STANDARD VII

Standard VII: Governance, Leadership, and Administration

The institution is governed and administered in a manner that allows it to realize its stated mission and goals in a way that effectively benefits the institution, its students, and the other constituencies it serves. Even when supported by or affiliated with a related entity, the institution has education as its primary purpose, and it operates as an academic institution with appropriate autonomy.CriteriaA candidate or accredited institution possesses and demonstrates the following attributes or activities:1. a clearly articulated and transparent governance structure that outlines roles, responsibilities, and accountability for inclusive decision making by each constituency, including the institution’s legally constituted governing body, administration, faculty, staff, and students, as well as any related entities;2. a legally constituted governing body that:a. serves the public interest, ensures that the institution clearly states and fulfills its mission and goals, has fiduciary responsibility for the institution, and is ultimately accountable for the academic quality, integrity, planning, and fiscal well-being of the institution;b. has sufficient diversity, independence, and expertise to ensure the integrity of the institution. Members must have primary responsibility to the accredited institution, meet regularly, and not allow political, financial, relationship with a related entity, or other undue influences to interfere with their governing responsibilities;c. ensures that neither the governing body nor its individual members interfere in the day-to-day operations of the institution;d. oversees at the policy level the quality of teaching and learning, the approval of degree programs and the awarding of degrees, the establishment of personnel policies and procedures, the approval of policies and by-laws, and the assurance of strong fiscal management;e. plays a basic policy-making role in financial affairs to ensure integrity and strong financial management. This may include a timely review of audited financial statements and/or other documents related to the fiscal viability of the institution;f. appoints and regularly evaluates the performance of the Chief Executive Officer;g. is informed in all its operations by principles of good practice in board governance;h. is not chaired by an institutional or system representative to avoid conflict of interests;i. establishes and complies with a written conflict of interest policy designed to ensure the impartiality of the governing body by addressing matters such as payment for services, contractual relationships, employment, and family, financial or other interests that could pose or be perceived as conflicts of interest. A majority of members have no employment, family, ownership, or other personal financial interest in the institution;j. supports the Chief Executive Officer in maintaining the autonomy of the institution;k. makes freely available to the Commission accurate, fair, and complete information on all aspects of the institution and its operations and ensures the institution describes itself in comparable and consistent terms to all of its accrediting and regulatory agencies.3. Chief Executive Officer who:a. is appointed by, evaluated by, and reports to the governing body and shall not chair the governing body;b. has appropriate credentials and professional experience consistent with the mission of the organization;c. has the authority and autonomy required to fulfill the responsibilities of the position, including developing and implementing institutional plans, staffing the organization, identifying and allocating resources, and directing the institution toward attaining the goals and objectives set forth in its mission;d. has the assistance of qualified administrators, sufficient in number, to enable the Chief Executive Officer to discharge his/her duties effectively and is responsible for establishing procedures for assessing the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness;4. an administration possessing or demonstrating:a. an organizational structure that is clearly documented and that clearly defines reporting relationships;b. an appropriate size and diverse representation with relevant experience to assist the Chief Executive Officer in fulfilling his/her roles and responsibilities;c. members with credentials and professional experience consistent with the mission of the organization and their functional roles;d. skills, time, assistance, technology, and information systems expertise required to perform their duties;e. regular engagement with faculty and students in advancing the institution’s goals and objectives;f. systematic procedures for evaluating administrative units and for using assessment data to enhance operations; and5. periodic assessment of the effectiveness of governance, leadership, and administration.

Working Group Folder

LINES OF INQUIRY

In what ways does the College maintain the necessary focus to address today’s Higher Education market and operating challenges, ensure its relevancy and ability to fulfill its mission, and meet the expectations and needs of all its stakeholders?
How does the College ensure the effectiveness of its governance, leadership, and administration; ensure that a variety of perspectives from all constituents are included in decision-making; and create and monitor correction and improvement plans?
How effectively does the College align Board composition to create a broad diversity profile including gender, faith/lay, geography, age, external affiliations, and professional competencies, and conduct regular assessments of Board member engagement, contribution, and impact?
In what ways does the Board ensure regular evaluation of financial status and outlook of the institution and proposals for and implementation of near, mid, and long-term remediation actions?
How does the College establish and regularly review plans for succession of all key leadership positions at the institution?

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