• Agreeing to disclose any informat

• Agreeing to disclose any information required by the Commission to carry out its accrediting responsibilities;
• Assisting in generating resources needed to sustain and improve the institution;
• Periodically, objectively assessing the governing body in meeting its stated objectives;
• Appointing a chief executive officer (hereafter referred to as the president) with primary responsibility to the institution and delegating appropriate responsibilities to
that individual; and
• Periodically assessing the effectiveness of institutional leadership and governance.
Other fundamental responsibilities of a governing board normally include the following:
• Making and delegating decisions that are in the best interests of the institution and its
constituents;
• Ensuring institutional and governing board adherence to the highest standards of integrity;
• Protecting constituent and public interests in the institution;
• Advocating for and, when necessary, defending the institution;
• Ensuring that the institution’s core purposes and values are fulfilled through development and oversight of institutional policies and operations;
• Appointing and supporting the president or chief executive officer and monitoring his
or her performance;
• Enhancing the institution’s ability to fulfill its core values and purposes;
• Serving as a steward of institutional resources provided by others (which may include
tuition and fees paid by students and their families, endowments and other gifts, foundation grants, government appropriations, funding and support provided by a sponsor
or corporate owner, and the time and talent provided by institutional faculty, administrators and staff), ensuring that these resources are used wisely, prudently, with integrity, and in the institution’s best interests; and
• Participating actively and appropriately in accreditation and reaccreditation
processes, as described in the Commission’s accreditation handbooks.
The Importance of an Active, Involved, and Informed Governing Board
A governing board can fulfill its responsibilities only if it is actively involved with the institution and informed about the institution, its issues, and its environment.
Governing board members need sufficient expertise to understand the complexities of the
institution they govern. The Fundamental Elements of Standard 4 thus state that the governing board should have sufficient expertise to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities and assure the institution’s academic integrity.
Governing board members also need accurate and timely information in order to engage in
proper analysis and decision making. Board members must thus ensure that complete,