Dear Theta Phi Alphas,
Recently, you received a communication from the Grand Council sharing the vision for the ideal state of Theta Phi Alpha and the strategic plan for the Fraternity for 2024-2029. The work that will be done to accomplish these strategic goals will allow the Grand Council to become a more strategic and visionary board. This is called policy governance. I want to use my blog this month to explain what policy governance is and is not and how it will benefit the Fraternity, our members, and our staff.
What is policy governance?
Policy governance defines and guides appropriate relationships between an organization's owners, board of directors, and chief executive. Dr. John Carver developed this framework. In the case of Theta Phi Alpha, this means between our members, the Grand Council, our executive director, and our staff.
What is the importance of policy governance?
Policy governance means having the right policies and procedures to create an operational framework and ensure compliance with related laws and regulations. For Theta Phi Alpha, this refers to our National Constitution and Bylaws, National Policies, and Standard Operating Procedures. These documents ensure that our members understand our acceptable conduct and performance standards.
What is nonprofit policy governance?
Nonprofit policy governance means how your nonprofit is administered. It also means how Theta Phi Alpha works with those who have a vested interest in our organization—our members, elected officers, volunteers, staff, and campus partners, to name a few.
Why is policy governance important for Theta Phi Alpha?
Policy governance puts the following structure in place to allow us to reach our strategic goals.
- The Grand Council votes on policies, concepts, and how we want to operate, which then our staff execute.
- It allows our executive director and staff to know what areas are important and what areas need to be moved towards.
- It gives our executive director the autonomy to determine how to help the staff achieve the goals.
- Defines the roles of staff, elected officers, and volunteers.
- Defines internal policies and procedures that manage how our organization is run, which differs from our policies and procedures shared with all members.
What is the difference between a policy and a strategy?
- A strategy is a unique plan to reach our strategic goals and objectives. Policy refers to a set of rules made by the organization for rational decision-making.
- We first formulate policies to guide decisions, then develop a strategy, and finally, create a detailed plan to achieve the strategy.
Can a strategy exist without a policy?
- Changes to Theta Phi Alpha's strategic direction do not occur automatically. Policies are needed to make a strategy work on a day-to-day basis. Policies facilitate solving recurring problems and guide the implementation of strategy.
Policy governance is not a new strategy for Theta Phi Alpha. We have been successfully using this concept in several operational areas. The rewrite of the National Constitution and Bylaws in 2022 allowed the Fraternity to operate efficiently and effectively without being tied to outdated details. This also means that the Grand Council needs to develop and implement internal policies and procedures that will allow for efficient decisions to be made and guide our executive director, staff, and volunteers in our everyday work for the Fraternity.
Moving closer to policy governance will allow the Grand Council to focus on our future as an organization and develop a strategy to guide us toward achieving the Ideal State of Theta Phi Alpha and our strategic goals. As you look at the strategic goals shared in the recent communication, you can see that they will need thoughtful vision, strategies, and plans to be achieved. This will lead to positive incremental change for Theta Phi Alpha.
I'm excited about the future of Theta Phi Alpha and what our move toward policy governance will allow us to achieve. To learn more about policy governance, you can read books by Dr. John Carver or search for information online, including visuals showing how it works. If you have questions about policy governance in Theta Phi Alpha or would like to share your thoughts on how you think policy governance will benefit Theta Phi Alpha, please send them to [email protected].
Yours in the Bonds of Sisterhood,
Kristin Henkenius
National President