Governance Resources Archive

Board Chair & Head of School Partnership

• Daggett, C. Board chair & head of school partnership. Presentation at ISACS Trustee Day, 11/03/16.
• DeKuyper, M.H. The relationship between the board chair and the head. Trustee Handbook, 9th Ed. NAIS, 2007.

Board Roles, Responsibilities, & Best Practices

• The board/head partnership. NAIS, 8/13/13.
• Chait, R.P., Ryan, W.P., Taylor, B.E. Governance as leadership: Reframing the work of nonprofit boards. Wiley, 2004.
• Daggett, C. Don't go near the water. The Trustee's Letter, Educational Directions, May/June 2016.
• Evans, R. Why a school doesn’t run – or change – like a business. Independent School. NAIS, Fall 2015.
• Friedson, R. Why independent schools should use benchmarking. Independent School Magazine Blog, 7/07/15.
• Gifford, G. You're not the boss of me: Board chairs and CEOS. Cause & Effect, January 17, 2011.
• Heads and boards working in partnership: 2012-13 NAIS governance study. NAIS, 2013. (NAIS-member password required)
• Honan, J. Balancing tradition and change in educational institutions in a disruptive era. ISACS Trustee Day presentation, 11/02/16.
• ISACS standards for membership. ISACS, 2017.
• Leading with intent: 2017 national index of nonprofit board practices. BoardSource, 2017.
• NAIS trendbook. NAIS. (annual publication)
• NAIS trustee handbook resources
• Orem, D. & Wilson, D. Trustee handbook, 10th edition. NAIS, 2015.
• Principles of good practice: Board of trustees. NAIS, 2012.
• Principles of good practice: Independent school trustees. NAIS, 2005.
• Role of the board chair. BoardSource, 6/07/16.
• Shahan, K. (Ed.) Board chair job description (and relationship with the head). Adapted from NAIS Trustee Handbook, 9th ed. March 2014.
• Shahan, K. (Ed.) Charges for board committees. Adapted from Bassett, P., 1997. ISACS, 2014.

Board Self-Evaluation

• Sample board chair evaluation. NAIS, January 21, 2013.
• Shahan, K. (Ed.) Board self-evaluation instrument – Individual board members. ISACS, 2014.
• Shahan, K. (Ed.) Board self-evaluation instrument – Whole board. ISACS, 2014.

Bylaws

• Better bylaws: Creating effective rules for your nonprofit board, 2nd ed. BoardSource, 2010.
• Peters, D. Bylaws, policies, and procedures. NAIS, 12/06/13.
• Wilson, D. Bylaws: Your school's corporate constitution. NAIS, 11/01/11. (NAIS-member password required)

Executive Sessions

• Weaver, R. Board room: What you need to know about executive sessions. Independent School, NAIS, Summer 2018.

Fiduciary Responsibility

• Endowment benchmarks. ISM & NAIS, 2010.
• Ormstedt, D., & Wilson, D.P. The trustee’s guide to fiduciary responsibilities. NAIS, 2016.
• See also: ISACS resources: Finance & operations.

Grievances

• Bassett, P. The grievance committee. ISACS, 1996.

Head of School Contracts & Compensation

• Head of school contract sample. Reviewed by Leo Athas, 2014.
• Journy, M.T. Paying for the best: Executive compensation for 501(c)3 public charities. Venable LLP, 2012.
• Kowal, V. Spousal travel and taxes. Athas, Foley, Koval, and Bridge CHTD.
• Littleford, J. Head’s compensation. Several articles on this topic, jlittleford.com.
• Shahan, K. (Ed.) Head of school contracts. Adapted from Bassett, P., 1997. ISACS, 2014.

Head of School Job Description & Evaluation

• Daggett, C. (Ed.) Evaluation of the head of school. Adapted from Bassett., P., 1997, and Shahan, K., 2013. ISACS, 2017.
• Littleford, J. Leadership of schools and longevity of heads. jlittleford.com, August 2015.
• Shahan, K. (Ed.) Head of school/president job description. Adapted from Bassett, P., 1998. ISACS, 2013.

Head of School Transition

Reading:

• Executive and leadership placement services. NAIS.
• Littleford, J. The search...the transition...and then the succession. www.jlittleford.com, 5/13/17.
• The NAIS head search handbook: A strategic guide for the search committee, 2nd edition. NAIS, 2018.
• Daggett, C. Out the door: What we can learn from abrupt departures from headship. The Trustee's Letter, Independent Thinking, June 2018.
• Principles of good practice - Head searches. NAIS, 11/13/12.
• Wickenden Associates. What's next? After the appointment, paving the way for your new head's successful transition. Winter 2007.

Sample Announcements of Appointments:

• Countryside School (IL)
• Hathaway Brown School (OH)
• North Shore Country Day School (IL)

Strategic Vision & Planning

Mission Review & Revision

• Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. To give your employees meaning, start with mission. Harvard Business Review, 12/19/12.
• Jonker, K. & Meehan III, W.F. Mission matters most. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2/19/14.
• Regan, S. Strategic planning framework: The importance of mission. Becker Hospital Review, 10/05/12.
• Sinek, S. Start with Why. Website, book, TED Talk.

Making a Plan

• Daggett, C. Strategic process. ISACS, 2014.

Strategic Opportunities

• How to think about mergers and collaborations (with Nadya Shmavonian) Joan Garry Podcast, Episode 63