Seven years ago, Baylor University’s Board of Regents had a problem. Its handling of a notorious sexual-assault scandal had spurred a group of Baylor alumni, students, and faculty to demand reform of the 33-member board.
Enter a task force led by nonregents charged with improving the governance structure of the university. Among the changes the university adopted: hire a full-time board secretary to make sure the board ran smoothly.
The job description was heavy on logistics: plan retreats, keep up the website, and file away documents. But in the years since, the secretary role has become a little-known pocket of power advising both the board and the administration — not just at Baylor, but across higher ed. For one, it has shed the “secretary” title. It’s now known as the “board professional.”
“There is no position on campus like the board professional,” said Lynette M. Heard, who leads the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges’ Board Certificate Program Task Force, which started a professional-development program for board professionals. “They are the connector, the linchpin.”
The position’s growing profile comes in a moment when it’s not uncommon for boards and presidents to be engaged in open conflict. Look no further than Michigan State University, where President Samuel Stanley resigned after saying he had lost confidence in the board; North Idaho College, where a divided board pushed out President Nick Swayne, or Alcorn State University, where the board fired President Felecia Nave. A good board professional, those who have held the job say, can help keep such conflicts from boiling over.
The History
University employees have staffed boards since boards began. Early on, that often meant an additional duty for a secretary who took minutes and handled board correspondence.
But tasks have been added on, as have qualifications for the role. “It’s becoming a more senior-level position, a more highly educated position,” said Charlene K. Reed, vice president and university secretary at Kent State University, who functions as a board professional for her institution.
A 2020 AGB survey of board professionals found a marked increase in those with master’s degrees or higher. In 2020, about 55 percent had advanced degrees, up from 43 percent in 2015.
And over half of board professionals said their role has gotten more complex over the past five years — 59 percent due to more frequent requests from board members, and 55 percent due to more responsibilities.
Perhaps most notable was the fact that in 2015, more than 96 percent of board professionals placed drafting and editing board-meeting minutes as their top job responsibility. But in 2020, the top job responsibility was planning and managing board meetings, including working on the agenda for the meeting. “A shift can be seen from primarily staff support in 2010 to a combination of staff support and managerial functions in 2020,” the survey said.
They are really the glue that connects the board and the president. They keep a pulse on the issues on campus.
Once a lowly staff member, the board professional is now a key adviser. “They are really the glue that connects the board and the president,” Reed said. “They keep a pulse on the issues on campus.”
When Aristide J. Collins Jr. started working as university secretary at George Washington University, in 2010, the job was all about logistics. Administrators were looking for someone to, say, mail thick binders of documents to board members in advance of meetings.
Then the position developed into “that of a facilitator and a translator,” said Collins, who was vice president, chief of staff, and secretary of the university at George Washington until he became executive vice president, chief administrative officer, and chief of staff at Strada Education Foundation, in August.
For administrators, that can mean being a sounding board — what will the board think about this plan? — and for the board, it can mean being a source of information — how is the administration handling this issue?
Sometimes it’s not easy to balance, Collins said; often the board professional has solid reporting lines to both the president and the board. “You’re walking a tightrope,” he said.
A Case Study
Mark Rountree joined Baylor’s board in 2016, six days after its sexual-assault scandal effectively broke open. The board was in “tumult,” he said in a recent interview.
When the recommendations from the task force came back, Rountree had never heard of the position of board professional recommended by the group. Now, after three one-year terms as the board’s chairman, he says it’s a vital position. “It helps create lines in the highway to help both the board and the administration stay in their lanes and do their work,” he said.
Baylor hired Kristy J. Orr in December 2017 as its board professional. She had been working as the senior associate general counsel to the board for the University of Texas system.
Orr said a day’s work involves “putting out at least a half dozen small fires.” She fields board members’ questions, ranging from asking about an upcoming event to wondering about how another university’s crisis relates to Baylor. She works on identifying and vetting potential future regents.
And when she meets with administrators, she’s not only learning what plans are being worked on, but also providing input from the board. “She is a help in knowing what the board is thinking,” said Baylor’s president, Linda A. Livingstone, who also joined the university in 2017. “She participates in these discussions — here’s where the board may come in on this issue. It allows us to be much more strategic, much less reactive with the board.”
Orr is also involved in practice runs of board meetings. Those sessions, packed with both leaders and staff, take place several weeks before the actual meetings and last about three hours. The entire agenda gets covered, and presenters click through every PowerPoint slide. Orr asks questions she anticipates might be on the minds of board members, revisions are made, and then Orr and her staff send the materials to the board.
Such thorough prep makes for a smoother relationship between the two power centers of the campus. “We aren’t surprised by questions,” Livingstone said. “There are no surprises on either side. When there are questions [from the board], she helps us know and understand the context behind the question.”
