ERIC Identifier: ED377782
Publication Date: 1994-00-00
Author: Teitel, Lee
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education Washington DC.|
George Washington Univ. Washington DC. School of Education and Human Development.
The Advisory Committee Advantage. Creating an Effective Strategy for Programmatic
Improvement. ERIC Digest.
Advisory committees are effective ways to help connect universities and
colleges to their environments. Interest in advisory committees has increased
in recent years as institutions of higher education and their programs
face intense challenges in adapting to and meeting today's needs. Driven,
in many cases, by declining enrollments and/or diminishing budgets, institutions
find themselves under increased pressure to do more with less. At the same
time, demands and expectations for responsiveness and accountability have
increased, requiring greater interaction with the world outside the ivory
tower. Advisory committees represent a "bridge to the external public"
(Thompson 1984, p. 27), and the growth of interest in advisory committees
shares its roots with the recent surge of attention to strategic planning
and total quality management. Advisory committees can provide mechanisms
at all levels of higher education to help improve communication and interaction
with the outside world. They can provide fresh insights, powerful connections,
access to valuable resources, and excellent public relations. In conjunction
with a strategic plan or total quality management, they can be key elements
in renewing and revitalizing an institution.
WHAT ARE ADVISORY COMMITTEES? WHAT DO THEY DO?
The simple definition of an advisory committee is a group of volunteers
that meets regularly on a long-term basis to provide advice and/or support
to an institution or one of its subunits. Advisory committees can range
from those that consult to university presidents on the broadest of policy
issues (Scott 1988) to committees that focus on the nitty-gritty--what
machine shop tools a community college should buy, for example (Corley
1988). By opening a window of exchange with members of the broader society,
advisory committees can help institutions with a host of important functions:
strengthening programs, improving management, reviewing and evaluating
mission, programs, and services, recruiting personnel, raising funds, promoting
public relations, and improving relationships with other organizations
(Cuninggim 1985, pp. 5-16). The first three functions, and sometimes the
fourth, are truly advisory in nature, as the committee provides external
input into internal processes; the last three fall more into the support
category, with committee members serving the organization by helping in
the outside world.
WHAT IS AN EFFECTIVE ADVISORY COMMITTEE?
The level of the advisory committee's work varies tremendously along a
spectrum of involvement and activity. Some committees exist in name only
and have never met or, after one organizational meeting, go on for years
on paper. Others meet once or twice annually, for largely ceremonial purposes.
Others are largely a collection of advisers who might individually provide
advice or support but whose committees rarely, if ever, meet. At the other
end of the spectrum are occasionally overinvolved advisory committees.
They provide advice where none is wanted, and they get involved in affairs
that should be left for program directors, staff, or faculty.Effective
advisory committees avoid both extremes. They are committees that meet
regularly and work together to provide advice and/or support that contributes
significantly to the program's or institution's improvement. Even within
this definition of effectiveness, however, can be a broad range of activity.
Some advisory committees serve mostly as boosters, raising funds, providing
connections to outside resources, promoting public relations, and, in general,
providing important support and service while offering little or no advice.
Although not technically "advisory," they are included here because they
are a common type of advisory committee and because they can make significant
contributions to a program. Committees that do provide advice range from
those whose focus and direction are carefully directed by the staff, administration,
or faculty to those with significant independence whose advice covers a
wide scope and range of topics. Some committees provide service as well
HOW MANY ADVISORY COMMITTEES ARE EFFECTIVE?
Determining how many advisory committees are effective is difficult for
two reasons. First, not everyone agrees on the definition of effectiveness.
Some deans or program directors, for instance, might be happy with a ceremonial
committee comprised of high-profile individuals in the community who meet
once a year and say nice things about the program. Other administrators,
who reluctantly establish an advisory group because of an external mandate,
might be pleased to have it exist solely on paper. Some deans might be
very happy to have a committee of advisers to call on for individual consultation
and advice. Such committees do not meet the earlier definition of an effective
advisory committee, however, because they do not work together to contribute
significantly to the program's or institution's improvement.Second, studies
of advisory committees' effectiveness are very rare. Institutions might
list their advisory committees in their bulletins and reports, but they
are unlikely to collect information about their effectiveness and even
less likely to report it in the literature. The few existing studies on
effectiveness are in the vocational education and community college sectors
and were conducted by outside agencies that contacted committee members
directly. They document the widespread existence of paper committees whose
"members" did not even know they were "serving" (Massachusetts Dept. of
Education 1985, 1986). Other, anecdotal evidence also suggests that many
programs and institutions do not effectively use their advisory committees
for advice or support (Axelrod 1991; Laney 1984).
WHAT MAKES AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE EFFECTIVE?
An advisory group is more likely to be effective at providing advice and
support when:* 1.Institutional representatives (deans, directors, staff,
faculty) genuinely desire the committee's input;
* 2.The committee is comprised of knowledgeable, committed individuals
whose interest in volunteering their own time is sustained by appropriate
recognition and rewards;
* 3.The committee's group processes and procedures for governance allow
for regular meetings, a sense of engagement and ownership, and sufficient
access to information about the program or institution so that the committee
can offer useful advice and support;
* 4.The expectations about the roles of the committee in providing advice
and support are clear, consistent, and well communicated.
HOW CAN THOSE WORKING WITH ADVISORY COMMITTEES IMPROVE THEIR EFFECTIVENESS?
The staff, faculty, and administrators who work with advisory committees
need to think through how much support and/or advice they really want.
Advisory groups, although they afford great potential, usually require
additional work for management and can complicate matters. Institutional
representatives need to decide what kinds of support or how much advice
they want and then clearly communicate it to potential committee members.
The greatest source of dissatisfaction with advisory committees comes from
poor communication and a mismatch of expectations. Potential members who
accept an invitation to join an advisory committee to provide advice and
input are usually pleased and even proud to be recognized for their "acknowledged
expertise" (Light 1982), but if they find themselves in a ceremonial role,
lacking the information and the opportunity to make a contribution to the
program, they can become quite disgruntled. Many such problems can be avoided
if institutional representatives clearly and consistently communicate their
expectations for the committee's roles in advice and service. Similarly,
individuals invited to serve on an advisory committee should seek information
about expectations and roles before they say "yes."The potential benefits
of advisory committees in a program's improvement are enormous, but for
many advisory committees, the potential is not fully realized.
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Behavior in Organizations. Homewood, Ill.: Irwin.
Corley, Sherie P. 1988. "The Advisory Committee and Its Role in Program
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Washington, D.C.: Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
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Laney, James. 1984. "Using Visiting Committees." AGB Reports 26(3):
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Massachusetts Dept. of Education. 1985. 1985 Vocational Advisory Committee
Survey of Chapter 74 Approved Vocational Programs. Quincy: Author.
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Scott, Robert A. 1988. "An Advisory Council for Strategic Planning."
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Thompson, Hugh. 1984. "Are Boards Other than Trustees Needed?" AGB Reports