Holy Cross Province Policy Governance — Excellence in Board Performance

At the Provincial Chapter, 2015, the Chapter commissioned a Task Force from the Province Retreat Center Board (PRCB) to consider Policy Governance as a model of board governance for the four retreat centers in the Province.  Near the end of 2016, the PRCB Task Force recommended to the Provincial Council that the centers implement Policy Governance, and the recommendation was approved. The position of Policy Governance Coordinator was created to serve as a resource person for the retreat centers.

Our retreatants are probably more interested in what our ministries are accomplishing than what process or model the board is using, but it is a topic of critical importance to the future viability of the retreat centers.  Policy Governance can be explained as a system for governance in which all the most important values of the organization are written in policy and that policy is the way the board guides the Retreat Center Director (CEO) in running the center and holds the CEO accountable for organizational performance. Policy Governance boards govern in a way that allows the board to focus more on the long-term direction of the retreat center while carefully delegating most day-to-day decisions to the CEO.

This site is intended to provide Policy Governance resources your board will require as it navigates governing the retreat center into the future.  Comments or questions are welcome:

Elizabeth Velarde, Policy Governance Coordinator
evelarde@passionist.org