• Discusses any disagreements with the Head in a private forum.

• Directs issues to the attention of the Head.

• Educates constituencies regarding Board’s role – boundaries of power and authority vested in the Board and Head.

• Remembers that the Head is answerable to the Board as a whole.

• Evaluates the Head in terms of the success of the school and mutually agreed upon annual goals.

Board Chair and Head: Essential Alliance

• No surprises

• Need to know and be well prepared

• Agreement on pace and direction

• Joint thinking & strategy in decision-making

• On occasion, shared action

• Head: responder to good counsel from a good Chair

• Chair: nurturer of the Head

Seek First-hand Experience

• Some ideas:

• Strive to serve as a trustee of a local non-profit.

• Ask the Head of School if you may join or audit a full board meeting or committee meetings.

• Read the NAIS Trustee Handbook to familiarize yourself with best practices in school governance.

Leading the TeamHead of School and Leadership Team

Strong teams

• Share leadership goals, deriving from the strategic plan.

• Engage in open dialogue, information sharing.

• Lead with “why?”

• Draw on strengths of each individual.

• View the whole of the school together.

• Embrace a shared vision; move the mission forward.

Leadership Team Composition

Typically:

• Head of School  

• Assistant/Associate Head(s)  

• Division Head(s)  

• Director of Finance and Operations  

• Director of Development/Advancement  

• Director of Admission/Enrollment 

Other roles sometimes included

• Academic Dean/Dean of Academic Affairs

• Director of Multicultural Affairs/Diversity

• Dean of Faculty

• Dean of Students

• Dean of Residential Life

• Director of Athletics

• Director of College Counseling

• Director of Technology

Deterrents to Effective Teamwork

• Lack of Trust

• Aversion to Conflict

• Lack of Commitment

• Lack of Shared Vision

• Avoidance of Accountability

• Inattention to Results

Setter of TeamTone:Head of School