More specifically, the Board will:

1. Operate in all ways mindful of its civic trusteeship obligation to those who own the organization, the residents of Maricopa County. Board members will attempt to work together, in a harmonious manner, in pursuit of this obligation.
2. Enforce upon itself whatever discipline is needed to govern efficiently, effectively, and with excellence. Discipline will apply to matters such as attendance, policy making principles, respect of roles, respect for democratic processes, and ensuring the continuity of governance capability. Continual redevelopment will include orientation of new members in the Board's governance process and periodic Board discussion of the vision, mission and values, outcome development, and public stewardship.
3. Direct, control, and inspire the organization through the careful establishment of organizational policies reflecting the Board's values and perspectives. The Board's major focus will be on the intended long term impacts outside the operating organization (outcomes), not on the administrative or programmatic means, except as they conflict with statutory law.
4. Cultivate a sense of group responsibility. The Board, not the staff, will be responsible for excellence in governing. The Board will be an initiator of policy, not merely a reactor to staff initiatives. The Board will use the expertise of individual members to enhance the ability of the Board as a body, rather than to substitute their individual judgments for the Board's adopted values.
5. Conduct itself in a manner that complies with all relevant laws and regulations. The Board will fulfill all of its legal and fiduciary responsibilities as required by state statutes, the Arizona Constitution, and all state administrative rules. These include responsibilities such as approval of the budget, tuition and fees, degrees, certificates and diplomas, graduation requirements, curriculum catalog policies and travel regulations and procedures.
6. Keep well-informed about relevant global and local educational and other issues, by actively gathering information and attendance at appropriate workshops and conferences to fulfill its role.
7. Conduct a formal evaluation of the Chancellor in May of each year, to be based on previously agreed upon performance measures. In compliance withe A.R.S. §15-1447, this would include a submission by the Chancellor of a complete report of the District and each college campus on the total number of full-time equivalent students enrolled during the year, the actual total number of students, the number of instructors regularly employed and the total number of students not residing within the District. The report shall be submitted at the close of each fiscal year.
8. When requesting any information, must make that request through the Chancellor's office.
9. Govern with appreciation of the diversity of our internal and external communities. Diversity is defined as the environment created within Maricopa that demonstrates equity and mutual respect of each person.
10. Direct that an annual review of board policies begin in July of each year for the purpose of routine maintenance.
11. Monitor and discuss the board's process and performance. Self-monitoring will be conducted annually and will emphasize objective criteria that focus on board efficiency, public stewardship, effectiveness, and attainment of its outcomes.

AMENDED SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 - MOTION 9510
AMENDED DECEMBER 14, 1999 - MOTION 8928
AMENDED FEBRUARY 22, 2000 - MOTION 8945
AMENDED DECEMBER 12, 2000 - MOTION 9005
AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION 9079
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION 9349

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Board Job Description

The job of the Board is to represent the residents of Maricopa County in determining and demanding appropriate organizational performance. To distinguish the Board's own unique job from the jobs of its staff, the Board will concentrate its efforts on the following job "products" or outputs:

1. The link between Maricopa County Community College District and the citizens of Maricopa County.
1. Board Members will be responsive to the concerns of the ownership, the citizens of Maricopa County.
2. Board Members will keep in touch with relevant current and future issues.
2. Written governing policies that, at the broadest levels, address:
1. Outcomes: Organizational products, impacts, benefits, outcomes, recipients, and their relative worth (what good for which needs at what cost or priority).
2. Governance Process: Specification of how the Board conceives, carries out and monitors its own task.
3. Executive Duties and Responsibilities: Constraints on executive authority that establish the prudent and ethical boundaries within which all executive activity and decisions must take place.
4. Board-Staff Relationship: How power is delegated and its proper use monitored; the Chancellor role, authority and accountability.
5. General: Areas of administrative operation where the Board has elected to continue to maintain ultimate authority.
6. Board Auxiliary: Supplementary language that is related to the Board's governing of discretionary rights.
3. The assurance of Chancellor performance (against policies in 2A and 2B).
4. Legislative impact.

AMENDED DECEMBER 14, 1999 - MOTION 8928
AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION 9079
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION 9349

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President's Role

The job "product" of the President is, primarily, the integrity of the Board's process and, secondarily, occasional representation of the Board to outside parties. The President is the only Board Member authorized to speak for the Board (beyond simply reporting Board decisions), other than in rare and specifically authorized instances.

1. The job output of the President is that the Board behaves consistently with its own rules and those legitimately imposed upon it from outside the organization.
1. Meeting discussion content will only be those issues that, according to Board policy, clearly belong to the Board to decide, not to the Chancellor.
2. Deliberation will be fair, open, and thorough, but also efficient, timely, orderly and kept to the point.
3. The Board will offer the opportunity for input from individuals and organizations, including employee groups and affiliated organizations that have expertise and interests specifically related to Board decisions and Board policies.
2. The authority of the President consists in making decisions that fall within the topics covered by Board policies on Governance Process and Board-Staff Relationship, except where the Board specifically delegates portions of this authority to others. The President is authorized to use any reasonable interpretation of the provisions in these policies.
1. The President is empowered to preside over Board meetings with the commonly accepted power of that position (e.g., ruling, recognizing).
2. The President, being an individual Board Member, has no authority to make decisions about policies created by the Board within the Outcomes and Executive Duties and Responsibilities policy areas. Therefore, the President has no authority to supervise or direct the Chancellor.
3. The President may represent the Board to outside parties in announcing Board-stated positions and in stating presidential decisions and interpretations within the area delegated to him or her.

AMENDED DECEMBER 14, 1999 - MOTION 8928
AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION 9079
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION 9349

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Board Committee Principles

Board committees, when used, will be assigned so as to interfere minimally with the wholeness of the Board's job and so as never to interfere with delegation from Board to Chancellor. Committees will be used sparingly, and only when other methods have been deemed inadequate.

1. Board committees are to help the Board do its job, not to help the staff do their jobs. Committees ordinarily will assist the Board by preparing policy alternatives and implications for Board deliberation. Board committees are not to be created by the Board to advise staff.
2. Board committees may not speak or act for the Board except when formally given such authority for specific and time-limited purposes. Expectations and authority will be carefully stated in order not to conflict with authority delegated to the Chancellor.
3. Board committees cannot exercise authority over staff. Because the Chancellor works for the full Board, he or she will not be required to obtain approval of a Board committee before taking an executive action. In keeping with the Board's broader focus, Board committees will normally not have direct dealings with current staff operations although Board committees may include staff members.
4. Board committees are to avoid over-identification with organizational parts rather than the whole. Therefore, a Board committee that has helped the Board create policy on some topic will not be used to monitor organizational performance on that same subject.
5. This policy applies only to committees that are formed by Board action, whether or not the committees include non-Board members. It does not apply to committees formed under the authority of the Chancellor.

AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION 9079
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION 9349

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Board Committee Structure

A committee is a Board committee only if its existence and charge come from the Board, regardless of whether Board members sit on the committee. The only Board committees are those that are set forth in this policy. (None).

AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION 9079

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Annual Board Planning Calendar 2008

To accomplish its job with a governance style consistent with Board policies, the Board will follow a planning calendar that (a) carefully completes an annual review of Outcomes policies and (b) continually improves its performance through attention to Board education, enriched input, and deliberation.

The annual calendar schedules planning activities that demonstrate compliance with the Maricopa Governance model as well as related actions that require approval by the Board. While the annual agenda follows a calendar year (consistent with the term of the Board President), it seeks to address cycles that contribute to multi-year planning. For instance, a revised Outcomes policy from which the staff can develop a budget and a financial plan for two fiscal years out will be adopted by the last day of March. Events that are used to demonstrate accountability, such as policy reviews and monitoring reports, are also scheduled.

January

• Annual Organizational Meeting - Selection of Officers

February

• Tuition and Fees to Governing Board as Information Item
• Action on Proposition 301 Workforce Development and Job Training Annual Plan
• Legislative Session/Activities (through Spring)

March

• Action on Tuition and Fees
• Budget to Board as Information Item

April

• Preliminary Budget Adoption

May

• Chancellor Evaluation
• Strategic Plan Adoption

June

• Final Budget Adoption

July

• Review/Housekeeping of Board Policies begins

August

• Annual Board Retreat - Review Multi-Year Planning Calendar, Proposed Policy Housekeeping Changes and Board Self-Evaluation

September

• Prepare Calendar Revisions for next year, for approval no later than December

October

• Annual Monitoring Report of All Board Outcomes Distributed
• Action on Proposition 301 Workforce Development and Job
• Training Annual Report for 2007-2008

November

• Review of Annual Report Data for use in Strategic Planning -- Outcomes & Initiatives for Two Fiscal Years Out - Work Session
• Strategic Plan Retreat - Multi-Year Planning & Review of Strategic Directions

December

• Adoption of Housekeeping Policy Changes

AMENDED DECEMBER 14, 1999 - MOTION NO. 8928
AMENDED DECEMBER 12, 2000 - MOTION NO. 9005
AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION NO. 9079
AMENDED DECEMBER 10, 2002 - MOTION NO. 9140
AMENDED DECEMBER 9, 2003 - MOTION NO. 9211
AMENDED DECEMBER 14, 2004 - MOTION NO. 9287
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9349
AMENDED MARCH 25, 2008 - MOTION NO. 9473
AMENDED APRIL 29, 2008 - MOTION NO. 9480

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Board Members' Code of Conduct

The Board expects of itself, as a whole and of its members, ethical and professional conduct. This commitment includes proper use of authority and appropriate decorum in group and individual behavior when acting as Board Members.

1. Board Members must represent unconflicted loyalty to the interests of the entire community of Maricopa County. This accountability supersedes any conflicting loyalty such as that to advocacy or interest groups and membership on other boards and staffs. Likewise, Board Members are elected to serve on a nonpartisan basis, and this accountability supersedes the personal interest of any Board Member acting as an individual consumer of the organization's services and when serving as a steward on behalf of the college district.
2. Board Members must avoid any conflict of interest with respect to their fiduciary responsibility.
1. There must be no self-dealing or any conduct of private business or personal services between any Board Member and the organization except as procedurally controlled to assure openness, competitive opportunity, and equal access to "inside" information.
2. Board Members must not use their positions to obtain employment in the organization for themselves, family members, or close associates.
3. Board Members may not attempt to exercise individual authority over the organization except as explicitly set forth in Board policies.
1. Board Members' interaction with the Chancellor or with staff must recognize the lack of authority in any individual Board Member or group of Board Members except as noted above in these governance policies.
2. Board Members' interaction with the public, press or other entities must recognize the same limitation and the similar inability of any Board Member or Board Members to speak for the Board.
3. Board Members will make no public judgments of the Chancellor or staff performance except as that performance is assessed against explicit Board policies by the official process.
4. Board Members must deal positively and respectfully with each other, including the use of open and honest communication.
5. The Board as a whole will provide sufficient opportunities for open, respectful, and honest communication with their internal and external communities.
6. In circumstances where the conduct of a Member has been questioned in accordance to the Board’s own established policies, the Board may request that the Chancellor arrange for an independent review to be conducted for the purpose of advising the Board if noncompliance with its own policies has occurred by an appropriate individual(s). After receipt of the results of the review, the Board may discuss the matter in a public meeting, and as a body address the conduct of its member.

AMENDED DECEMBER 12, 2000 - MOTION NO. 9005
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9345 & 9349

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Reimbursement of Expenses/Insurance Eligibility

1. Board Members will be reimbursed at the same rates as district employees for mileage incurred for authorized travel or for necessary expenses incurred while on district business at conferences or professional meetings.
2. Governing Board Members, their spouses and dependent children may participate in the District's health, accident life and disability insurance plans if they pay the full amount of the premium(s). Board Members are subject to the same guidelines and parameters as other insurance eligible employees.

Board Members who participate in the above plans may continue to participate after leaving the Board if:

1. the member served at least six consecutive years on the Board, and
2. the Board Member pays the full premium.

The surviving spouse and/or dependent child of a Board Member or former Board Members may continue to participate in the plan if

1. they were covered under the Board Member's plan, and
2. they pay the full premium.

It is strictly prohibited for the District to expend any district funds to subsidize the participation of any Board Member, spouse or dependent in this program.

AMENDED DECEMBER 12, 2000 - MOTION NO. 9005
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9349

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Board Operations

The Board will operate in a consistent manner, following the policies detailed here, and unless otherwise noted, adhere to these operational proceedings:

1. Meetings
1. Regular - The Board will normally meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month in the Governing Board Room of the District Support Services Center to take action on such items as human resources and administration, academic affairs, student development and community affairs and information technology services. Meetings may be held at sites throughout the District. The times for each meeting will be posted at least 24 hours prior to the meeting date.
2. Special Meetings - Special meetings may be called on a needs basis by the President of the Board.
3. Strategic Conversations, Work Sessions and Community Forums - The Board will participate in meetings that are designed to discuss specific issues or topics and to gather community input regarding the Maricopa County Community College District. Opportunities will be presented either as Strategic Conversations, Work Sessions or Community Forums and will be held on a date established by the Board. Such meetings will either be held at the District Office or at community sites within the District. The time and location for such meetings will be posted at least 24 hours prior to the established date.
4. Executive Sessions – In compliance with A.R.S Section 38-431.03, meetings may be called in order for the board to discuss its position and instruct its attorney regarding matters of pending or contemplated litigation.
2. Organization of the Board
   
   The annual organizational meeting will be held at the first meeting in January, where the Board will elect a President and Secretary. Nominations will be made for each office and decided or filled by a majority vote of the members. The Secretary will fulfill the duties of the chair in the absence of the President
   
   
3. Agenda
   
   The agenda and meeting materials shall be prepared by the Assistant to the Governing Board, reviewed by the Chancellor and delivered to the Board Members approximately four days prior to the regular meeting date.
   
   
4. Rules of Action
1. Quorum
1. A minimum of three members shall constitute a quorum and shall be necessary to conduct business.
2. Approval of an action item requires affirmative votes from the majority of the quorum.
2. Consideration of Policy Matters
   
   The Board will consider proposed new or revised policy twice, first as an informational item; then as a recommendation for approval. Upon a majority vote, the policy will be incorporated into the Board's policies.
3. Use of a Consent Agenda
1. All items presented to the Board will be placed on a Consent Agenda, except policy considerations or annual budget approval.
2. Any item may be removed from the Consent Agenda by a Board Member, administrator or member of the audience.
4. Rules of Order
   
   The board will establish its own rules of order, subject to the following:
1. Abstention by one or more members shall constitute action, with the abstention to be stated by the Board Member(s).
2. The Consent Agenda shall be placed before the entire Board through a motion made by one of the Board Members. A second to the motion shall not be needed.
3. Other items on the meeting agenda that require action shall be placed before the entire board through a motion made by one of the Board Members. A second to the motion shall not be needed.
4. Appropriate discussion of the item shall be determined by the Board President who shall call for the vote.
5. Any motion may be amended, tabled, etc.
5. Public Attendance and Discussion
1. Citizens Interim - The Board will set aside a portion of each agenda to hear from citizens regarding items of general concern.
1. The Board President will, at his/her discretion call on each speaker permitting up to 5 minutes for the speaker's remarks.
2. The total number of speakers addressing a particular subject will be limited to no more than 9.
3. The Board President, may waive the limitations provided in items Ai and Aii.
2. Action or Informational Agenda Items
1. The Board President may, at his/her discretion recognize a member of the audience to question or speak on a specific item on the agenda.
2. The provisions set forth in paragraphs Ai-iii shall apply.
3. Presenting concerns to the Board and the free expression of ideas should be communicated with decorum and respect. Uncivil or disorderly conduct is not permitted. The use of derisive or insulting epithets, or the direction of remarks that defame, attack orz harass an individual may serve as cause for the Board’s President to direct that the speaker immediately conclude his or her remarks.

AMENDED SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 - MOTION 9510
AMENDED APRIL 22, 1997 - MOTION NO. 8650
AMENDED NOVEMBER 27, 2001 - MOTION NO. 9079
AMENDED NOVEMBER 26, 2002 - MOTION NO. 9133
AMENDED DECEMBER 9, 2003 - MOTION NO. 9211
AMENDED DECEMBER 13, 2005 - MOTION NO. 9346, 9347 & 9349

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