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From Institute for Conservation
Leadership's Spring 2005 Newsletter, "The Network" Visit
www.icl.org.
Are there standard practices for board term
limits and missed meetings?
There is no standard practice for board term limits,
but building term limits into your organization's
by-laws is a good idea. An important role for the
board is to ensure the long term viability of the
organization by helping it develop new leaders and
replacing itself. Most organizations also find that
the type of skills and experiences they need on their
board evolve over time.
According to BoardSource (www.boardsource.org),
the most common length of board term is three years.
Almost half of the organizations with board term
limits allow board members to be elected for a second
term. From observing boards, it seems that total
terms that last 5-6 years allow board members to
adequately learn their job and make meaningful contributions
to the organization.
Many groups also struggle
with the question of what to do with board members
who frequently miss meetings.
Some groups include attending meetings as part of
a board member job description. Others include a
policy about missed meetings in their bylaws. As
in many realms, the policy is less important than
the ethic and practice that is held. For example,
recruiting board members becomes an opportunity to
clearly say, "We want new board members who
will attend at least 80% of all board meetings. Is
that possible for you?"
If a board member has missed several meetings in
a row, it becomes an opportunity to check-in, see
if all is well with the board member, and bring him
or her up-to-date on board business, and ask about
their future intentions for committee work, events,
and meetings.
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