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From the course by The State University of New York

The Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Boards and the Governance Process

32 ratings

The State University of New York

The Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Boards and the Governance Process

32 ratings

Course 3 of 4 in the Specialization Improving Leadership & Governance in Nonprofit Organizations

The third course in this Specialization introduces you to the factors that influence how effective boards of directors will be in carrying out their roles and responsibilities and hence the impact they have in shaping the success of the organization they govern. While this course has been developed with North American culture in mind, we do appreciate that, in other parts of the world, the nature of the factors that influence the effectiveness of nonprofit boards of directors may vary. Nevertheless,it is our hope that much of the course content will still be of value to those in other parts of the world. To learn more about this course, please watch the overview video by copying and pasting the following link into your web browser: https://goo.gl/aAMIfl. Keywords: Nonprofit; Nonprofit Sector; Voluntary Sector; Nonprofit Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Volunteer Organizations, Leadership, Management, Governance, Board, Board of Directors, Performance, Effectiveness Course 3 Overview: Week 1: This week's questions: What factors influence the effectiveness of board meetings? What are the formal procedures and structures within the board that impact its performance? What can a board do to intentionally improve the way it structures itself and runs its decision making meetings? Week 2: This week's questions: What do we mean by board composition and development and why is it important? Why is it difficult to change the composition of the board? How do you design the ideal mix of board members? How do you locate, recruit and develop board members? Week 3: This week's questions: What do we mean by the "culture" of the board and why is it important? How do boards develop and pass along culture? Can board cultures be intentionally changed? What is the role of leadership in shaping board culture? What do effective nonprofit leaders involved in governance do? How can leadership be managed for higher performance? Week 4: At this stage, you are asked to review the course content, submit a written assignment (known lightheartedly as a BEAR (Board Effectiveness Readiness Assessment), and take two multiple choice Readiness Assurance Tests (known similarly as RATs). One RAT will assess knowledge and reading comprehension and the other will test application of knowledge within a practical case. Week 5: We will encourage you to discuss the RATs in the discussion forums and take them again should you wish to change any of your answers based on the information exchanged.

From the lesson

Board Operating Procedures, Structures, and Meetings

Hello and welcome to Course 3 in the series of courses on Improving Leadership and Governance in Nonprofit Organizations! The focus of this course is on the often unrecognized influences on how well a board carries out its governance role and responsibilities. The goal of the first week is to address several important questions related to two key influences on board behavior: the board’s operating procedures and structures and board meetings. Some of the key questions we will explore this week are: What factors influence the effectiveness of nonprofit boards of directors? What are board procedures and structures and why are they important? What issues challenge the effectiveness of board meetings? What can be done to increase governance effectiveness? These questions form the basis of the video lecture and content in Chapters 6 and 7 of our SUNY Open Textbook, Guidelines for Improving the Effectiveness of Boards of Directors of Nonprofit Organizations. We look forward to helping you learn more about some of the factors that influence leadership and governance effectiveness this week!

Specialization Welcome Video5:52

Course 3 Overview Video9:45

Course 4 (Capstone Project) Overview6:22

Meet the Instructors

Prof. Yvonne D. Harrison, PhD
Associate Professor and Director
Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN)
Prof. Vic Murray, PhD
Adjunct Professor
School of Public Administration, University of Victoria

Hi, I'm Yvonne Harrison,

Associate Professor and Director of the Voluntary Sector Studies Network at

Luther College at the University of Regina welcoming you to

the third course in a series of courses on Developing

Leadership and Improving Governance in Nonprofit Organizations.

In this video, I will review course three: Introduction To

The Factors That Influence The Effectiveness of The Governance Process.

I will begin with the learning outcomes and the leadership competencies

emphasized along with the learning activities that you will engage in each week.

I'll conclude with an assessment of learning that

will take place in the fourth and fifth week.

By the end of this course,

you will have developed knowledge of the factors

associated with the effectiveness of the governance process.

You will have worked with the board of directors or with

information gathered from a board of directors to

identify a set of best practice recommendations

that will help the board improve its governance effectiveness.

And finally, you will have applied knowledge and developed skills as nonprofit leaders.

This course is designed to introduce you to

the leadership competencies required by academic programs that are accredited by NASPAA.

And NASPAA is the Network of Schools of Public Affairs in North America.

This course emphasizes two NASPAA leadership competencies: To

analyze and think critically about leadership and governance effectiveness challenges,

and to lead and participate in the governance process.

It should be noted that this course was

developed with North American requirements in mind.

And we do appreciate that the nonprofit sector,

nonprofit organizations leadership and

governance may not be the same in other parts of the world.

It is our intention, however,

that the course content will be of value to others and

that cultural differences will provide a rich forum for discussion.

Now, turn to the topics and questions addressed in this course.

The topic of week one is Board Meetings, Structures and Procedures.

Some of the questions we will explore this week are,

what factors influence the effectiveness of nonprofit board meetings?

What are board structures and procedures and why are they important?

Why do boards experience problems with inadequate procedures and structures?

And what could a board do to intentionally change its meetings,

its procedures, and structures to increase its effectiveness?

In week two, the topic is,

Composition and Development of the Board.

The key questions you will explore this week are,

what do we mean by board composition and development and why is it important?

Why is it difficult to change the composition of the board

and how do you design the ideal mix of board members?

How do you locate, recruit,

and develop the board?

The topic of week three,

is the Informal Culture and Leadership of the Board.

The key questions you will explore this week are,

what do we mean by culture,

board culture and why is it important?

How do boards develop and pass along culture?

What shapes culture and can it be changed?

Some of the leadership questions are,

what is leadership in the context of governing?

What do effective nonprofit leaders involved in governance do?

Why are some leaders more effective than others?

And how can leadership be managed for higher levels of effectiveness?

Within the platform, you'll find weekly lectures, videos,

readings, and links to external resources that point you to important content.

Once you've reviewed the content,

you're ready to engage in the learning activities.

Take a practice quiz.

Based on the required content,

the quiz is a chance to test your knowledge and further develop it.

Because it is a practice assessment,

your scores will not be counted into the final course grade.

Post a commentary.

Commentaries can be based on an insight from the readings that

helped you understand a situation or event that you have experienced.

Anything from the reading that you found confusing or unclear could also be posted.

Remember, the basic goal is to help you connect

the dots by linking your ideas and questions on the topic,

drawing on what you've learned from the readings,

and applying it to your own experience.

Analyze a nonprofit case.

A case is based on a real world situation.

Like the real world,

there is usually no single correct answer to the issues they raise.

The cases assigned in this course are intended to provide

you with a chance to reflect and apply concepts from

the course as well as enable you to understand and resolve

practical problems in governance Work on the course project.

The course project is

an academic service learning experience that provides you with an opportunity to apply

the course content and your learning to help

a real board develop leadership and improve governance effectiveness.

Whether you gather information from

a real board or you use the information that we gathered,

we'll upload instructions and information that you need

to complete the work associated with the course project.

The end of course assessment of learning will take place in the fourth and fifth week.

The first assessment of learning strategy comes from

Michaelson's method of teaching and learning known as Team-Based Learning.

TBL is used to test mastery of course concepts

using Readiness Assurance Tests and application exercises.

In the fourth week,

we'll open two multiple choice readiness assurance tests,

or RATs as we will humorously refer to throughout the course,

for you to complete.

One RAT will assess knowledge based on reading comprehension,

and the other will test knowledge application based on a case.

In the fifth week,

we will encourage you to discuss the RATs in the forums and to take them again

should you wish to change any of your answers based on the information exchanged.

We chose this method of assessment because it is associated

with student learning including concept comprehension,

student motivation, communication, accountability,

problem solving, and superior academic performance.

The second assessment of learning is the Board Effectiveness Assessment Reflection,

which we will humorously refer to as the BEAR.

In a nutshell, the BEAR is a short written reflection

on the nonprofit board and organization you are working with.

You will be asked to analyze information and communicate

the results of the board's effectiveness assessment to the board.

Your assignment should show the board's top ten strengths and

challenges along with perceptions of board effectiveness in the nine dimensions assessed.

From your review of the literature,

what best practices and other practical recommendations can

be applied to improve the effectiveness of the board you have been working with?

Be creative in how you communicate results and present recommendations.

Use tables and charts to tell the board's story.

Be sure to include an introduction to

the reflection and a description of how it's organized.

In the fifth week, you'll be asked to peer review BEAR assignments.

To receive a course grade,

you must complete peer reviews.

In this video, we've reviewed course three,

Introduction to The Factors That Influence the

Effectiveness of Boards of Directors within the Governance Process.

We've reviewed the learning outcomes, the leadership competencies,

the topics and key questions,

and the learning activities you'll explore each week.

We've also discussed the end of course assessment

of learning which will take place in the fourth and fifth week.

For more information, refer to the course content.

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