Location of advisory board meeting
Is it better to have the advisory board meeting at the college, or is it better to meet in a restaurant? We have had all of the meetings in a restaurant and it is very difficult to accomplish anything. We have tried many different restaurants over the years. We have a total of six people attend on average.
Troy,
Yes, be sure the chosen venue is conducive to confidentiality and quiet enough to support an effective dialogue over the issues.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I would use both of them the first one should be on campus the next one can be away from the campus this is the process we currently use for our PAC meeting.
Michael,
Agreed, having the meetings at your school should be the first preference. Include a tour of your facility, have members meet students who are available, have displays of student work and provide some of your faculty members with the opportunity of meeting and talking with your board members in a social setting. Do you have any other suggestions?
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I feel it would be more professional to have the meeting at our college. It gives an opportunity for those attending to embrace the very energy of the educational environment they are choosing to support.Those attending have a first hand experience of what is being offered and they get to witness how their decisions can help guide the shape and direction of what is being offered as a means of supporting each student's success.I feel it is tremendous to experience what you are part of.
Arthur,
Thanks for sharing the structure of your advisory board meetings, I especially like the practice of giving board members assignments. Using outside venues is valuable, but it also isolates members of the advisory board from having opportunities to interact with your students, the timing of which can be controlled with the agenda. Consider capitalizing on and promoting your hospitality and tourism program by collaborating with the restaurant to permit your best students to make the arrangements for the meeting. This provides an opportunity for you to "showcase" your students to the board while giving them a "real world" experience.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
Since we are a small institute we have our bi-annual advisory board meetings at local restaurants. We never visit the same restaurant and since one of our programs is Hospitality & Tourism it acts as a promotional venue for both the restaurant and our school. We have a selection process for picking a place: a large back room to conduct the engagement, a variety of dishes ( if Italian a variety of 4-course meals are offered), time required for agenda presentation, time for meal consumption and after dinner, discussion of agenda topics, Usually our meetings last over 4-hours. Prior to leaving each member is given an assignment to perform. Their answers are sent via e-mail and an “After Action Report (AAR) complied, analyzed and distributed to each member of the finding presented
An accrediting body may require at least one of the meetings to be held at the facility. Our college have in the past hosted the advisory board meetings on campus and have found it to be beneficial in several ways.
First, it showcases the campus and allows your advisory board to assess the facility as well. Second, students will see the commitment the school makes in asking for feedback from the industry through meetings such as this. It communicates the service and dedication the shcool has for its students. Third, the members get a chance to communicate first-hand with the students and often invite themselves to come and speak with classes for a longer period of time.
New advisory board members are given a one-on-one orientation prior to their first meeting. Relevant discussion materials are made available to the advisory board prior to the meeting. This year the governing board revised the mission statement and it will be included with the advanced materials. Previous meeting minutes are at place. Student representives are invited to attend to share their perspective with the advisors. Agenda items are determined by each program director and it is rare to see more than two or three past/new business items. If more issues require additional time specific programs reconvene at a later date. We remain sensitive to the professionals' time allowance for our meeting.
Judy,
It sounds like you have a system that works for your school. How do you prepare your advisory board members in advance of your meetings and how many items do you include in your agendas?
R. Roehrich
Our college has nine advisory boards for its medical, business and technical vocational programs. Most of the boards' participating professionals are required to be at their work sites throughout the day and are able to meet only in the early morning or after hours. Experience has taught us early morning breakfast or dinner meetings can be very successful with adequate coordination. The advisory boards convene in a traditionally chosen restaurant meeting room, 30 minutes prior to the business meeting, for a predetermined meal. Restaurant staff is queued to clear tables, close public access, and agendas are distributed for a 60-90 minute meeting. Generally speaking there is an 80-90% attendance rate with this format. Should specific on-site reviews be necessary we will provide catered meals on campus. However meeting space is at a premium, classes are in session from 7:15am-10:15pm, affecting a desired distraction-free and comfortable setting. Efficiently productive and effective results can be achieved with adequate internal communication and advanced preparation.
Clearly, food id not the focus, but providing it does demonstrate to your members that you are considerate of their needs.
Have your meetings at the school but provide some nice refreshments and food to nibble on. Always effective and you can focus at the task at hand.
Craig,
You're right on target with your comment: "they want to be treated well." Given that your advisory board members aren't getting paid for their time, a good meal in a great restaurant is a nice incentive for their participation. Keep in mind that the meeting agenda and content should match the quality of the environment for it to be a successful experience for you and the board. If possible, I'd suggest starting no later than six o'clock, so the meal doesn't become the primary focus of the meeting; much later and a heavy meal may also begin to drag down the participation levels.
Sorry for the delay in responding, technology isn't as effective as we expect while traveling.
R. Roehrich
My wife is a musician and the other day I went with her to an event at a local restaurant. I decided to hold my advisory meetings there from now on. This restaurant is very special, it is Italian and looks quite magnificent and elegant but at the same time has a separate room which is totally high-tech. The room has a screen huge screen that comes down with the push of a button and a ceiling mounted projector that can be connected to by any laptop. The room is quiet and private and can easily hold 25 people (I only have 7). One of the problems I have found with board members is that they want to be treated well. Before a restaurant would do the trick but we couldn't get much done, now I think I'll have the best of both worlds:)
Charles,
Absolutely, assuming you have the space to do so. Unfortunately, many career colleges do not have the luxury of a conference room and have to use a classroom or an off-site facility.
With access to a conference room, would you be more inclined to bring in outside resources, e.g. webinars, video feeds, etc. to enhance your meetings and/or training sessions?
R. Roehrich
How about meeting in the college conference room and provide refreshments. You have the best of both worlds.
Dr. Roehrich,
Thank you for your commentary. Its good to know that I am doing the right thing pertaining to holding quarterly meetings and having the spring meeting at the campus for our advisory board.
Randall,
Thank you for your response to the two referenced postings. I concur with your supporting rationale for holding a spring meeting on campus and commend you for engaging your advisory board with your Institutional Effectiveness Plan. I'm sure it also provides you with an opportunity to “showoff†your school and highlight changes or capital improvements that may have occurred between the annual spring meetings. It's also an opportunity to showcase student work and even make special student and/or faculty recognition awards.
I also support holding four meetings a year. If a school is genuinely interested in maintaining an active and vital board, quarterly meetings provide that opportunity. By only holding the minimum number of meetings required to satisfy accreditation requirements (generally one or two), I believe schools miss out on the opportunity to gain maximum advantage from their board's involvement.
R. Roehrich
I would like like to comment both on Syndia's & Julio's commentary. I agree with Syndia that both locations can serve an advantage. Advisory meetings that will contain heavy/weighted agendas need to have more of the participants' attention and time for discussion and/or voting. At my school, our spring meetings are usually reviewing the Institution Effectiveness Plan (a review of what has occurred in the past year and our plans for the upcoming year). This could be held at the campus in case board members request additional stats, then the information would be readily available. However, at the remaining quarterly meetings - where we are discussing day to day events or kicking around ideas for future improvements to the school's curriculum, operations, policies, etc. - a less structured environment, such as a restuarant, may serve a better purpose (creative brainstorming)...as long as you meet at an off time from the lunch or dinner rush or in a private/set aside area to minimize distractions. Here is my comment to Julio, two meetings a year did not serve our school because so much occurs in the six months between meetings that board members felt left in the dust (so to speak). It took extra time catching them up on everything happening at the school and they seldom had an opportunity to see their comments and suggestions ever get implemented or their impact to the students/school. If you are experiencing some of those feelings among advisory board members, maybe adding two more meetings would serve everyone more. Good luck!
