Advisory Board value
How do you get the members of the advisory board to fully participate? Some are all for being on the board but when the day comes for a meeting work gets in the way and they can't attend the meeting.
Mary,
Another technique you might try is using GotoMeeting, that way the members can log in from their office or home. Using the technique above plus GotoMeeting may provide you with the option you are looking for, just remember to keep the meeting within one hour, that's about the maximum amount of attention one can attribute with a busy professional and family schedule. Good Luck!
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I know these are old posts and I'm new but this topic is something we struggle with also. The majority of our advisory members are physicians, primarily surgeons. This in itself causes difficulties in scheduling our meetings to coincide with their busy professional and personal lives. We also tempt our members with great food but that cannot compete with precious time with families. I specifically am responding to this post because I like the suggestion of assigning a specific task to each member. Letting them know they are the only member speaking about this topic would make them feel a little more obligated to attend. At least I'm willing to try! Thank you for the suggestion!
Nancy, I agree with the points you made in your posting. In addition to including members on committes, what other ways could you encourage commitment of members to serve your school?
R. Roehrich
This is a difficult question and one we continue to wrestle with each year. Some members on the board are very dedicated and several rarely attend meetings. First I think you need to engage the board members by giving them some specific task or area of responsibility such as chairing a program specific advisory committee. In addition, having an agenda sent out in advance and including items that require discussion and input from the board is helpful. Lastly, you need to weed out the ineffective board members and replace them with individuals who are engaged.
Randall,
Thanks for your response. One of the difficult aspects of facilitating a course online, is that as faculty we never get a chance to gain insight about our learners or their schools in advance of interacting with them in the course. So at times my responses may seem a bit "out-of-the-park" for your situation, e.g. virtual meetings; clearly that wouldn't work in a restaurant with the size group you described, so I appreciate your clarifications. I surmise from your postings that you have a pretty good handle on your advisory board's operation and value; I trust that the remainder of the course will help you enhance it even further. I'm looking forward to our continued dialogs.
As a heads-up, I will be out-of-town January 13-16 on an accreditation visit. I expect to be putting in extra long days and nights, so depending on time and Internet connectivity, my responses to you may be delayed until I return.
R. Roehrich
Dr. Roehrich,
ABHES requires schools to have signatures of those in attendance. I suppose we could bring the sign in sheets to each meeting for those who participated, but were physically absent to sign in during the next meeting. Most of our meetings are held at restaurants known for their great food, which is a big draw. But the advisory board is not large enough to warrant a private conference room either at the school or the restaurants, which would allow us to teleconference or virtual meetings on computer. The real advantage is we have great members right now who have a real interest in participating / engaging in discussions and even voting on bigger or more important matters. Thank you for your suggestions.
Randall,
Thank you for your response. Does ABHES provide suggested ways to meet their meeting requirements, e.g. virtual meeting options or teleconferencing? If so, have you used either of these or other alternative approaches to fully engage your board if a member(s) can't be physically present? I served on a governing board where teleconferencing was frequently used as a way to bring all the members together; it was quite effective. Elluminate or Microsoft Meeting would provide an additional level of engagement if the accrediting body permits their use.
R. Roehrich
Well put, Dr. Roehrich! For my advisory board, we meet 4 times annually and if they are never in attendance it's time for recommitment or change. However, if they are participating in even though they can not attend one or two of the quarterly meetings, there must be some way for them to sign in as participating in the meeting, which is the requirement of the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools - ABHES, of which my school has its institutional accreditation. These are excellent questions I hope to discover in upcoming modules 2 through 4.
-Thank You
Randall,
At what point do you begin your assessment of member participation, i.e. number of meetings, notifications, etc? How much flexibility do you allow your members, given their busy schedules, other commitment, etc? Do you have an “absence policy†that determines when your intervention is required? Would you provide some additional ways that you encourage participation and engagement at your advisory board meetings?
R. Roehrich
Even when all these techniques are used, occasionally there will be advisory board members who still do not attend on a regular basis. When this happens, it is time for me to meet with them personally to co-evaluate whether it is time to recommit to regular attendance or find someone else who can actively participate. Just having board members is not enough for accreditation approval. As a participant in accrediting evaluation visits to vocational schools, I can tell you an accreditation group wants to see them taking a regular active interest. And, if you are doing everything in your power to encourage participation but regular attendance is lacking from some members, its best to find someone who is commited to helping your school or department to improving and honing its effectiveness. Good Luck
Syndia,
Thank you again for sharing this valuable experience, I suspect the brochure has become a valuable tool for your admissions staff as well.
R. Roehrich
Syndia,
This is a great example of actively engaging your board in school activities and giving them a perspective on the differences you are making in your student's lives. Thank you for sharing.
R. Roehrich
Another project we worked on was the "creation" of a brochure that served as a tool to create awareness of a program in the community. I would say that 80% of the members were very involved in the project. I was able to keep them engaged by assigning specific tasks to the members. The assignment was done taking into consideration their expertise. For example, one of the board members loved to take pictures (she was very good at it), she was assigned to take pictures of students. Some people worked wit the design, others with the body of it. It took many months, but I think that the fact the members took ownership over the project, helped us to successfully complete it. The brochure is still used after several years.
One of the projects I was able to get board members involved was an awards ceremony for students. The main goal of the project was not only find ways to recognize the students, but also raise money for a Scholarship Fund. A sub-committee was created and was in charge of managing the process. One of the methods used to keep the members engaged was to share with them student's testimonial from prior years. These included the impact the award or scholarship had in their lives. Recognition in the community was also used as tool.
With regards of the additional incentives, there were none monetary.
Syndia,
I agree with your posting regarding involving advisory members in specific projects; would you please post one or two that you had particular success with? Just outline the project's goals, the number of advisory members engaged, how the process evolved, and what outcomes you achieved. It would also be helpful to your peers to briefly identify what you might do differently when you engage your advisory group again.
R. Roehrich
Syndia,
You've presented an excellent suggestion for engaging an advisory board. Can you provide some examples of projects you've had your board(s) work on? Who manages the project(s) and how do you keep your advisory board members engaged over the life of the project? Do you provide any additional incentives to motivate your board members to participate?
R. Roehrich
I have worked with Advisory Boards before, and I believe that involving the members on "specific projects/committees" has always helped with their participation. Time is valuable for everyone and members need to feel that their expertise is taken into account.
Suhas,
I agree with Hildie, sometimes it's just better to start over. Once you've completed the remaining modules, I think you'll have all the information you need to re-establish your advisory board for enhanced effectiveness.
R. Roehrich
Your suggestion of sending pre-meeting materials to members 2 weeks in advance of meeting and contacting the members 48 hours in advance.
The advisory board membership also needs to be looked at again as the attendance has been an ongoing issue.
I feel it would be a good idea to use Hildie's method and start the board again. The existing members can be asked if they are interested and if they can devote time to the board, to remain members.
