If the board of a college allows itself to be "mostly removed from financial decision-making," is it really doing its job?

Given the stories that have been floating around town for years, ignorance of possible serious financial problems at Greensboro College would have required an act of will.

More here: "[T]hey stopped worrying about the future when told that the day to day was good."

Comments

[Thomas]

Short answer - NO

Also...a 40 member board? How is that even workable?

[A. Bulluck]

There seems to be an epidemic of bad board appointments in the area.

The typical "Board of Trustees" is usually comprised of alums of the school, parents of students who also happen to be very active in the 'goings on' at the school and within the community, and local professionals, be they lawyers, businessmen or women, doctors, etc. Basically, men and women with a mind for the institution who happen to have a bit of money. They don't have to be millionaires, but you cannot grab a man from the median at the intersection of Highway 68 and I-40 and say, "Welcome aboard, my friend!"

The key is diversity, which is shocking coming from me, I know, but it's true. Alums both young and old, local and regional benefactors, parents, etc. I look at Virginia Episcopal School as a model of that. A good friend of mine is al ready a board member, and I'm 29. Oak Ridge Military Academy's old board would be the antithesis of that, but I'll not go into that.

Bottom line, too many people accept board appointments because they believe it will look good on a resume and advance their credentials. The flipside is that the institutions for which they serve eventually fail.

[mc]

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/27/greensboro