B-1. BOARD POLICY PRINCIPLES

Value Statement:

• The Board will function as a whole, rather than as individual Trustees, and will communicate institutional policy through written policies which will be shared with all constituencies.

[1] The Board governs primarily through written policies. The College President shall cause all sectors of the College to be informed of the Board policies relevant to their activities and shall ensure the compliance of College activities with Board policies. The College President may set additional administrative rules, as long as they are consistent with and supportive of any Board policies to which they are related.

[2] The Board may use resolutions rather than policies for limited-term decisions or directives. Resolutions are limited in effect to the specific items and time periods they address, or for one year if no period is stated.

[3] There are no unwritten Board directives. The only policies, decisions, authorizations, or limitations in effect at the Board level are those explicitly listed as policies or active resolutions in the Board minutes or web site after a public vote of adoption. Individual or collective statements by Trustees in any other form have no authority in College operations. All trustees shall be informed whenever the administration takes actions that address a request or suggestion from a trustee. When an administrator attributes an action to a Board directive, the relevant written directive(s) must be identified. All requests for information by trustees should be provided to the Chair, who will coordinate the requests with the President.

[4] To the extent activities in an area are not covered by a current Board policy or resolution or an administrative rule, employees should use their own best judgement to act in the interest of the community and students.

[5] Board policies are to be used only to directly express the decisions of the Board; they are not to be used to simply repeat or ratify either administrative rules (which do not require Board approval) or external laws and regulations (which the Board has no power to change).

[6] When a Board policy or resolution (except one related to Board procedure) has more than one reasonable interpretation, the College President may specify which interpretation the College shall follow, with notification to the Board of any significant policy ambiguities revealed by this process. Should a Board officer or any two other trustees believe that the President’s interpretation of a Board policy is unreasonable, the officer or trustees may request that the reasonableness of the President’s interpretation be put on the Board agenda for decision, and the Board Chair must honor the request as soon as possible.

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The Austin Community College Board of Trustees adopted this policy on February 12, 1996 and amended it on March 4, 1996, May 1, 2000, May 6, 2002, and March 4, 2003.

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