Strategic Governance 93
Role and Responsibilities of the SPC
The SPC serves as a steering committee for the process both organizationally as
well as with regard to the larger questions of strategy and leadership. In most cases,
the total process will benefit from an early focus by the SPC on the crucial fourfold
strategic elements of identity, mission, vision, and position. At this juncture, it
becomes clear that an open, effective, and continuing dialogue between the
president and the council is critical. Out of the shared understanding of these
defining perspectives, the work of strategy will become effective in galvanizing
commitment to shared strategic goals across the campus. The participants in
subcommittees and task forces will find that their work becomes much more
focused and productive if they can orient themselves to an authentic narrative of
identity and aspiration, even if it is preliminary.
If the council anticipates working in task forces and subcommittees, as is usually
the case, it should be made clear how the SPC hopes to divide the responsibilities
of each group in meaningful ways. Typically one of the members of the SPC
will either chair or co-chair subcommittees, so all its members need to be aware
of the responsibilities that await them. The selection of topics requires a lot of
analysis and discussion, and there will need to be some negotiation about how
various topics will be treated, since many issues will fit into several contexts.
As we emphasize later, only a limited number of issues can be treated in each
intensive planning cycle, so careful thought about managing the work of each
subgroup is essential.
This is also the time to begin to sketch the length and characteristics of the
report that is to be expected from each group. The art and science of preparing
situation analyses, developing goals, and assigning responsibility for them should
be explored in order to develop common purposes, formats, and patterns of pre-
sentation. Anticipating that usually only two or three people write the first draft
of committee reports will bring realism into the discussion. As suggested in the
Flagship SPC case, it is also important to establish the protocols for the various
subgroups to work with the SPC and to clarify what happens to their reports and
recommendations once they are submitted. They should expect that their ideas
will be taken seriously but be subject to significant reformulation in the final deci-
sions and reports of the SPC.
Group Process
The various subcommittees as well as the SPC itself will also want to consider
the dynamics of constructive group work and relationships. How can group inter-
action be productive and positive, encouraging people to make contributions
to deliberations? How will the group become an effective collaborative team
based on dialogue, not endless disputes? How will the leadership and facilita-
tion of group processes occur? The notion that the group is a team, not simply
a committee, is a useful starting point to answer these questions. Team members