next »

[Patricia Helfenstein]

Hello folks,

In my new position at a small liberal arts college,  I have been given the task of reorganizing a president's council.

Currently, the council is made up of various committees, most of which are fund raising in nature. The council, however, is tired and in need of a clearer vision/mission and should be encouraged to raise, over time, the meager amount that members currently contribute, to the $1000 mark (They are a long way off and many feel just their volunteer hours are enough). While I don't want to scare them off, I do want to raise the level of expertise and giving of this group of which the college looks to for potential trustee members.

I have been asked to submit a sample of what other colleges ask of their president's councils: i.e. membership fees and the councils' projects or duties. I would appreciate hearing from anyone on this subject. Thank you in advance!

[Marlena Schroeder]

Hi Patricia,

We use our President's Advisory Council, a group of hand-picked, high-level business and academic leaders, in a substantially different way from our Board of Trustees. The council only asks members to attend two meetings a year -- each meeting is approximately two hours in length, and we do them early enough for the members to still get to their own places of business at a reasonable hour.

The president sets the agenda, usually revolving around a new initiative he and the board are considering. The council's primary responsibility is to serve as a sounding board -- to read the materials sent to them prior to the meeting, and to offer counsel. The council is not asked for donations, but are included in invitations to all insitutional events, including our major-donor dinners.  Some of the Advisory Council members have then migrated to the Board of Trustees, sometimes a former trustee will continue to serve in an advisory capacity on the council.

I realize that this is a very different role than your college is considering, but I offer it as an alternative view.