Maricopa Community Colleges

Public Stewardship

Online Policy Manual

Governing Board Policies -- Board-Staff Relationship

Chancellor's Role
Delegation to the Chancellor
Chancellor Job Description
Monitoring Executive Performance

Chancellor's Role

The Chancellor, as chief executive officer, is accountable to the Board acting as a body. The Board shall instruct the Chancellor through written policies, delegating reasonable interpretation and implementation to the Chancellor.

Amended December 14, 1999 - MOTION NO. 8928

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Delegation to the Chancellor

All Board authority delegated to staff is delegated through the Chancellor, so that authority and accountability of staff on administrative matters - as far as the Board is concerned - is considered to be the authority and accountability of the Chancellor. The Board maintains accountability for employees through areas specified in law and regulations, its Vision, Mission and Values, Employee Group Policies, and the Board Auxiliary Policies.

Board accountability to employees, who are also recognized as citizens of Maricopa County, is exhibited through a commitment to dialog and making well informed policy decisions that impact employment, compensation & benefits, and the teaching and learning environment.

  1. The Board will direct the Chancellor to achieve certain results, for certain recipients, at a certain cost or priority through the establishment of Outcomes policies. The Board will limit the latitude the Chancellor may exercise in practices, methods, conduct, and other "means" to the Outcomes through establishment of Executive Duties And Responsibilities policies.
  2. As long as the Chancellor uses a reasonable interpretation of the Board's Outcomes and Executive Duties And Responsibilities policies, the Chancellor is authorized to establish all further relevant administrative regulations, make all reasonable decisions, take all prudent actions, establish all appropriate practices, and develop all pertinent activities.
  3. The Board may change its Outcomes and Executive Duties And Responsibilities policies, thereby shifting the boundary between Board and Chancellor domains. By so doing, the Board changes the latitude of choice given to the Chancellor. But so long as any particular delegation is in place, the Board and its members will normally respect and support the Chancellor's choices as long as they are prudent, ethical, and appropriate. This does not prevent the Board from obtaining information in the delegated areas, except for confidential/personal information relating to students and staff.
  4. Only decisions of the Board acting as a body are binding upon the Chancellor.
    1. Decisions or instructions of individual Board Members, officers, or committees are not binding on the Chancellor except in rare instances when the Board has specifically authorized such exercise of authority.
    2. In the case of individual Board Members or committees requesting information or assistance, the Chancellor shall make every effort to honor all such requests, with the exception where considerable time and expense are involved.

AMENDED December 14, 1999 - MOTION NO. 8928
AMENDED December 14, 2004 - MOTION NO. 9287
AMENDED December 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9349

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Chancellor Job Description

As the Board's single official link to the operating organization, the Chancellor's performance will be considered to be synonymous with organizational performance as a whole.

Consequently, the Chancellor's job contributions can be stated as performance in only two areas.

  1. Organizational accomplishment of the revisions of Board policies on Strategic Directions as measured by the Board's Outcomes.
  2. Organizational operation within the boundaries of prudence and ethics established in Board policies on Executive Duties and Responsibilities.

Amended December 14, 1999 - MOTION NO. 8928
Amended December 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9349

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Monitoring Executive Performance

Monitoring executive performance is normally congruent with, but not limited to, monitoring organizational performance against Board policies on Strategic Directions and on Executive Duties and Responsibilities, although the Board may add other factors as conditions warrant.

  1. The purpose of monitoring is simply to determine the degree to which the Chancellor is fulfilling Board policies. All information that enables the Board to assess this is considered relevant.
  2. A given policy may be monitored in one or more of three ways:
    1. Internal report: Disclosure of compliance information to the Board from the Chancellor.
    2. External report: Discovery of compliance information by a disinterested, external auditor, inspector or judge who is selected by and reports directly to the Board. Such reports must assess executive performance only against policies of the Board, not those of the external party unless the Board has previously indicated that party's opinion to be the standard.
    3. Direct Board inspection: Discovery of compliance information by a Board Member, a committee or the Board as a whole. This is a Board inspection of documents, activities or circumstances directed by the Board that allows a "prudent person" test of policy compliance.
  3. Upon the choice of the Board, any policy can be monitored by any method at any time. For regular monitoring, however, each Strategic Direction and Executive Duties And Responsibilities policy will be classified by the Board according to frequency and method.
  4. The Board will have a formal evaluation of the Chancellor in May of each year. The evaluation will be based on previously agreed upon performance measures.

AMENDED December 14, 1999 - MOTION NO. 8928
AMENDED December 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9349

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