In difficult times, vice-chancellors need more diverse boards to lean on

In the current financial and political circumstances, UK vice-chancellors and senior executives are in a very challenging, fast-moving and often lonely place. A sympathetic chair and experienced board members can offer vital support. Acting as critical friends, they can provide wise counsel and be immensely valuable sounding boards.

However, they can do this effectively only if, as a group, they have the life experience, skills and background to appreciate fully the nature of today’s cultural and political challenges. And that is not always the case.

The problem is partly one of board visibility. Someone once said to me that the only time they became aware that universities had boards was when the chair was wheeled out at graduation ceremonies (“You’ve all done very well!”) or was quoted in a carefully worded but unenlightening press release when a vice-chancellor had just left under mysterious circumstances (“to pursue his/her many other interests”). Boards also publish annual reports – but frankly, how many people actually read them?

So why would it occur to you to apply to join a body whose functions are more or less a total mystery to you?

You might be even less inclined to sign up, however, when those functions are demystified. To the surprise of some new board members, trustees do not do management: the v-c and the executive handle that. That can actually be disappointing for some appointees, creating real issues with their level of engagement. But the board’s responsibilities are still considerable, including overseeing strategy, financial plans and results, statutory requirements, as well as generally holding the management to account.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, most advertisements for board members have the same slight whiff of desperation about them: they need people who are talented, enthusiastic, experienced, skilled and collegiate, with specific experience of finance, auditing, law or HR, and are prepared to put in a few hours a month. Then, right at the end, the advert lets slip that the position is unpaid and that meetings tend to take place in working hours (but your travelling expenses will be met).

That, in itself, is enough to put off most applicants. But during the recruitment process, it emerges that when they said “a few hours each month”, it is probably a bit more than that in reality, with a few hundred pages of papers to read for each meeting. They would want you to sit on a subcommittee as well, which also takes time. Little wonder that some boards, particularly in smaller institutions, struggle to attract a diverse pool of applicants.

Such forbidding and unimaginative adverts and recruitment processes inevitably attract only applicants who are similar to those who were previously recruited that way – and the people who would bring a diversity of background can find it hard to see themselves on boards dominated by those usual suspects.

Given the existential challenges facing the sector, however, a lack of diversity is a genuine weakness because it leaves boards unrepresentative of their student bodies, alumni and local communities, limiting their perspective and exposure to fresh ideas. There is a genuine risk for some boards that if they keep on doing what they have always done, in the way they have always done it and with the same sort of people doing it, they will be ill-equipped to face the rapidly changing challenges that have left dozens of UK institutions teetering on the brink of insolvency or facing various types of public controversy.

So how to widen the applicant pool? Alumni networks can be a very good source of non-traditional applicants. Executive search firms can do more to expand the candidate pool and can be incentivised to present longlists that address these challenges. And existing board members can reach out to their own networks and encourage applicants who might not have considered board roles before.

Institutions can also offer board apprenticeships to applicants from non-traditional backgrounds, which typically provide 12 months of development and training and the opportunity to experience real board meetings. Many organisations offer these now, and there is a lot of guidance available.

Would payment help, too? Perhaps. It is worth noting that the NHS commonly pays chairs and independent board members, for example. Payment might be some compensation for the commitment of time required of those in paid employment, who might otherwise rule themselves out.

Personally, board membership is one of the most satisfying and fulfilling roles I have performed. I have felt genuinely able to make a contribution that is valued and makes a real difference. I would urge anyone who is interested to apply the next time an institution that interests you has a vacancy (try the Committee of University Chairs board vacancies page or LinkedIn).

Oh, and one other thing: the catering for board meetings is usually excellent. You are giving up a lot of your time and energy for those sandwiches, but they are far superior to those at your average conference buffet.

Kim Frost is deputy chair of governors at the Royal Agricultural University and a member of the board at AECC University College Bournemouth. He is a former human resources director at the University of London.