|
FCD has conducted an almost stealth program in governance education for 18 months now - so quietly that many of our own members may not even be aware of it. We're ending that lack of recognition right now.
In the fall of 2005, the FCD Education Committee, headed by Marlene Woodworth, who worked closely with Merage School staff, successfully launched an extracurricular governance education program for Executive MBA students at The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. This initial program offered the opportunity to learn all about board excellence and good governance practices by meeting for three evening hours each quarter, for a total of eight sessions over approximately 18 months. All classes were taught by volunteer instructors from FCD. The final class in this program was held in March of 2007 and 38 EMBA students and alumni "graduated" from the program - and earned ISS accreditation valid for the following two years.
This program was so successful that it has now been reorganized as an official, for-credit elective course as part of the EMBA curriculum at the Merage School. The course has been expanded in terms of its educational coverage, and compressed to a more concentrated program that has been taught over two intensive weekends of study from July 13-15 and August 3-5. The program introduces students to the role and responsibilities of boards of directors. It provides instruction on the roles of executive management and boards. It describes the factors essential to building more effective boards. It covers the roles and responsibilities of essential board committees. It also covers the similarities (and differences) between for-profit and non-profit board service.
Once again, this governance course has been taught by an amazing array of FCD volunteers who have given their weekend time to convey their knowledge to an eager group of students. Students for this new course have not only received credit toward their EMBA degree program, but they also have earned ISS accreditation for two years.
"This is a unique program among graduate business schools and it's a testament to the extraordinary cooperative efforts on the part of a leading university and the leadership of its local business community," says John Rehfeld, FCD chairman. "We know of no other program like it that overlays education in corporate governance and board excellence, provided through a private professional association such as FCD, on top of the business curriculum provided by one of the country's top-ranked business schools."
Kudos are in order for all FCD directors, committee people and volunteer instructors for making this such a successful program for both the Forum for Corporate Directors and The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine.
|
