Laying the Framework for Our Leaders

Reflecting on a Historic Shift Towards Policy Governance by International President Lee Woodham Langub

Every two years Alpha Gamma Delta experiences a change in leadership with the election of a new collective of women to serve as our International Council members. I have had the pleasure of serving with five stellar groups of women on International Council over the past decade, and for the past six years, the privilege of serving as International President. As ten years is now the maximum time that any sister can serve on International Council, this summer marks the end of my International Council service. 

Since The Quarterly serves as a historical record of things happening in the world and the Fraternity, the transition of International President leadership represents a good time to chronicle the fundamental shift in how the Fraternity is governed and operates that has occurred within Alpha Gamma Delta during the six years I have served as President, as well as a moment for me to reflect on progress, happenings, and things learned along the way. 

The shift to policy governance has enabled the Fraternity to have a better handle on the health of all of our chapters—that’s been a big win in this transition.

Governance and Operational Structure

When I was elected to International Council ten years ago, Alpha Gamma Delta was at the apex of the Operational Governance model. Under Operational Governance, each International Council member served as a different operational head of the Fraternity (e.g. alumnae, collegians, finance, etc.). For many years, this structure was a necessity and worked well. Our size and budget did not allow for many staff members, and we had to ensure that each area of the Fraternity had volunteers to support it. Over time, however, the need to professionalize Fraternity services became evident. Membership expanded, collegiate and alumnae needs were often more immediate or complex, and volunteers at all levels were more likely to be balancing careers and/or families in addition to volunteering for Alpha Gam. Our Operational Governance model eventually led to two parallel support structures of staff and volunteers. These two structures created a duplication of efforts that sometimes made it difficult for members to get help quickly, silos within the Fraternity that impacted communication, or created internal conflict, and difficulty in ensuring that both staff and volunteer roles were manageable or meaningful.

The recognition that our governance structure needed to be examined for the health and stability of the Fraternity prompted the formation of a work group to study governance models just prior to my first term as International President began in 2018. Within a year, the workgroup recommended, and International Council agreed to, a change from Operational Governance to Policy Governance, which would move operational responsibilities from International Council officers to the full purview of our CEO. The recommendation for the Policy Governance model would further allow International Council the opportunity to develop and monitor policies to guide the work of the CEO in conducting the operations of the Fraternity, more space to focus on strategic priorities, and more time to connect with members to determine if policies are effective or need revision. 

To make our new governance model work, however, we needed to be deliberate in our actions—not making change quickly or for the sake of change, but with a thoughtful transition of operations. Before we changed the governance model, we needed to ensure that, among other things, the previous operational responsibilities of International Council officers were accounted for, collegiate and alumnae chapters and clubs were receiving consistent support, and staffing structure and roles for both staff and volunteers were reimagined to eliminate duplication as well as promote accountability, manageability, and meaningfulness. 

Further, within our new Policy Governance model itself, the roles and responsibilities of members of International Council also needed to be reconsidered and redefined. Previously, the path to Council was primarily about how one performed with operational responsibilities within the Fraternity, which made sense when Council members served as operational heads. Under Policy Governance, however, more emphasis is put on a Council member’s ability to analyze information to act strategically in addition to the knowledge or skills she might bring to the table. These abilities may have been gained through service to Alpha Gam, but also may be a result of other professional or board service. The redefinition of the roles of International Council members led to a revision in our Constitution in 2020 to eliminate titles for International Vice Presidents and the International Council elections process being examined and changed for the 2022 election to better support the needs of Policy Governance. 

As with any change of this magnitude and scope, progress did not occur in a straight line, and success was not always easy to see or feel at the leadership level. COVID-19 threw in a monkey wrench that impacted our focus, but it also allowed for some of the changes made during the first few years to settle. As we regularly assessed our progress, thoughtful reconsideration of how to do things in a Policy Governance structure emerged. For example, the first attempt at drafting policies to guide both the CEO and International Council was okay, but clunky. The experience of using those policies, however, allowed us to determine where we needed help and caused us to seek out coaching on how to restructure our Policy Governance Handbook, as well as how to monitor our policies and their effectiveness. This coaching became the key to helping us learn how to govern in a different way.

At the same time, there were milestones along the way that made it clear we had made the right decision to change our governance model. Under the previous governance structure, a crisis within the Fraternity would often result in emergency International Council meetings, as our operational model tended to rely on Council decisions at many levels of the organization, and affirmation that Council would support specific actions was critical. As we made the shift to Policy Governance in 2020, however, policies were developed and implemented that acted as guard rails for staff behavior. In other words, our CEO and her staff were empowered to act as long as their actions were within our policies. I distinctly remember the feeling that Policy Governance was working after the first crisis that was handled without an emergency Council meeting, as well as a few months later when a university administration thanked Alpha Gamma Delta for our partnership in working with them to handle a crisis quickly and professionally. Other milestones have also emerged over the past few years, such as appreciation from Chapter Advisors and collegiate officers for the streamlined support structure, improved numbers of chapters achieving good standing, watching staff members utilize Fraternity volunteer committees to accomplish various tasks for the Fraternity, and seeing committee chairs and their committees develop and own specific tasks and responsibilities that are both logical and impactful and connected to our strategic plan. 

So, what does International Council service look like in our Policy Governance model? That can be summed up through Council Committee service, Council meetings, and linkage opportunities. 

International Council Committees

Five of the six Vice Presidents on International Council serve on at least one of three Council Committees that directly impact how we govern: Governance, Linkage, and Audit. The Governance Committee focuses on the effectiveness of Council and the organization, both in terms of appropriateness of policies and how we act to ensure Fraternity success. They work to determine board education needs and ensure that they occur. The Linkage Committee focuses on intentional connections with our members and gathers things learned through these opportunities in order to inform policy assessment, board education, and Fraternity action. The Audit Committee monitors the financial health of the Fraternity. Additionally, one Vice President and the International President serve on the Partnership Committee, which connects the Fraternity to both the Foundation and the Fraternity Housing Corporation through service on those boards and regular meetings with the President and CEO of each entity. 

Council Meetings

The International President serves as the Chief Governance Officer, determining International Council meeting agendas based on regular conversations with the CEO, routine monitoring of policies, as well as the work of International Council Committees. The Council meeting agenda is driven by areas where the CEO is not allowed to act and is directly connected to our Policy Governance Handbook. As Chief Governance Officer, the International President must be careful to ensure that meeting agendas represent what International Council is charged to do and not creep into the operational purview of the CEO. To do this, the Policy Governance Handbook is regularly reviewed and any item on our agenda must have a clear connection to the policies, otherwise it is not brought forth for discussion. 

Since I served on International Council under both the Operational Governance model and the Policy Governance model, perhaps it is easier to show what this means with a comparison of how similar items on the two different types of agendas might have been presented. With Operational Governance, the Council meeting agenda was primarily determined by what each council member needed to bring forward based on her operational role. As Vice President-Extension, for example, I would often use my time on the agenda to present research around new chapter opportunities and bring forth motions to apply to them when they were deemed promising. Similarly, the Vice President-Finance might use her time to present a proposed budget, and discussion would happen in the different operational areas until consensus was reached and approval granted. With Policy Governance, these two specific items would be placed on the agenda only when triggered by policy limitations we have set on the CEO. The CEO is given the authority to ensure extension opportunities are researched, but one only appears on the Council meeting agenda for consideration when staff has determined an opportunity is viable. With the Fraternity budget, International Council has provided specific policies to the CEO that must be met when the budget is created. When the budget is presented to Council, the CEO must demonstrate that the budget fits within the policy parameters, and if it does, no approval is needed.   

Linkage

Connecting with our members is vitally important and greatly impacts policy development and assessment. International Council joins in with Fraternity Committee Chair meetings monthly to have a better sense of issues chairs are facing, as well as learn about operational success or challenges. Additionally, each Vice President is assigned several Fraternity Committee Chairs to connect with on a quarterly basis for coaching and connectivity. International Council members represent the Fraternity as they are able at special events. Council meetings, when in person, have been in different geographic locations to allow for an opportunity to meet with local sisters. All members of Council are encouraged to connect with collegiate and alumnae chapters as personal or Fraternity travel might allow. A recent addition to linkage plans is for focus groups to learn specifically about the impact of policies on our members. This area continues to evolve as we get more comfortable with how to utilize Policy Governance.

It is fair to say that this paradigm shift and the change management that it has required has been a large focus of my six years as International President. It has legitimately taken until the past few months to complete the transition, and to truly operate in a Policy Governance structure. 

The move to Policy Governance has fundamentally changed how International Council, and for that matter, the Fraternity, operates. By removing much of the operational load that used to be on Council members, and Council meeting agenda items emerging based on what it is that only International Council can decide, rather than on the needs of any one operational position, Policy Governance has created more space for critical discussions that need to be had. As we continue to face the college enrollment cliff, generational changes, and the population decline for years to come that will greatly impact sorority membership numbers and revenue, space for these critical discussions has never been more important to our stability. 

This shift to Policy Governance has also significantly ensured that personal agendas are not driving decisions, but that the will of the entire board is what moves the organization. I actually think this point is critical to understanding how important this change is to Alpha Gamma Delta, in addition to how important each person in International Council is in moving the organization forward in a Policy Governance structure.  While Council meeting agenda items are determined by the International President, and every member of International Council has the ability to offer individual perspectives on issues, the Vice Presidents are the ones who decide movement on issues through their discussion and votes. I find it fascinating that as International President I have only voted one time over the past six years to break a tie. Further, there have been multiple times where the results of discussions and votes were not necessarily what I wanted or expected, but the diversity of thought and experiences, ability to analyze data and think critically about tough topics, and pertinent discussion points brought forth by different members of Council have led to good decisions for the health and stability of the Fraternity. The will (and wisdom) of International Council as a whole is vitally important, and I am proud of how we have worked to establish consensus and speak with one voice.