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CUC and the Leadership Foundation are seeking up to 10 governing bodies of UK HEIs to volunteer to take part in an innovative pilot project to develop a new approach to reviewing governing body effectiveness. This pilot project will take place during 2010, and provides a number of potential benefits for participating institutions. This note describes what is involved, and the commitment that will be required. Governing bodies wishing to take part should express an interest in writing by Wednesday 31 March 2010 at the latest to the Project Manager Allan Schofield. He is also available to discuss possible participation on 01234 771613.
The background and objectives
In early 2009 the CUC and Leadership Foundation published the report 'What is an Effective and High Performing Governing Body in Higher Education?', and this was presented to the successful Leadership Foundation Leadership Summit on 12 February 2009 attended by some 200 governors and senior managers. For the first time in UK higher education, this attempted to review systematically what governing body effectiveness means and how it can be enhanced. The report developed a draft framework for reviewing governing body effectiveness, and noted that - after testing - this could form the basis for a new approach to undertaking governing body effectiveness reviews. This project (with support from the LGM Fund) seeks to implement that proposal.
Preliminary discussions with numerous governing body chairs and clerks have identified considerable support for this idea, and several governing bodies have already indicated interest in taking part in the project. We are now inviting expressions of interest from other HEIs in the sector.
The objectives of this project are twofold: first, to review existing approaches used by HEIs in assessing the effectiveness of their governing bodies; and second, to develop and pilot a new approach based on the draft framework to assist governing bodies in undertaking such reviews. It should be stressed that this is an entirely voluntary activity for those HEIs interested in taking part, and is an initiative by the sector for the sector in this important area.
Which governing bodies are likely to be interested in taking part?
Those that are proposing to undertake an effectiveness review within the near future, or those that want to use the opportunity of working with a group of like minded governing bodies to compare their own effectiveness with that of others.
Where can we find the draft framework?
The draft framework is represented diagrammatically on pages 44/45 (para 4.64) of the 12 February report, with supporting text describing its key aspects. Depending on the experience of the participating institutions, the details of the framework and its diagrammatic representation may change during the pilot.
What do participating governing bodies have to do?
In short, during 2010 undertake an effectiveness review of their operation and performance, using all or part of the framework that is being piloted and tested. The framework can be used flexibly, and in at least two ways: first, it can be used either for comprehensive reviews of governing body effectiveness, or on a more limited basis for reviews of particular activities (for example the work of specific committees) - your governing body can choose. Second, the framework can be used by different people depending on who institutions want to conduct their review (for example, by internal governing body working groups, by external advisors or consultants, or by internal audit).
What are the benefits to participating governing bodies?
In addition to the benefits of undertaking a rigorous governing body effectiveness review, participating institutions will:
• Receive three free days of consultancy support from the Project Manager, to be used as the participating governing body wishes.
• Participate in two collaborative workshops with other governing bodies involved in the projects to share experiences and outcomes.
• Get an early sight of a report on current approaches to undertaking effectiveness reviews that is being produced at the start of the project.
If participating institutions want this could become the basis of a subsequent voluntary benchmarking group to continue to look at enhancing governance, although that would be a matter for them and there is no resource commitment for such an extension.
What methodology is being used in the project?
There are five main stages in the methodology:
1. It starts with a short review by the Project Manager of the current state of undertaking effectiveness reviews in UK HE governing bodies. The purpose is not to produce a statistical analysis, but rather to identify different approaches and what governing bodies have found useful and why. Participating institutions will get an early sight of this report (which will eventually be published in early 2011 as part of the overall project report).
2. In late May an initial one day planning workshop will be held for all participating institutions, probably in London. This will be free for two participants per HEI - ideally the Chair and Clerk/Secretary of the governing body concerned. The dates for this are either 26 or 28 May 2010, and we will select which one on the basis of what is most convenient for participants when they are known.
3 . Following this, participating governing bodies will conduct their effectiveness reviews using the framework provided. It will be their responsibility to collect the necessary information using the questions and criteria in the framework, however they will each get three free days of support from the Project Manager, to be used as they wish. The suggestion is that one day be used around June to help plan institutional activity, a final one in the late Autumn to review outcomes, and the third somewhere around late-summer to review progress and issues arising. However, this is a matter for discussion.
4. Participating governing bodies will need to have completed a substantial part (not necessarily all) of their review by the end of November 2010, thus enabling a final collaborative workshop in early December (again free for two people per institution) to review outcomes and share experiences.
5. The Project Manager will produce a short final report of the project for dissemination to the sector in January 2011, and all participating institutions will be asked for their comments on the report so that a generally agreed report is produced.
How is confidentiality ensured?
This pilot is about testing and developing the framework by which effective governance can be assessed by those HEIs who choose to use it. Therefore the only information that will subsequently be made public in the final report of the project is about the process of how individual governing bodies used the framework, and how useful it was. Even here we will not identify the experiences of named institutions in the final report, although those participating will be listed. All the content of the individual effectiveness reviews will remain confidential to the institution concerned, and to the Project Manager - to the extent that institutions want to disclose some of this information to him in the first place. It will be for each participating governing body to decide for itself whether or not to publish its own review.
How will the participating governing bodies be chosen?
There are resources to support 10 participating governing bodies, ie those that attend the workshops and receive three free days of consultancy support. If we have more nominations than places (which may be the case), in order to test rigorously the framework within different types of HEIs we will select on the basis of:
• Willingness to engage fully in the pilot as demonstrated by the active support of the chair, the vice-chancellor/principal, and clerk of the governing body.
• Including HEIs with a variety of governance structures.
• Institutional size, in order to review the use of the new approach in both large and small HEIs.
• Institutional mission, in order to review the use of the new approach in different kinds of HEIs including those with a specialist mission.
• Geographical representation from the different UK jurisdictions (where volunteers exist).
In making any selection we will try and be as fair as possible to interested governing bodies.
What are the costs for selected governing bodies?
As stated above, selected governing bodies have two free places at the two workshops (they will need to pay their own travel); and three free days of Project Manager support. Any other costs they incur will need to be meet by themselves, eg if they decide to employ additional support to collect data for the effectiveness review.
What problems might be expected?
The honest answer is probably few, as the Project Manager and team involved are very experienced at carrying out this kind of activity. However, there are a few possible potential difficulties:
• Participating governing bodies (and their chairs) might take different views about the amount of detail required from the draft framework in order to use it. For example, some might like a detailed list of questions to consider, whilst others might like a more general outline to be used flexibly as required. However, in practice, this is negotiable, and one of the key issues to be addressed will be the 'user friendliness' of the approach (including the amount of detail it contains). Therefore at least two draft versions of the framework will be produced: one comprehensive and one simplified. Both could be tested and their merits compared.
• There might be a lack of support from governors for either undertaking an effectiveness review at all or using the draft framework. This would be a serious problem, and the pilot can only work if the chair, the vice-chancellor/principal and the whole governing body are committed to participation. It is for this reason that we will ask for a letter from the chair of each applicant governing body confirming the willingness of their board to participate actively.
• If HEIs involved run late in conducting their effectiveness review. Obviously this might be resolved through good planning, but if it happens for unexpected reasons, the minimum we need by the end of October 2010 is enough evidence to draw conclusions about the validity of the framework. Governing bodies will not necessarily have to have finished their reviews to provide this.
In our experience of running projects of this sort, almost all of these kinds of issues can be resolved through effective project management, and the 'team' involved working collaboratively together.
What does the project require from participating governing bodies?
Mainly just the same level of commitment that is involved in taking part in any serious review of effectiveness. This primarily involves reflecting on governing body performance and achievements, and considering how they may be enhanced. We will ask each participating institution to nominate one contact person (probably the secretary/clerk to the governing body) to be the main point of contact during the project.
Who are the people supporting the project?
The project is being overseen by a senior Steering Group chaired by Sir Andrew Burns (as Chair of CUC), and includes representatives from the Leadershjip Foundation, UniversitiesUK, GuildHE, AHUA, and others.
The Project Manager is Allan Schofield a Key Associate of the Leadership Foundation and the author of the 12 February report. He has substantial experience of conducting effectiveness reviews in a range of organisations, and will be the primary point of contact for participating governing bodies as well as providing most of the advice and support to them.
Liaison with the CUC will be carried out by Eddie Newcomb who will ensure that regular contact is maintained with governing body chairs, and where necessary will assist Allan. He is well known to the HE governance community, and has previously been Chair of the Governing Body of Rose Bruford College of Higher Education, and Registrar and Secretary of the University of Manchester.
How will the results of the project be disseminated?
It is important that the results are made available for other UK HEIs, and they may also be of interest internationally. In addition to a final report, in Spring 2011 a dissemination conference will be held, and it is hoped that some of those governing bodies who participate in the project will be able to present case studies about their involvement.
How do we get more information and apply?
The chair of a governing body wishing to take part should express an interest by letter by 31 March 2010 at the latest to the project manager Allan Schofield, and this should confirm the willingness of the institution to meet the requirements as set out above. Before formally applying it is suggested that the secretary/clerk of interested governing bodies contact Allan (on 01234 771613) to discuss participation, and to clarify any issues specific to the institution concerned.
20 January 2010