Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Keywords
board operations, board orientation, board responsibilities, board training, committee feedback, delivery methods, financial management, organizational history, organizational mission, organizational purpose, organizational structure, program evaluation, program development, program implementation, program orientation, program objectives, skills center foundation, training content, training development, volunteer board, volunteer board members
Abstract
The Clark County Skills Center Foundation Board is a volunteer board with a high turnover. New board members lack an understanding of the purpose and direction of the board. Because they also lack understanding of how the board operates, time is lost in meetings revisiting past decisions. The problem is that without orientation new members do not have an effective way of learning the processes and restraints that affect board operations. The purpose of this study is to design orientation training that will meet the needs of the Clark County Skills Center Foundation Board.
The research questions to be answered by this study were, "What is the appropriate content for new board member orientation program?" and "What is the appropriate delivery method for a new board member orientation?" The training program was developed based on information from the literature, and from information gained from the formative committee. The literature review highlighted several important areas of concern. There needed to be an understanding of the history and direction of the board. New members should also be informed on what they would be expected to do, the financial aspects of the organization, committees and an understanding of what they would be supporting.
The formative committee was selected based on their understanding of the history, purpose, mission and direction of the Board. Their feedback provided important information that led to revision of content and wording of the product.
The summative committee reviewed the criteria for the orientation program and made recommendations for further study on possible alternative delivery methods, but approved the content based on pre-determined criteria. Other suggestions were to conduct a pilot test of the product and evaluate the results on an on-going basis.