Bursar’s Review Autumn 2019.

Feature 15 @the_isba Autumn 2019 their different but complementary roles which may occasionally overlap, governors and the head need to recognise that they are interdependent and that they provide joint leadership to the school’ . This is area where I believe the bursar, by combining both roles, delivers additional value. Dalton (2009) also suggests ‘the head and bursar, both of whom work closely with the chairman and board, play an important part in maintaining communication and fostering accountability between the executive and governing body’ (page 7). Communication between the bursar and the clerk is key to ensuring accurate and timely information is provided to governors for their decision making; if this comes from the same person, the risk of miscommunication is reduced! This guide covers a complete range of topics, from setting agendas and taking minutes through to recruiting, training and developing governors. The document develops three key strands of governance defined as: 1. corporate/fiduciary governance; 2. strategic governance; and 3. impact governance. The author goes on to describe these three elements with her view being the first two are well addressed by others (including the lists above from ISCA and AGBIS) but that the third dimension should 'concentrate on assessing the school's performance and the impact it is having towards achieving its charitable objects, its strategic aims and its business plan' (Dalton, 2009, page 8). My notion is that it is in this area of ‘impact governance’ where I believe the bursar can add particular value. By understanding the operational delivery opportunities and challenges, the bursar brings a dimension of understanding to strategic level discussions, which ensure that decisions are made with the benefit of operational awareness. If the governing body is moving towards a decision based on the strategic development plan for example, there can be value added to the quality of that decision if some level of timely operational acumen or awareness is provided. I recall a strategic level discussion about an element of financial decision making which was adjusted during the debate by the bursar explaining the practical implications of some of the options being considered. From an impact governance perspective (Dalton, 2009) there is value in considering the performance of the school together with consideration of its key outputs against the articles of association and strategic objectives; this I believe can be particularly enhanced by the bursar bringing forward operational and executive contributions. Dalton (2009) indeed suggests ‘this process is best accomplished when executive and trustees work together to address and make sense of the complex issues that all organisation face in this rapidly changing world’ (page 9). Chief of staff A paper written by McNulty and Stewart (2015) addresses the issue of boards being seen ‘as too far removed from the business’ and being ‘ineffectual in holding executives to account’ and the importance of the role of the company secretary in addressing this governance space (page 513). It goes on to describe how company secretaries contribute to the effectiveness of the board and states that the role is ‘much fuller than that of ‘humble clerk’ in the way it influences the behavioural dynamics of boards’ (page 514). They describe the company secretary as a chief of staff and it is in this guise that I see the dual role of a bursar and clerk to the governors operating. The paper identifies governance in a physical, social and psychological sense and the chief of staff plays a key role in delivering a ‘social and psychological space in which relationships between directors [can] flourish’ (page 514) in the boardroom. In the paper, one organisation highlights the value of this appointment by stating the significant impact of a ‘secretary shaping patterns of conduct and interaction and the efficiency and effectiveness of the board process’ (page 523). The same paper goes on to identify the ‘collective conscience’ of the organisation, where the role brings together an understanding of executive responsibilities as well as the strategic direction and vision, the intricacies of compliance and legal and regulatory responsibilities as well as the understanding of the relationships between individual governors and executives. Another study by Kakabadse, Khan, and Kakabadse (2016) examines the company secretary role which it describes as a role of ‘breadth and majesty’ (page 333). The authors refer to the ‘critical strategic leadership role of the company secretary’ citing Swabey (2014) and explore the skills required by the individual fulfilling the role by engaging their ‘social, commercial and technical characteristics’ as well as a ‘discretionary capacity’ which they define as ‘ being dependent upon recognising what is important in the longer term and requires being able to shift effectively between the broader holistic and more focused detailed demands’ (page 340). They conclude by suggesting the ‘future trend may be towards the company secretary role becoming more equitably engaged with at board level as it is critical to the successful strategic contributions of a successful board’ (page 344). Impact governance I sense that the combined bursar and clerk to the governors role contributes to the ‘impact governance’ described by Dalton (2009) and reinforced by the McNulty and Stewart (2015) study. They highlight in particular the ‘value adding aspect of the role lay far beyond the limited clerical and compliance role’ (page 528) and to quote one of the interviewees from their study: “…I play several roles, one is observer, one is a conscience, one is to influence the debate. You’re there to help oil the