Elected/staff roles discussed by GAC
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Presbyterian Layman, February 19, 1999
LOUISVILLE – The roles of elected members and staff members of the General Assembly Council were the topic of a discussion led by Executive Director John Detterick and GAC Chair Cathy Chisholm at a recent GAC meeting.
To begin the dialogue, a list of suggestions for the role of GAC and the role of staff was distributed.
Detterick said the suggestions were something the GAC could study and improve as the discussion continues.
Detterick describes the role of the GAC as:
– Represent the interests of the “church” and serve as a link between the “church” and the Assembly.
– Establish governance policies and procedures for itself.
– Determine mission program priorities and establish policies which will guide the development and implementation of mission program priorities.
– Monitor program development and implementation through a regular reporting process.
– Hire, set organizational performance expectations for, and monitor the performance of the Executive Director.
The list under the role of staff includes:
– Implement mission program priorities established by the Council within the approved policy guidelines.
– Provide the Council with adequate and usable information and recommendations to assist and facilitate its program priority and policy approval.
– Develop and consistently deliver a reporting process to the Council on the implementation of mission program priorities, including costs, risks and accomplishments.
– Manage the allocation of resources, support and development of staff, and necessary supporting systems to efficiently and responsively support the mission program priorities.
Concerning the staff’s role in implementing mission program priorities, Detterick said that staff, once the GAC has set the priorities, should get the job done “within the parameters.”
The words in the second bullet under staff, said Detterick, are “important in terms of adequate information. And it needs to be in a usable form. It is appropriate to expect staff people to lay out options for you and then make a recommendation.”
In regards to the reporting process, Detterick said, “You should expect the staff, on a regular basis [to provide the Council] the kind of information you need to know if the policies you set are being followed.”
“What are the key factors we really need to know so we can monitor the process?” asked Detterick.
“The bottom line,” said Detterick, “the process should assist and facilitate your decision making process.”
“I find us dealing a lot with personnel issues because sometimes personnel gets in the way of program. There is nothing [on the list] about that,’ asked Joanne Hull.
“The fourth bullet under staff answers that,” said Detterick.
“I hear and agree, but some of us get involved when there is a breakdown among the staff,” she continued.
“Then you need to hold me accountable to handle that,” said Detterick.
“It’s not our task to get involved in the day to day operations,” said Chisholm. GAC member LaVerne W. Feaster questioned the words that begin each one of the bullets. “The council decides and the staff does. The council represents, establishes, determines, monitors, hires. The staff implements, provides, develops and manages. As I see the many committees of the council and the kind of work they do, it seems to me there is a lot of implementing, providing and developing done by council members.”
“That’s the whole reason for doing this,” said Detterick. “Where do we draw the lines? This is an attempt to do just that.”
“These [the list of staff/elected roles] are where we are?” asked Feaster.
“No,” said Detterick. “These bullets are where we may want to be.”
Following the discussion, the GAC met in small groups to work on the list. “How would you improve what is written here … or is there something missing,” asked Detterick.
The work of the small groups was collected and will be used in future staff/elected role discussions.