After further review of the Annotated Head Contract published in I&P earlier this year, ISM has decided to clarify one of the sections of the sample contract. The paragraph in question (No. 14) states: “In the event Head breaches this agreement or is terminated for cause (including but not limited to gross misconduct, insubordination, failure to perform), School, in addition to all other applicable remedies, may cease all forms of compensation immediately. The parties agree that calculation of actual damages to the school would be extremely difficult and therefore agree that an amount of $______ per day, for the remaining days of the contract, will be payable to the school by the Head as liquidated damages.”

Each fall, ISM publishes a set of conversion factors to facilitate the recasting of previous tuitions into current dollars. (See the table on the next page.) We continue to use the Urban Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). However, we also realize that the CPI-U does not completely reflect expenditures in schools; it can only serve as a base figure. There are compelling arguments for adjusting your tuition at a rate 2% or more above the overall inflation rate.

ISM Consultants occasionally encounter Board members who strongly believe their main task is to be actively involved in ensuring the excellence of their school’s academic programs. Though often few in number, these well-meaning but misdirected Trustees can divert the Board from attending to its appropriate, strategic tasks and distract the Head from the major task of providing mission-appropriate programmatic excellence.

In recent years, as I’ve consulted with schools around the country, I’ve noticed that, as the population grows and cities push their boundaries, schools that were once “country” schools now find they have neighbors. Those schools that still have more acreage than they need appear prescient. Unfortunately, most schools quickly find themselves landlocked on a campus that doesn’t meet their projected needs.

When it comes time for your next School Head search, let your strategic plan and ISM's leadership studies’ findings take some of the stress out of the process. Using these allows the Board to create a list of School Head skills, experiences, and characteristics based on (a) institutional goals and needs and (b) Head-specific research outcomes. These provide your blueprint for the position description for your new Head.

The central philanthropic duty of Board members—each member’s personal involvement in giving to the school and securing resources from others—is often unclear to Trustees, particularly those members who are new to the Board. ISM frequently hears comments like the following.

In December 2006, new federal rules went into effect concerning the sharing of electronic documents during the discovery phase of litigation. In brief, the rules require parties involved in federal lawsuits to produce “electronically stored information” prior to trial. While sharing of electronic documents prior to trial has become commonplace in recent years, the new rules codify the practice, as well as require that the documents be provided in a timely and efficient manner.

Consider the ISM X™ (The ISM Management and Leadership Xcellence Formulation). Designed to communicate a series of critical organizational, financial, and cultural principles, the ISM X also contains implicitly the outcomes of: ISM’s 2004-05 Head leadership studies, ISM’s 1989-95 student performance and faculty culture study, and the internal ISM studies that have resulted in three iterations of the ISM Stability Markers®, the latest being in 2006.

This model has been prepared to fit contract renewal for an experienced Head, but it can be readily adapted for other circumstances. In the case of a newly employed Head, all terms that refer to continuance would not be used in the initial contract, nor would a school be likely to provide for a mini-sabbatical such as that specified in Promise 9. The model also provides for school housing (Promise 5) and a school vehicle (Promise 7)—both easily omitted. These types of agreements are, in general, governed by the laws of the state where the school is located. Because these laws may differ, it is important that you have your legal adviser review all contracts. This model contract is not considered copyrighted material. You are encouraged to copy this contract and adapt it to your school’s needs. Be sure to have your school’s lawyer review it and ensure it meets all state regulations.

Of the numerous new laws passed during the first 100 days of the Obama administration, the COBRA subsidy provision of the economic stimulus bill—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)—has had perhaps the most immediate impact on schools (e.g., with the federal government providing a subsidy of 65% of benefits costs for involuntarily terminated employees for up to nine months). However, a new law that has received far less attention from schools—the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (LLFPA)—may have much further-reaching and longer-lasting consequences for any schools that engaged in pay discrimination at any point in the past. All schools are urged to review their past and current pay practices and to address any potential liabilities that they may discover in light of this new law.