2. Objectives
• To understand the concept of board governance
and how it is used in the organization of the SU.
– Types of boards
– Board responsibilities
• To distinguish between governance and operational
functions of the SU.
3. What is a board?
• A board is the governing body of a non-profit
organization
• Effective boards have:
– A structure that fits the organization – the SU is unique!
– Processes that help them be effective
– A mission, vision and values
– Accountable leaders
5. Types of Boards
Policy Governance
• sets policy
• hires a senior staff person
(General Manager) to
implement policy
• staff carries out day-to-day
work of the organization
• GM is accountable to the
board and responsible for
staff
Administrative Governance
• sets and implements policy
• carries out day-to-day
work of the organization
• paid staff have no
management
responsibilities
6. Types of Boards
Policy Governance
• What do we want to
achieve?
• Strategy
• Long term perspective
Administrative Governance
• What do we want to
achieve? How can we
achieve it?
• Strategy and operations
• Long term and day-to-day
perspective
10. Fiduciary
The Sentinel
• Oversees operations on a high level
• Creates policies and procedures
• Ensures resources are deployed
efficiently, effectively, and ethically
• Represents the organization
• Always acts in the best interests of
the organization
• Considers the immediate impact
11. Strategic
The Strategist
• Establishes mission, vision,
and values
• Creates an operational plan
to achieve goals
• Sets advocacy directions
• Considers external and
environmental influences
• Consults with stakeholders
• Considers impact of next 1-5
years
12. Generative
The Philosopher
• Envision changing
circumstances
• Anticipates emerging
opportunities
• Asks “WHY”?
• Generates new, innovative
ideas
• Considers impact of next
25 years
13. Example: Home Renovation
Generative
Fiduciary Strategic
• What is our personal
style?
• What will we use the
space for?
• What does everyone in
the family want to see?
• Can we afford a home
renovation?
• Do the bylaws allow for
renos?
• How long will it take?
• DIY vs Contractor?
• Why should we renovate our home?
• How long will we live here?
• Are we creating a home or investing in real estate?
18. Advocacy vs. Service Provision
When would we want to “fix the problem”
ourselves?
• We can do it faster and more effectively
• Our responsibility
• Political capital
19. Advocacy vs. Service Provision
When would we not want to “fix the problem”
ourselves?
• Lack of resources (money, staff, facilities, time, etc.)
• Someone else is already doing it
• It’s not our problem or responsibility
• It’s not actually a problem
20. Advocacy vs. Service Provision
Problem
Consultation
Research
Institutional
Memory
Robyn
The SU uses a board governance model to structure the organization.
SLC is the board of the SU. The Executive, as members of SLC, are part of the board.
The board governance model divides organizational labour into two categories: governance and operations.
Why is this important to know?
Robyn
Boards are differentiated by the way they govern – how they get things done. Most boards fit somewhere on the continuum between these two ideals.
Robyn
Robyn
The ability to have staff support for organizational functions is the key difference between these models. For a policy governance board, the board delegates its management authority to a senior staff member. As such, the board is able to be results-focused: they set the direction for the organization, set the rules by which they want to get there, and then oversee the staff as they implement the board’s wishes. The board doesn’t get involved in the day-to-day because they trust that the GM will manage this. The board is keenly interested, however, in how the organization is functioning because they are ultimately responsible to their stakeholders (the students).
An example of an administrative board is the RSA – the board comes up with ideas and also executes them with little or no staff support. You could also think of most clubs in the same way.
As organizations grow and gain more resources, they often move on the continuum from the Administrative side to the Policy side. The explains why the SU functions the way it does and why it differs from most other student associations. Most student associations with fewer resources than the SU are closer to the Administrative side of the scale. In these organizations, Executives both govern the organization and perform many of the operational tasks required for the organization to continue – such as organizing Orientation Week, for example.
Jason
We are most like a policy governance board, although there are all sorts of exceptions to this grounded in specific practices. We will explore this more depth a little later.
Jason
The complication in the SU structure are the Execs. In any other non-profit, there would be no Execs and the GM would report directly to the board. At the SU, the Exec are members of the board, but are also essentially employed by the organization.
Other complications include board members who want to accomplish concrete tasks on their own, and staff who influence the governance directions of the organization because they are considerably more knowledgeable and the board counts on them for direction. At the SU, the board also doesn’t oversee its own recruitment (our election model is much more like a government, rather than a board). SU staff also sometimes bypass the middle ground altogether and work directly with board members to accomplish tasks. Finally, the SU is unique because the staff also serve as mentors for board members. Our role is to foster student leadership – coaching up.
At the end of the day, though, SLC is a board because they are ultimately accountable for everything that happens at the SU.
And the point is: the SU has unique structure that works well for us but that also requires on-going vigilance to ensure that we are being transparent and accountable to students.
Jason
Jason
The buck stops here: Boards are ultimately responsible for all policies, finances, human resources, legal decisions and overall accountability of the organization. Fiduciary duties include developing rules and guidelines for organizational practice, overseeing operations (making sure the rules are followed), re-focussing the organization when operations start veering away from the mission of the organization, and financial oversight. They also hire and supervise the General Manager.
Accountability!
Key to all this is always acting in the best interests of the organization. The board needs to always speak publicly in a single, unified voice. The place for dissent is in council, where ideas can be debated and consensus reached. Once a decision has been made – through a transparent and democratic process – SLC must stand behind it.
Fiduciary duties are often conflated with the operations aspects of an organization (and for an administrative governance board, they are one and the same), but don’t be fooled: Overseeing operations is not the same thing as doing everything yourselves! The board’s job is not to “do it” but to “make sure it gets done.” Fiduciary duties are about ensuring that the organization is well run, ethical and positioned to be successful into the future.
How are the fiduciary duties carried out at the SU?
Governance practices
Operational oversight
Operations and Finance Committee
Cabinet
Staff partners
Policies and procedures
Advocacy
Media and community relations
Jason
Strategic functions are future-focused (whereas fiduciary duties are often grounded somewhat in the present). The board develops the identity of the organization through establishment and refinement of its purpose, progress and continuity. Key to this is evaluating what the SU does and asking the “hard questions.” The board needs to be knowledgeable about the organization in order to be effective strategists. If the board isn’t clear about where it’s going then the staff won’t be clear about where they’re going.
Strategic duties also require that the board be cognizant of its representational functions. Students (our stakeholders) entrust the direction and success of the SU to the board who represent the values and belief they want expressed in the organization. As such, it is a vital responsibility of the board to represent these views, bringing up positions, issues and concerns that students would bring up.
How are strategic duties carried out at the SU?
Annual operating plan
Review of mission, vision and values every three years
CASA and CAUS advocacy agendas
Student consultation
SU survey
Out-of-office initiatives
On-going contact with students
Jason
There are is no structure for generative duties at the SU. Rather, generative thinking should infuse the execution of fiduciary and strategic duties. Generative thinking is a pivotal requirement of effective board governance and leadership
Generative thinking is creative and seeks to capitalize on fresh perspectives and emerging trends or ideas. It is less about maintaining what we already have (like the first two areas of responsibility) and more about projecting even further into the future than the strategist. It’s about focusing on possibility and our vision for the organization.
Generative thinking should inflect how the board tackles its fiduciary and strategic duties.
Generative thinking, when applied to strategic responsibilities, should lead us to ask questions like:
What are our goals as an organization?
Do our goals contribute to a sustainable organization beyond our terms?
How can we anticipate changes in the environment? How can we adapt to them?
Do we have the problem right? Are we asking the right questions?
What are we good at? How can we leverage what we’re good at?
How can we work more effectively as a team?
Do our actions reflect our core values and organizational identity?
Let’s look at examples of how the three roles work together:
Robyn
Another example would be: How to choose a major
Misc Info (not for this slide):
Strategic Questions
What’s the solution?
What outcomes do we want to achieve?
How can we advocate effectively on this issue?
Generative Questions
What happens if we don’t achieve our outcomes?
Does our advocacy agenda reflect the current reality and our desired future?
Robyn
Fiduciary
Are we generating enough revenue to cover expenses?
Are we running more programs than we can afford to?
Is the budget balanced?
Strategic
Are we using our resources efficiently?
Are we spending money on programs our stakeholders want?
Does the budget reflect the purpose of the organization?
Does our budget help us achieve our strategic plan?
Does the budget reflect our priorities?
Generative
how will this budget help us weather future uncertainty?
How do eventually eliminate student fees?
How does our budget anticipate the changing needs of students?
What do we hold in trust and for whom?
If someone were to criticize a fiduciary aspect of the SU, would we be able to defend our decisions?
Are we being accountable to our stakeholders?
Robyn
Fiduciary
Do we have the resources to run this event?
Is this the best time of year to be having this kind of event?
Can we afford this event?
How are we dealing with competing events?
How do we market this event?
Is it legal?
Will the program attract enough students?
Strategic
How will this event help us achieve our mission/vision?
Is this an event that students want?
Should we be having this event (or should the university do it)?
Does this program reflect what students want?
Generative
What is the outcome we want to create by having this event?
Is this event still relevant to students?
What will this event look like in the future?
Is it ethical?
What’s the problem?
What do students need?
If we need more examples: Programs, Advocacy, LOOMA, Partnerships
Optional if time allows:
Optional if time allows:
Jason
The decision to create a service or advocate for its creation is a decision a board needs to make. In doing so, they need to consider both their fiduciary responsibilities as well as the strategic direction of the organization.
The SU strives to be the group that students go to when they are having issues on campus. Most of the time, we will re-direct students to services on campus (such as the Ombudsperson, SU services or university services) that already exist to address their concerns. Occasionally, we will encounter problems that are novel and demand that the SU intervene to address the issue. In these instances, there are two possible courses of action: we can either advocate on behalf of students to the university or we can come up with a solution that the SU itself will implement.
So the question is: How do you know which course of action is the most appropriate one?
Advocacy: a political process by an individual or group which aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions.
Advocacy can include:
media campaigns
public speaking
commissioning and publishing research or polls
lobbying
Lobbying: a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to decision-makers on an issue which plays a significant role in modern politics.
Lobbying on behalf of undergraduate student interests is a significant part of all your roles.
While sometimes student interests are best served by creating a service or program (i.e. the Q Centre, the Tutor Registry, etc.), our focus should always be on lobbying the university to take responsibility for its clients (i.e. students!).
Jason
Jason
Responsibility: Not everything that is “good for students” is our responsibility.
Not a problem:
Necessary evil – there are some things that students dislike that are never going away, no matter how much we advocate for their position
Personal issue – the SU cannot intervene on behalf of problems that only concern a single student (i.e. an issue they are having with a prof, a grade they would like overturned, a personal dislike of something on campus). As the Exec, you need to speak on behalf of all your constituents. If students bring you a problem that may be personal but may not be, the course of action to follow is to initiate consultations to see which it is.
Jason
Before we decide to tackle a problem, it’s important that we understand the issue as much as possible.
Consultation
A small number of complaints does not make something a problem
Research
Is someone else already addressing this problem?
What is the best way to address this problem?
Institutional memory
Have we already tried this before?
Robyn
A board works best when everyone understands who does what. At the SU, some decisions can only be made by SLC. Other decisions may be decided by the Executive, who must then report them to SLC. Still other decisions should be delegated to the General Manager, who will report them to the Executive. And, finally, some decisions are made by staff members and reported to the General Manager.
Remember: The SU uses a board governance model suited to its unique structure, mandate and context. As such, we do not embody a perfect policy governance model, but rather an adapted one. In looking over these tasks, you may find that there is more than one answer. Write down all the ones you think are appropriate and we will talk about them when we review your results.
SLC is ultimately accountable for everything, but who does what? Whose responsibility is it to do specific tasks?
Jason – distribute the worksheet/quiz
