EDLD 510: Board Leadership and Management: Effective Governance in Voluntary Sector Organizations Faculty: Liz Shear, MA, Nonprofit Consultant and Director, USD’s Annual Nonprofit Governance Symposium lizshear@sbcglobal.net Phone: 619.222.9472 Schedule: The class meets from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for ten class sessions. There will be a two-week break between the seventh and eighth class sessions to enable students to work on the final research project. The dates are 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/3, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31 and 4/7. Course description: Governance is the process of giving fiduciary, strategic and generative leadership to a nonprofit organization by a legally constituted board of directors. The board then is a group of people who together oversee and advance the organization’s cause for the common good on behalf of the community. A board that operates with this picture in mind ensures that an organization achieves its full potential. Staffing the board so it can guide the organization in this way is a balancing act that requires vision, humility and skill. The purpose of this class is to prepare students to work with a board of directors by helping them to understand the nature, purpose, history, definition, obligations and models of nonprofit governance. Students will also learn processes, structures, systems and techniques that support effective board functioning as well as the dynamics of board/staff relationships. Teaching Philosophy and Methodology: As people tend to have different values, learning styles and much wisdom and experience, we will use a variety of approaches: assessment, presentation, conversation, inquiry, reflection, simulation, case study and action research. Much of the course will be taught seminar style. That means students need to come to class prepared with their best thinking and most profound questions. Course objectives: • To increase understanding of the history, purpose, rationale, function and role of nonprofit governance in the United States and elsewhere. • To understand and use the basic definition, concepts, models and theories of nonprofit governance. • To build analytic and applied skills for developing effective governance in nonprofit organizations. • To understand and use relevant frameworks of thought such as “Governance as Leadership.” • To identify, integrate and apply personal values and philosophy-in-use to
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real life situations. To complete a project demonstrating competency in at least one aspect of governance. To contribute to classmates and their organization's increased knowledge.
Assignments: • Read the texts and reader as indicated in the class schedule. • Develop a written personal philosophy of governance due the second class session and a reprise due the last class session. There is no length requirement on this paper, nor will there be a grade. You may use the format provided or your own. You may submit your paper in writing or via e-mail. I will comment on your paper by the next class. • Observe a nonprofit board meeting, prepare a brief written and oral case study that includes your analysis of your findings and presents recommendations for board development. This assignment is due the seventh class session. Get permission from the CEO prior to attending a meeting. • Complete a research project that demonstrates your values, theories, and practice, models in use and reflections on your learning. You may work solo or as a team on this project. Your project needs to extend and demonstrate what you have learned from both the readings and in-class discussion. It is due on the ninth class session. You need to decide on your topic by fourth class session, in order for you to have adequate time to complete it. If your project is "hands on," i.e. it involves working directly with an organization, you will need written permission from the organization with which you are working and with me prior to proceeding. If you are doing another type of paper, you will still need my permission. I will provide you with a form. The organization will also need to agree to provide you and me with written feedback on the quality and usefulness of your project upon receipt of the final product and no later than two weeks after the last class session. Some examples of potential projects are a research paper on governance models, an in-depth exploration of governance as leadership frameworks, a new or revised board development system for a client organization, a board policy manual, and/or an orientation system for a board of directors. You will present a short synopsis of your project at the ninth class session. Your presentation is both an opportunity to rehearse, receive feedback, strengthen your organizational presentation and teach our class. You will provide copies of useful and transferable materials to your classmates. PLEASE—NO FANCY BINDERS FOR ME, THE SIMPLER THE BETTER.
Individual or team consultation is available regarding the course project by appointment before the fourth class session. •
Reflection paper: “The reflection piece discusses in detail what the student learned in the course and how that was applied to the project. The student is able to analyze the dynamics of his/her working group as well as those of the client relationship. The analysis is sophisticated, includes statements about personal and professional growth and cites specific examples.” This paper is due the last class session.
Texts: 1. Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards by Richard Chait, William Ryan and Barbara Taylor, New Jersey: Wiley, 2005 (USD Bookstore.) 2. EDLD 510 Board Leadership and Management Reader (USD Bookstore.) 3. The Governing Board Handbook by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Health Care, Bethesda, Maryland, 2,000. (I will e-mail you this manual.) Annotated Schedule: Class session 1: Setting the Stage This session will be a simulation of a board orientation session. • Orientation to and overview of the course • Obligations, rules of engagement, expectations and your learning objectives • Assignments • Reading • Team building Homework: • Read Chapter 1 of your Reader • Write your own view/philosophy of governance (how you think about governance) • Schedule board visit Class session 2: The Kaleidoscope of Governance: Societal Context • Philosophy • The kaleidoscope as a metaphor for governance • The societal context in the USA and elsewhere • History, purpose and definitions of governance • Tips for board visits Homework: • Read Chapter 2 of your Reader • Schedule board visit
Class session 3: The Kaleidoscope of Governance: Principles in Practice • Guest speaker, Michael Carr, CEO SAY San Diego. Michael has 30 years experience partnering with his board • Overview of legal and moral duties of governance • Governance principles • How to think about a board of directors Homework: • Read Chapters 3 and 4 of your Reader • Board visits if possible • Finalize your project proposal Class Session 4: The Kaleidoscope of Governance: What’s Love Got to Do with It? • Governing documents, organization and structure • Governing policies • Class projects Homework: • Read Governance as Leadership • Read Chapter 5 of your Reader Class Session 5: The Kaleidoscope of Governance: Lenses we Look Through • Governance models and lifecycles • Governance as Leadership framework Homework: • Read The Governing Board Handbook • Read Chapter 6 of your Reader Class Session 6: Board Development • Functions of an effective board • Their relationship to effective organization • Characteristics of effective board leaders and staff • Recruiting and maintaining an effective board of directors Homework: • Read Chapter 7 of your Reader • Complete case study on board visit
Class Session 7: Lessons from the field: leading and staffing a board of directors • A panel of board leaders will discuss their leadership lessons and what kind of staffing it takes to support effective boards • Staffing a board of directors • Debriefing board visits Homework:
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Read Chapter 8 of your Reader Complete final project and prepare to present it
Class Session 8: Consulting to a board of directors and executive director • Processes, practices and patterns • Debriefing board visits • Projects and presentations Homework: • Complete final project and prepare to present it Class Session 9: Your turn • Project presentations and discussion Homework: • Read Chapter 9 of your Reader • Reprise of your governance philosophy • Reflection paper Class Session 10: Endgame • Challenges and issues of governance • Reflections on lessons learned • Class and faculty evaluation Homework: • Your grades and my comments on your projects will be available by in the program office two weeks after the last class • If appropriate, send me your organizational sign-off for your final project NLMP Grading Policy: A. Exceptionally good performance demonstrating a superior understanding of the subject matter, a foundation of extensive knowledge, and a skillful use of concepts and/or materials. B. Good performance demonstrating capacity to use the appropriate concepts, a good understanding of the subject matter, and an ability to handle the problems and materials encountered in the subject. C. Minimally acceptable performance for graduate work, demonstrating partial familiarity with the subject matter and some capacity to deal with relatively simple problems, but also demonstrating deficiencies serious enough to make it inadvisable to proceed further in the field without additional work. Certificate students will receive a pass/fail grade. Grades are based on evidence of: • Class participation 20% Participation means coming to class on time, prepared and interested in contributing to the class as a whole through conversation and through listening
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Reading 15% Reading means keeping up with assignments, being able to use key concepts in conversation and attribute them to author and citing authors in written work Assignment 1a and b (philosophy papers) 10% Assignment 2 (board visit and case study) 10% Assignment 3: project demonstrating competency 20% Assignment 4: reflection paper 15% Class presentation 10% Meeting course objectives 10%
Criteria for grading assignments: • Rigor • Depth and breadth • Integration of values, theory and practice (praxis) • Clarity of thought, organization, communication including grammar, originality • Demonstration of meeting personal and course learning objectives • Timeliness • Evidence of research and reading • Relevance Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in the class are encouraged to contact Disability Services in Serra 300 (tel. 260-4655) as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.