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All aboard The recently re-structured Board of Governors at St. Jerome's College welcomes seven new members Building a better board of governors is hard work. Just ask Frank Clifford, Gary Draper, Charles Fedy, and Deborah Pecoskie, members of an ad hoc committee on governance at St. Jerome's which presented its final report to the Board of Governors at the College earlier this year. Before coming up with their recommendations, they spent a year surveying other institutions, conducting interviews with people who have served on the Board at the College in various capacities, and meeting to discuss the pros and cons of various options. "Most of those interviewed expressed a wish to be more involved in decision-making and indicated a willingness to invest more time in order to come to grips with particular issues," they noted in their final report. In response to this finding, one of the Committee's main recommendations was that the Board adopt a committee-based system of governance which would include a committee of the whole made up of all members of the Board; six standing committees to address broad areas of concern such as building and properties, external affairs, finance, and human relations; and ad hoc committees to deal with specific issues. While the Board is the body charged with the overall governance of the College, its work is carried out primarily at the policy level, not at the level of management. The daily functioning of the College is the responsibility of its officers of administration. The Board is responsible for matters such as appointing auditors, approving budgets, sabbatical leaves, and continuing contracts, and reviewing reports on appointments, promotions, enrollment, and admissions. But the Board's overarching and primary function is to consider questions that relate to the institution's pursuit of its mission. "We've had detailed discussions in the last while about how many practising Roman Catholics an institution ought to have in its faculty component in order to be able to maintain its Catholic identity," says College President Doug Letson. "Within the spirit of the papal document on post-secondary education, at least 50 percent of faculty members should be practising Roman Catholics. So how do you do that, and what does it mean? That's been a matter of some debate." And then there's the problem with the name: the University of St. Jerome's College. "It's tricky," Letson explains. "You've got high schools that call themselves colleges, and community colleges, and university colleges--students don't know what to make of it. When St. Jerome's was established back in '59, the word 'college' wasn't wholly univocal, but it wasn't as complex as it is now. The University of St. Jerome's College is a mouthful, and it takes some explaining." The recent re-structuring of the Board was undertaken in part in response to a change in the St. Jerome's College Act which received Royal Assent on December 19th, 1996. The Act that established the University of St. Jerome's College on March 5th, 1959 called for a Board of Governors composed of members of the Congregation of the Resurrection, the order that founded St. Jerome's. In the early '70s, lay members were added to the Board, but the majority of Board members were always Resurrectionists. In 1986, the Act was revisited and significant changes in the governance of St. Jerome's were enacted. The position of chancellor, which had been held by the Bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton, was now open to anyone, and the office of president would no longer be open only to Resurrectionists. In 1987, John Sweeney became the College's first lay chancellor and Professor Doug Letson, the College's first lay president. Majority membership on the Board, however, remained with the Congregation of the Resurrection. As the general movement towards lay control of Catholic institutions continued, it became clear that the structure of the Board itself needed to be reconsidered. In 1996, with the approval of the Congregation, the Act was revised again, reducing legislated Resurrectionist membership on the Board to the Provincial Superior or his delegate Resurrectionists are still eligible to serve on the board as community-at-large members. "At this point, in addition to Father Lorford Keasey, the Provincial Superior, we have two other members of the Congregation of the Resurrection on the Board--Father Charlie Fedy and Father Bob Liddy serving as community- at-large members," Letson notes. "They're both long-standing members of the Board, very knowledgeable about and interested in postsecondary education." College chaplain Father Jim Link, C.R., is also on the Board as an ex officio member. Board of Governors of St. Jerome's College Ex officio members Dr. Douglas Letson President St. Jerome's College Dr. Michael W. Higgins Vice President, Academic Dean St. Jerome's College Very Rev. Lorford Keasey, C.R. Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Resurrection John Sweeney Chancellor St. Jerome's College Rev. Jim Link, C.R. Chaplain St. Jerome's College Jonathan Waterhouse President, Student Union St. Jerome's College Faculty Dr. Ted McGee Professor of English St. Jerome's College Staff Dr. Gary Draper Librarian St. Jerome's College Graduate Nadina Jamison Community at large Dr. Clare Beingessner Brian Patrick Eby Rev. Charles Fedy, C.R. Pat Flynn Barbara Howe Sandy Ingham Rev. Robert Liddy, C.R. Rabbi Jordan Pearlson Deborah Pecoskie Joe Sinasac Margaret Voll Dr. Donna Ward Most of those interviewed expressed a wish to be more involved in decision-making and indicated a willingness to invest more time in order to come to grips with particular issues