The relationship between the board of trustees and its committees and between the committees and the staff requires a delicate balance and constant communication. Committees perform the work of the board and report to the board.  Staff, particularly the CEO, serve as a primary resource to committees during all committee deliberations. Staff also use committees to help in decision-making and planning.

Committees and staff operate within board-adopted plans (e.g., mission and goals) and annual budget.  Activities of the organization including programming, public relations, fundraising, etc., all happen within the structure of plans and budgets. Any initiative or activity outside these fundamental annual guidelines requires board approval prior to development and funding.

Remember that committee members need not be board members. Look to your community. There are people out there who would willingly serve on committees but may not want to serve on the board.

Standing and Ad Hoc Committees

The bylaws establish standing committees of the board of trustees. The chair appoints ad hoc committees, or “taskforces,” as needed. (Make sure that you don’t have a lot of standing committees in the bylaws. You really only need Governance, Finance, Fund Development and Academic Excellence. All the rest can be ad hoc.)

Establishment of Committees 

1. Each committee is chaired by a member of the board of trustees. Committee members may include non-board members as well as board members.
2. All board members are expected to serve on one committee. It is recommended that board members not be given multiple committee assignments; this can be too burdensome.
3. The chair of the board of trustees, in consultation with the CEO, appoints all committee chairs.
4. Committee chairs are responsible to recruit their own committee members, in consultation with the chair and CEO.  (Exception: The Governance Committee chair and members are appointed by the chair.)
5. The chair is an ex-officio member of all committees except the Governance Committee.
6. It is recommended that the chair and CEO meet with each committee chair after the board election, in order to review the committee responsibilities and direction for the new year. Committees may have tasks remaining from the previous year; critical issues may have surfaced during annual planning. 
7. If the board, staff and/or committees identify new initiatives, prior approval by the board of trustees is required before the committee begins developing plans.

 Operations of Committees

1. Committees report to the board of trustees. Regular reports, presented by the committee chair, should be presented at each board meeting.
2. The chair of the board monitors activities of the committees and ensures task completion.  The chair maintains regular (i.e., at least monthly) contact with committee chairs. Committee chairs should report to the board chair on a regular basis, at least monthly. It is recommended that the board chair share this task with the vice chair. Committee monitoring can be divided between the chair and vice chair.
3. The committee chair and CEO coordinate committee meeting dates.
4. The committee chair and CEO establish the agenda of each committee meeting.
5. Each committee must take its own minutes and, if possible, reproduce and distribute its materials to committee members, the board chair, and CEO.
6. While staff are usually completely responsible for implementation, due to limited resources of the organization, volunteers and board members may actually help carry out some activities. This implementation is done under the guidance/approval of the CEO. (Be careful!  Role confusion can sometimes result when board members get involved in management implementation. It is vital that the board members keep in mind their appropriate role in relationship to management decision-making even though they may be implementing certain tasks.)

Relationship of Staff and Committees

1. Committee and staff responsibilities are a delicate balance. The CEO and committees may develop some activities together. At other times, staff may pursue activities, within budget and strategic plan, without committee participation. This requires careful judgment on the part of the CEO and constant communication between CEO, board chair, and committee chairs.
2. The CEO (or his or her staff designee) serves as staff to all committees.
3. The staff person assigned to a committee serves as primary resource to all committee deliberations. 
4. Activities and materials require approval by the staff person assigned. While this cooperative process rarely encounters conflict, sometimes disagreement between staff and committee may occur. At that time, the CEO and committee chair should convene a meeting with the chair so that the situation can be resolved.

Responsibilities of Committee Members

1. Know and understand the committee's purpose, scope, and authority.
2. Attend meetings and participate in discussion.
3. Participate in group decision making.
4. Put aside personal agendas for the larger purpose.
5. Carry out specific task assignments by the due date, and report back to the committee.
6. Use the staff as key resource and guide.

Responsibilities of Committee Chairs

1. Together with the CEO (or other staff person assigned to support the committee), schedule committee meetings, and identify the purpose and agenda of each meeting.
2. Together with the CEO, ensure that proper information is provided to the committee.
3. Define tasks to be accomplished and select appropriate committee members to do each job and report back to the committee.
4. Monitor activities of each committee member. If the assigned individual does not accomplish his or her tasks, assign the work to another individual.
5. Maintain minutes of the committee meetings as needed. (Depending upon size of staff, this may be a staff function.)
6. Maintain proper records and files of projects and activities.
7. Report progress, at least monthly, to the board chair.
8. Notify the board chair if the committee requires any action to be taken at the board meeting.
9. Make reports at board meetings as necessary.

Responsibilities of the CEO (or staff assigned to support the committee)

1. Work with the board chair to identify committee chairs.
2. Work with the board chair to ensure effective committee operations.
3. Work with the board chair to determine what/when issues should be referred to committees.
4. Together with the committee chair, schedule committee meetings, and establish the purpose and agenda for each meeting.
5. Attend all committee meetings.
6. Provide information and guidance to committees.
7. Ensure that the committee has the necessary information for decision-making.
8. Alert the board chair if there is any difficulty within committee operations.
9. Work with the committee chair to ensure smooth committee operations.

Task Forces

1. Task forces (rather than numerous standing committees) can result in a more manageable number of committees.  Try ad hoc task forces, and limit the number of your standing committees.
2. Ad-hoc task forces are convened to address a specific issue and then dissolve.
3. Task forces allow board members to participate in diverse experiences during the course of the year.