Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees for August 10 & 11, 2001
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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM
HOUSTONIAN HOTEL
AUGUST 10 & 11, 2001
MINUTES
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
Bruce A. Austin, Chairman
James R. Murphy, Vice-Chairman
Herman Litt, Secretary
Michael P. Williams, D.Min., Deputy Secretary
Jay Aiyer
Abel Davila
Carol H. Smith
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT
Herlinda Garcia
Christopher Oliver
ADMINISTRATION
Bruce Leslie, Chancellor
CONSULTANT
Jill Derby, Ph.D., Association of Governing Boards
COUNSEL
Arturo Michel, Bracewell & Patterson
DESIRED OUTCOMES
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Increased shared understandings of board responsibilities
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Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees for August 10 & 11, 2001
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Open discussion of board processes and performance
Suggestions for improvement
Specific actions objectives
Strengthened relationships
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Austin at 1:40 pm. Consultant Jill Derby
facilitated the retreat.
The Board of Trustees had agreed last year to utilize the AGB Board Self-Assessment
process in order to provide a mechanism for continuous improvement. Mr. Herman Litt
was appointed by the Board as liaison to the project and worked with Dr. Leslie and Ms.
Derby on preparing the retreat.
Ms. Derby reviewed the ground rules, purposes, goals and agenda and discussed major
board responsibilities. The discussion also included role and mission of community
colleges and of the Learning College. Discussions proceeded regarding outlines for good
Board-Chancellor relationship and a discussion of individual trustee responsibilities. A
spirited discussion, which focused on communication and coordination of board
activities, concluded the afternoon meeting. In addition, the boards discussion on Friday
afternoon resulted in the following agreement. The underlying principle was developing
trust among board members. To do this the board agreed to:
1. Never meet separately, unless coordinated by the Chair and Chancellor
2. Always one board
a. Speak with one voice
b. Affirm each other
c. Support board against outside negative influences
3. The board should act as a family
a. Debate issues thoroughly but never speak against each other,
internally o externallyr
4. Respect the past, but bury it.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 pm.
August 11, 2001
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Austin at 8 am. Ms. Derby reviewed the SelfStudy results and facilitated a discussion about the AGBs ten best practice elements and
self identified areas for improvement. Following a break, the board members were
divided into two committees and reported out specific recommendations for board
improvement. The committees were charged with reviewing four categories: 1) Time
and Focus, including meetings, agendas, and communications; 2) Managing
Information; 3) Advocacy; and 4) Protocol.
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Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees for August 10 & 11, 2001
Group One consisting of Carol Smith, Bruce Austin, Jim Murphy and Mike Williams
recommended the following actions:
1) Time and Focus
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Republish the committee assignments (attached)
The Chair should contact each trustee to encourage timely attendance at each
meeting
Continue to combine common interest committees such as Finance and Facilities
Agendas should be set by the administration with the appropriate chairs
Minutes or at least bulleted summary of the committee meetings should be
distributed to all trustees within 48 hours of the committee meetings
The calendar published by the Board Services office should include social activities
to which board members are invited
The Board Services office should open all mail not identified as personal or
confidential and contact trustees to insure timely notice of social invitations
The order of meetings should be modified to place all presentations and the Board
Chair and Chancellors Reports prior to the business section of the meeting
The administration should attempt to hold board committee meetings two weeks
prior to the board meeting itself
Reexamine and develop, as appropriate, the policy about board member's
speaking at meeting
2)Managing Information
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The Chancellor should develop a plan to upgrade Board Services
Leave non-meeting information out of the board meeting packets or at meeting
table
Develop a website or CD that can provide both current calendar for board
members and board meeting material
Develop customized communication process for each trustee to improve
communications
Group Two consisted of Herman Litt, Abel Davila, and Jay Aiyer.
3)Protocol
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Consider adoption of City Council rules on time allowed for speaking
Wait no longer than 15 minutes for board meetings to start
Set a specific ending time for each meeting
Develop an effective board orientation process
The board should identify yearly expectations
The board should replace election of board officers with a rotating system
Streamline committee agenda focusing only the top priority items
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Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees for August 10 & 11, 2001
4)Advocacy
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Establish community town hall meetings
Develop a quarterly newsletter from each trustee to their respective district
Develop a trifold brochure describing each of the trustees
Develop a speaker's bureau and packet of information for trustee's speeches and
arrange attendance and speaking opportunities at area civic clubs with college
staff person to assist answering question
Establish student forums on some regular basis
Invite community to "community oriented celebration" such as Cinco de Mayo
Discuss the possibility of student representation in order to engage trustees more
directly in interactions with students
Invite trustees to campus events
The Board agreed that it had, this year, thoroughly discussed the variety of issues that
had created conflict and felt that it was time to move ahead with the above agreements
that will reinforce trust. The board members present agreed that the desired outcome
had been achieved by the retreat. The board agreed that Mr. Litt and Dr. Leslie would
collaborate to streamline the questionnaire so that it can be utilized as an annual tool for
continuous board improvement.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 pm.
Minutes Prepared by:
Carolynne Dudley, Chancellors Office
Reviewed, Finalized and Submitted by:
Herman Litt, Secretary
Board of Trustees
Minutes Approved as Submitted: October 30, 2001
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