D. Philllips next introduced the topic of board assessment. The President clarified that this year, there appeared to be some interpretational issues with the self-assessment. The issue is whether the board member should evaluate themselves or evaluate their perception of the operation of the board as a whole. In the past, board assessment was rather consistent with regard to feedback but this past year, although the same assessment instrument has been used three times, results were more varied. It was suggested that the assessment instrument be reviewed relative to how the board feels assessment should be made.

A discussion ensued on the history of the self-assessment.

The President noted that there was constructive criticism from NEASC years ago because there was no board assessment. He suggested looking at the Trustee learning modules and consideration be made to modifying the current self-assessment questions if they were not meeting desired needs.

There was a discussion on what the other boards are doing and how the accreditation body evaluates. The President will ask his colleagues if they have a board assessment instrument perhaps that could be used as a starting point.

D. Phillips stated that the topics for the retreat will be the bylaws, governance, and budgeting. She suggested that someone do a presentation on the budget. There was a discussion on an appropriate facilitator to do the presentation.

There was a discussion on the auditors and their roles.

D. Phillips suggested that the more information Trustees had, the better informed they would be when speaking to the community.

There was a discussion regarding the institutions that recently closed and whether or not the Trustees at the respective schools were aware of the financial situations.

The President discussed scenarios that should raise red flags to board members. He reviewed the process by which the BOT is presented with financial information. He also noted that a state institution information was public and perhaps better reviewed by a variety of sources. In the case of private schools’ information is less shared. He discussed the changes made by the BHE to increase fiscal oversight. He indicated that there should never be a financial surprise.