Technology Track: Board of Trustees Management System: A Microsoft Solution

This session will introduce participants to a new Microsoft technology, co-developed with University of Rochester, that is designed to: improve contact management among board members and administrators; expand document search capabilities; streamline workflow among trustees; enhance scheduling tools; create security-enhanced and easily accessible repositories for documents, minutes, and other media; and communicate announcements, agendas, maps and directions, and information regarding regional activities. Hear from a Microsoft professional about how to implement this system on your campus and see how one university is already using the system to enhance their board operations.

As board professionals, how do we see our jobs and how do others see us? This session will address the broad spectrum of what board professionals do and how to do it better! This presentation will engage participants in open discussions and provide strategies and best practices for dealing with new and seasoned board members in areas of communication, development/cultivation, pre- and post-board meetings, and making it all seem so easy!

Learn how board professionals from different public institutions fulfill key responsibilities, including establishing knowledge of and maintaining currency with governance and legislated requirements affecting the institution, providing orientation of board members, ensuring effective board communications, managing meeting preparation and follow-up, ensuring exemplary records management practices, and preserving institutional history. This session is intended to encourage discussion of the board professional's unique role in these broad areas, highlight successful approaches, and explore the importance of these contributions to the quality of institutional governance.

In this workshop, participants will hear from a sitting president, with experience in both the public and private sector, about helping your campus' leadership identify and manage institutional risk. Higher education has been increasingly present in the national headlines as campuses deal with issues related to alcohol and student behavior, accountability and transparency, student lending, administrative compensation packages, and critical incident planning, among a variety of others. This session will address the importance of leaders dealing with institutional risk head on, and how the board professional can have an impact on these critical issues.

We have learned that a board website can increase communication and enhance the efficiency of the work of your board - but websites can do so much more! Learn about how one institution has introduced the use of their website as a valuable tool for trustee development and engagement in the life of their campus community. This session will include a demonstration of an active, integrated website that encourages trustees to communicate with each other, discover board and campus information available at their finger tips, and enhance the effectiveness of their governance role

A student has a gun and has locked himself in his dorm room. A popular teacher has been diagnosed with SARS. A senior official has been arrested for inappropriate relationships with a student. A bomb has exploded in the town where you have a large study abroad program. Are you ready to manage the crisis that will hit your institution when you are least expecting it? In this session, participants will develop an informed framework for response.

This session will focus on shared governance in private institutions. Join these two experienced higher education leaders for a discussion about different approaches that can be used to enhance shared governance within private colleges and universities and how board professionals can work with multiple constituencies to bring about effective shared governance.