Boards have been around for a while at most schools.  But where they once were seen as financial supporters, sounding boards, friends of the school, a good public relations play, they now are working partners with administration, students and faculty.  They not only open their wallets; they roll up their sleeves and go to work for the success of the school.

This partnership between schools and boards is of mutual benefit.  Board members, who also are employers competing for the very best graduates, have a vested interest in the school, which motivates them to be active, rather than passive, participants.

Schools, on the other hand, get constant feedback on the product they're turning out — graduates who need to hit the ground running as practicing managers.

A Changing Profile
Seeing the critical role of advisors, schools have been transforming both the profile and function of their boards, which continue to evolve.  Today's boards have a higher level of sophistication than at any previous time. 

In describing this gradual transformation, Greg Dell'Omo, newly named vice president of academic affairs at St. Joseph's University and former dean of the university's Haub School of Business, said, "Our board used to consist of people at the director level, all alumni.  Now they're more senior and only 70 to 75 percent alumni."

While schools value the familiarity and loyalty of alumni (and most councils do include a large number of graduates), they see the need for a broader view.  For the same reason, they also build in diversity — of gender and ethnicity, as well as industry and size of firms.

To reflect the new economy, boards are adding younger members and more entrepreneurs.  Carolyn Woo, dean of the College of Business Administration at Notre Dame University, reported that the average age of the 15 new members added to her Business Advisory Council over the past three years was 47 or 48, while traditionally, 90 percent of the council has been between ages 45 and 75.

In recent years, more and more boards that already have a large number of Fortune 500 representatives have added members from dot.com companies and start-ups.  "You have to reflect the business community where you are.  You must change as needs change," said Stan Hille, dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. 

But David Blake, dean of the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), which is located in an area populated by high-tech and new media companies, cautions against recruiting members from very small start-ups.  "They simply don't have time.  You have to find other ways to interact with them," he said. 

George Daly, dean of the Stern School at New York University, added, "Don't ask high-level people to serve and then make them feel like window dressers.  Ask substantive questions — and listen to the answers."

UCI's Blake described the current relationship between schools and councils as a "more aggressive partnership" than before.  "Board members want to see that we're not just listening but doing, acting on their recommendations — or explaining why if we're not," he said.

More Collaborative
Several deans stressed that meetings with their councils are discussions, not lectures or a series of speeches.  "I never stand at a podium during board meetings; that would create a barrier," said Al Niemi, dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.  "Our microphones are unobtrusive.  We can speak in a normal voice and we sit in a circular fashion so we're all eyeball-to-eyeball with everyone else in the room.  It's a corporate board environment."

It's also important to give feedback.  When Joe Alutto, dean of the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University, seeks the advice of his board, he makes sure he gets back to them on why he took the advice, or not.

"My sense is that there is much more collaboration (between the board and the school than previously)," Alutto said.  "The faculty used to keep the board at arm's length, as though the two parties were in conflict.  But now they see more value to the board's input."

NYU's Daly finds faculty members less tuned in to change than board members, "who see the world, including educational institutions, changing in important ways.  The board can help persuade faculty to change," he said.

One reason faculty are listening is that they know money is tied to the board, Hille said.  Always looking for dollars to fund their research, faculty know the board can raise money for them if the board believes in what they're doing.

Today, schools appreciate not only the financial gifts, but also the time and influence that high-level  executives expend on the school's behalf.  "They have personal relationships with individuals and companies that can support us," said SMU's Niemi.

Boards do provide strong informal ties to external communities and a type of public relations that can't be bought at any price.  "The best kind of communication happens informally around the table at Rotary Club meetings and other events like that," Cocanougher said.

Council members also help with recruitment of new students, placement of interns and graduates, and career planning.  They engage guest speakers, lecture in classes and attract new faculty.  They network with alumni, too, often hosting events, particularly if they live outside the city where the school is located.  "They take a personal interest in the students," says Baskin of Pepperdine, where board members volunteer to mentor MBA students one-on-one for year-long terms.

On a broader scale, boards challenge schools to strive for excellence, they raise questions, and they insist on relevance and focus.  "Reality comes home very quickly when the board asks, 'Why?,'" said UNC's Clark.  But in order to gain the most from the board's experience and expertise, he said, "you have to allow them to have honest dialogue with you regarding your vision, mission and goals."

Added Notre Dame's Woo, "Their advice has gems in it."

One highly valued function of councils is the entree they provide to the business community, for such purposes as placement, promotion, fundraising and faculty research.  Last year, the Graziadio School at Pepperdine hosted a Fortune 500 CEO conference, thanks to the recommendation of a board member to conference planners.  As a result, the school gained immediate exposure to a large number of business leaders that would not have been possible any other way.

When Notre Dame reviewed its master of accounting program, the school wanted to conduct phone interviews with directors of nonprofits.  "We sent a mailing to the board and got back a good list of people to call," Woo said.  "Whenever I need something from the board, I know the help is there."

But Generous Just the Same
Although fundraising remains a major function of advisory councils, through both their own gifts and those of donors they target and cultivate, most don't directly solicit from them.  "Once they see what's going on, they provide both personal and corporate support," Alutto said.

NYU's Stern School recently completed a successful $100 million capital campaign in which 50 percent of the funds raised came from the 34 members of the school's Board of Overseers.  A year and a half ago, the Cox School at SMU consulted its board for just one hour about the possible creation of an MBA venture capital fund for student projects.  "We went forward with the initiative and raised almost $1 million from board members alone," Niemi said.

Nebraska's Hille has always used boards to help with fundraising.  "But I don't ask them to do my job for me," he said.  "I'm still the primary fundraiser.  They set up situations and I do the ask."

At UCI, the board often identifies prospective donors.  "Sometimes they also make the ask, but its more likely that they do it in tandem with me," Blake said.

Touching All Bases
Today's advisory councils have more contact with faculty and students than in the past.  Most schools invite several faculty members to each board meeting to make presentations about their programs or research.  Some also bring in students to advocate for new programs, tell why they chose to attend the school or describe what they want to do after graduation.

The level of contact between boards and central administration varies.  At Texas A&M, the university president addresses the board at their twice-yearly meetings.  At Notre Dame, the president addresses the board in a private session, where the dean is not present.  In some places, board members advocate for the school with central university administration.  At NYU's Stern School, this happens somewhat informally as the board chairman and several other members also sit on the university's board.  "That gives us a great channel of communication," Daly said.

Similarly, seven out of the 42 trustees of Southern Methodist University also serve on the Executive Board of the Cox School.  "Our message gets to the trustees," Niemi said.  At Georgia's Kennesaw State University, council members advocate not only to the university board of regents but also to the state legislature.

But at Ohio State, the council is specifically asked not to lobby to central administration.  "The board is not a vehicle for putting pressure on the university," Alutto said.  However, there is informal interaction between the two groups since members of the Dean's Advisory Council also sit on the university's foundation board.

Clarifying Roles
It's up to the school to set expectations for the council and to communicate those expectations clearly up front.  Board members need to understand how academic institutions work.  "They need to know the parameters of their involvement.  They can't unilaterally change curriculum," said Dell'Omo.  Alutto pointed out that CEOs, who are used to making decisions, "must understand that as board members, their role is to give advice, not to make decisions."

This is particularly true at public universities.  UCI's Blake said, "As a state institution, we have no board of trustees.  Our advisory board has no legal authority; they have to understand that."

At Notre Dame, where five new members are added to the board every year, a regular part of the annual meeting is a new member luncheon at which Woo reiterates the role of the board and the school's expectations of it.

Cloning A Good Thing
Many schools have developed other advisory boards within the school, usually discipline-, program- or department-based, or to work with a specific center or institute.  These multiple boards enable the school to broaden and strengthen its bridges to the business community.  Texas A&M has a total of 240 members on boards throughout the school.

Some also have a second school-wide board with a slightly different focus than the main coucil.  For example, the 200 members of SMU's Associate Board, most of whom are vice presidents or partners in companies, serve as mentors and career counselors to MBA students.  And UCI calls on its 130 Corporate Partners for support, information gathering and feedback.

But regardless of the number of councils, competition for members within a school doesn't seem to be a problem.  And although there may be duplication of firms, duplication of individual members is rare.  Sometimes people who have served on smaller boards may be brought onto the larger main board.

Not Without Challenge
Deans cite several challenges to working with an advisory council.  "You have to manage the process," Dell'Omo said, "and that puts demands on staff."

NYU's Daly mentioned the difficulty of getting faculty to listen to advisors: "Academics like to talk more than listen, but board members want to be heard."

Several deans have questioned how much to communicate with the council throughout the year.  "You want to keep in touch without swamping them with mail," Baskin said.  "You have to keep them informed, but if you send too much, they stop looking at it."

Notre Dame's Business Advisory Council members receive tow or three magazines a year from the school, as well as an annual report and eight postcards to update them.  Woo said the school might communicate with the board via the Internet, but not all members use it extensively.

Blake enjoys spontaneous opportunities to interact with council members informally.  In California's small, densely populated Orange County, "we are a close enough community that we bump into each other in the grocery store," he said.

With a 75-member council, Woo faces another challenge.  She finds it hard to know members as well as she'd like.  "I have underutilized them.  I could lean on them more and build stronger relationships, if my schedule allowed," she said.

Many deans stressed the absolute imperative of respecting board members' time, particularly in planning and running meetings.  "We try to keep our meetings very crisp," said Blake.  "We start at 8 a.m. and I'm absolutely fierce that we end at 10 a.m.  Knowing the meeting will be focused and limited enhances the board's participation."

The only time Niemi finds it difficult to end board meetings at SMU is in the spring, when four to six students make presentations.  "There's so much energy there," he said, "such good chemistry between the board and the students that its hard to cut if off after two hours."

Some deans find board recruitment — getting people to make that commitment to the school — a challenge within itself.  "We have to do a bit of a selling job," Cocanougher said.  "People at this level have an excess of opportunities for their free time."

Perhaps surprisingly, this is even truer in urban centers.  "It's hard for an urban, small school," said Hille.  "CEOs are not interested in serving here; they'd choose a place like Yale instead."

Also, within urban centers, there is a lot of competition for members among boards.  At Kennesaw State, where each department has its own board, business dean Tim Mescon runs up against stiff competition in the Atlanta area, where there are hundreds of boards.  At his previous position, with Salisbury State University in Maryland, he found recruitment much easier.  "We were the only game in town so it was easy to be a cause celebre in the community."

In Wilmington, North Carolina, which attracts a large population of retired executives, UNC-Wilmington is surrounded by a wealth of potential board members with time on their hands.

Notre Dame, too, enjoys an abundance of prospective members who are eager to serve.  "We have greater interest than we do slots to fill," Woo said.  "New members already have a longstanding relationship with the university when they are asked to serve."

What Next?
As schools continue to evolve their boards in order to stay in step with the demands and culture of business, what changes do they foresee in the near future?  Some see the need for more small sub-councils in such areas as e-commerce, healthcare and entertainment.  Others want to gradually raise the level of their membership to include more senior executives.  At Kennesaw State, Mescon said he is considering appointing standing committees to replace the current ad hoc committees within the board, because some members want to be assigned to specific areas.  Dell'Omo at St. Joseph's wants more student involvement.

All agree that the role of advisory councils — as advocates, ambassadors and a reality touchstone — will remain critical and likely become more so as business continues rapid change.  "The board is our avenue to get to real-world situations in the classroom," Hille said.

"When they say something, I listen," said Notre Dame's Woo.  "I know they want us to succeed."