An Opinion piece in Newsday offered the following perspective on higher education boards of trustees.
The people most responsible for higher education’s educational and business practices are the boards of trustees. But who are they?
Just as corporations and nonprofit organizations require boards whose members know the core of the organization’s strategy, universities benefit from trustees who can contribute to planning and decision-making. Trustees are most effective when they know the mission and purpose, the students, the competitive landscape and the comparative advantages of the institutions they serve. The most helpful are those who ask questions about that which they do not understand or with which they disagree. For example, I recall Adelphi trustees asking about our tuition compared to other institutions and which of the variables in our dashboard kept me up at night.
One reason for turmoil in university governance is the lack of respect for the tradition of shared governance. While trustees have ultimate authority, the board delegates powers to the president as chief executive and to faculty as guardians of academic programs and standards. Each has an important role in fulfilling an institution’s mission, and they must work together to develop the respect and trust necessary to move the institution forward.
I certainly agree with what is offered in the first two paragraphs. Trustees are a critical check-and-balance in the way a nonprofit pursues mission. Trustees singularly possess the fiduciary duties of care, loyalty and obedience. Trustees are also however where the "buck" ends so just being inquisitive and disagreeing are not enough - establishing the overall values and direction and discerning progress are the more important roles.
In the third paragraph the author offers a definition of shared governance: a definition that constitutes sharing but leaves out a part of the formula. Nonprofit boards are the surrogate "owners" ON BEHALF of their constituents and they are responsible for governing but governing is more than fiduciary responsibilities. To govern without constituents is, I believe, a failing in good governance and there are recent examples of such failure (think alumni not wanting their alma mater to close). So, truly shared governance includes a whole bevy of stakeholders including those who benefit most directly from the services - in essence, the true owners.