Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Hampshire College.
According to Hampshire’s Bylaws, the Board may have a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 31 trustees, depending on its operations and needs. Our trustees are volunteers who actively contribute their time, energy, and resources to the College.
Among the Board members are six constituency-elected positions: faculty trustee, staff trustee, student trustee, student trustee-elect (non-voting), and two alumni trustees.
The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the national organization for higher education governance and leadership, describes the role of a Board of Trustees as follows:
Trustees of independent colleges and universities are surrogates of the general public. They are responsible for acting on behalf of their fellow citizens and institutional founders as their individual consciences and best judgment dictate. A governing Board’s fundamental responsibility is to chart the institution’s course and ensure that the institution has the resources it needs to fulfill its mission.
The Board’s specific responsibilities are described in the Bylaws, and include:
- Establishing, disseminating, and keeping current the College's mission.
- Selecting and appointing the president; prescribing the president’s duties; and assessing the president’s performance.
- Ensuring the educational quality and reputational integrity of the College and its academic programs.
- Conferring all degrees and honors.
- Ensuring the College’s fiscal integrity and preserving and protecting its assets across all areas of financial impact.
- Ensuring the development, periodic review, and renewal of a comprehensive strategic plan.
- Approving faculty appointments, reappointments, promotions, and dismissals.
- Preserving and protecting institutional autonomy and academic freedom.
- Performing the business of the Board in an exemplary fashion, both as individual trustees and collectively as the Board; and periodically assessing the Board’s performance.
Hampshire’s Board organizes its work using a committee structure that corresponds to various areas of operations, within the Board and for the College as a whole. The Board’s committees are: Academic Affairs; Audit and Risk Management; Business Operations; Enrollment; Outreach and Advancement; Student Experience; and Trusteeship and Governance. Many of the Board committees include students, faculty, and staff as voting members.
With questions about Hampshire’s Board of Trustees, contact: