Acknowledgments

Most projects and products are the results of a cumulative eort of various groups of people.

This handbook is no exception.

Table of Contents

Introduction

What Are the Benets of Having an Advisory Committee? ....................................... 4

What the Perkins Act Says ......................................................................................... 6

Leadership Roles ....................................................................................................... 14

Essential Paperwork ..................................................................................................18

Recruiting Members

The right mix of members ......................................................................................... 19

What to look for in a member ...................................................................................19

Recruiting Members .................................................................................................21

Orientation for New Members ................................................................................. 25

Managing Your Advisory Committee

Meeting logistics ......................................................................................................27

Leveraging technology ............................................................................................ 30

Introduction

Everyone who manages a career and technical education (CTE) program in Minnesota knows

that advisory committees are required; at the secondary level they are written into state statute,

program leaders who fulll those mandates but do nothing beyond: They see it as an obligation,

as a box to be checked o, and nothing more.

However, if you ask the heads of the strongest and most successful programs about advisory

committees, you’ll almost certainly hear a dierent perspective. Successful program leaders

know that if you invest some time and eort into building a strong advisory committee, you’ll

reap outsized returns; build strong business partnerships, increase community support, nd

new resources, build the strength and relevance of instruction, and provide a greater number of

opportunities for both students and sta to succeed.

In fact, of all the dierent types of partnership models available, advisory committees provide

the greatest return on investment: If you’re willing to invest in doing more than the minimum,

never letting their industry partners see their struggles and challenges, are doing themselves and

their partners a disservice: Your committee members want to be true partners and help you work

through your problems so that you can all succeed together.

Providing Opportunities for Students and Sta

While most advisory committees don’t require members to participate in experiential education

eorts as a condition for joining, it is a clear expectation, and a smart thing for committee

members to do. Like other employers, your committee members want to develop relationships

now with potential future employees, and in a larger sense want to make sure the pipeline of

future workers to their industry is full. Participating in work-based learning activities is one of the

best ways to accomplish that.

Your advisory committee members are able to say things that you may not be able to say, either

due to modesty or regulations (such as advocating for bond issuances); as inuential members

of the community, they may also be able to speak to people you may not be able to reach

directly. As such they can be very eective advocates for your work, making people aware

of your successes and highlighting the importance of ongoing support. In some schools or

colleges, the advisory committee is expected to provide an annual report to a governing body; in

others, school leadership, such as a dean or superintendent, sits on the committee to get direct

feedback from community members.

There is no one right way to set up your advisory committee. Depending on your needs, the size

a committee or to individual members:

Remember that many of your advisory committee members have professional skill sets that can

benet your program: You may have a marketing expert on your board who can apply his or her

experience to building a plan for promoting your program to various audiences. If you recruit

new members with specic skills in mind, you could very well end up with a multi-talented

committee ready to apply their professional skills to any number of challenges.

secondary and postsecondary institutions sharing a board (particularly in rural areas), or even a

school hosting a single advisory committee that oversees multiple programs, as in the case of St.

Louis Park High School (see their case study in this handbook).

The vice-chair should embody the same personal qualities and characteristics as the chair,

support the chair in his or her work, and be ready to step in to that leadership role when the

chair is unavailable. In most committees, the vice-chair role is considered to be preparation for

Terms

Each advisory committee should establish its own criteria and guidelines for member

recruitment, selection, appointment, and replacement. Many committees, however, adhere to

the following guidelines:

reviewed and updated yearly to ensure broad-based representation of the industry and to ensure

the work of the committee continues.

Recruiting Members

When talking with CTE educators and administrators, one of the most commonly asked

questions relates to nding business partners: All too often they feel as if they don’t have enough

who to reach out to, how to contact them, or how to bring them into the fold, rest assured that

you’re not alone. This section will answer all of these questions, giving you a game plan as you

solicit advisory committee members and other business partners.

Advisory committees exist to allow industry to provide feedback and guidance to the CTE

programs that serve their eld. As a result, it makes sense that the majority of your committee

members should represent those professions and industries. Some, like the National Academy

Foundation, believe that 75% or more of an advisory committee’s members should represent

industry; others think a simple majority would suce. Minnesota does not require a specic

percentage, but conrms that the advisory committee structure should represent the voice of

Many program leaders want to see an inclusive committee, and ask representatives of multiple

should think carefully about whether that input necessitates a seat on your advisory committee.

Consider reserving committee membership to a specic group of people, with multiple

opportunities for other stakeholders to provide input into their discussions through stakeholder

forums, presentations to committees, the sharing of survey results, and the like. You can also

consider setting up advisory structures for other stakeholders, such as periodic surveys or

meetings. Just remember the primary purpose of the advisory committee – industry input into

program goals and operations – and work from there.

When looking for advisory committee members, you’ll want to keep an eye out for the

professional characteristics that will provide you with a wide-lens view of the eld and the

Managing Your Committee

Once you have your advisory committee in place, with a clear sense of its purpose and goals

(both of which are covered elsewhere in this handbook), your priority becomes execution:

set. This chapter outlines eective practices in setting and running committee meetings and

looks at the use of technology in board operations.

Frequency

The frequency of the committee’s meetings will be dictated by the committee’s strategic

plan – specically, how much the committee wants to accomplish over the course of the year.

Minnesota requires a minimum of two advisory committee meetings per year; however, many

eective programs nd that three, or even four, times per year has proven to be more productive

for them. Program leaders may consider putting the number of meetings up for a vote among

the executive committee or the entire group.

If you have subcommittees, they may plan additional side meetings during o months in order

to tackle their specic objectives; their progress is then reported to the entire committee during

their scheduled meetings. These subcommittee meetings may take place in person or virtually.

Setting the times and dates for your meetings is much more of an art than a science. As a

general rule, morning meetings are best, with people getting together before the start of the

work day: This minimizes their time away from the oce, and prevents them from going to work

and getting wrapped up in an emergency that would otherwise prevent them from coming. In

terms of the date, the middle of the week works better for most people, as does the middle of

the month. It’s best to ask your committee members what works for them, and to consider the

You’ll need to decide where to hold your meetings, and what you can do to draw people.

There are dierent schools of thought among secondary and postsecondary programs, with

secondary programs having much more success in holding meetings at employer locations,

and postsecondary programs reporting a strong preference among members to meet at the

environment, and ideally serve refreshments and snacks appropriate to the time of day. (Note

that Perkins funds cannot be used for food or drink; consider asking your culinary department to

Note that programs involving accreditation may have specic requirements for advisory

committee members, including documents that must be compiled and/or reviewed, board

makeup, frequency of meetings, and inclusion of certain items on the agenda of meetings.

Consult with your accrediting body to determine what requirements your board should address

as part of its eorts.

Meetings are usually run by the committee’s chair, though in some cases there may be a sta

person managing the meeting function. Committee chairs vary in their level of formality: Some

agendas and meeting minutes, new member orientation materials, contact lists, and resource

materials (information about the program, brochures, press releases, etc.). Both DropBox and

Google Drive are commonly used, and free, resources.

Google also oers online word processors and spreadsheets allowing collaborative work

on documents for virtual teams. When using online collaboration tools to work on sensitive

documents, give some thought to data security and sharing privileges.

Consider creating a website or a blog specically dedicated to the advisory committee, which

would allow you to make the committee and its actions more accessible to the public and

provide them with a way of contacting you. Blogging sites are generally free (ex: Blogger.com)

and a website presence could simply be incorporated as a page on the school or program

If your members are spread out, there are concerns about inclement weather, or you’re

simply trying to reduce the number of on-site meetings you hold (a particular issue with

subcommittees), look into virtual conference resources like GoToMeeting and Webex. These

provide conference call capabilities as well as the ability to view users’ screens for presentations

or document sharing.

If you plan to use electronic technology as a standard committee practice, consider addressing

its use in your by-laws. This includes when its use is appropriate, how discussions and votes are

handled, and what elements of your work will be included in the public record.

These are questions that you likely wouldn’t consider in a day-to-day environment, but they are

important – and a strategic planning eort is the solution for dealing with them.

A strategic planning session is dierent from a regular committee activity, and it should be

you’re trying to answer through this process. It can be a grand-scale question, such as “Are

Appendix 2: Case Studies

Located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Century College is one of the largest two-year colleges

in the state, serving more than 21,000 credit and non-credit students per year.

One of the programs oered at the college is Emergency Medical Services; according to

Program Director Chris Caulkins, it serves hundreds of students in various capacities, and is the

largest program of its kind in the state, and likely in the Upper Midwestern part of the country.

Depending on a student’s interests and commitment, he or she can pursue certications such as

an emergency medical responder (EMR), emergency medical technician (EMT), paramedic, or

community paramedic; a diploma in emergency medical services – paramedic; or an Associate in

Applied Science degree in emergency medical services – paramedic science. All lead to careers

that are in demand.

In addition to these employer representatives, the board includes current students, graduates,

faculty, administration, and even a former patient (cardiac arrest survivor resuscitated by

graduates). It is worth noting that, in a eld that often employs more men than women, the

college makes a point of ensuring an equal mix of male and female student participants, who are

selected by their peers within the program.

As one of the rst programs in the country to pursue CAAHEP accreditation, the Emergency

Medical Services programs follows certain guidelines in terms of reporting and continuous

improvement that align well with the interests and eorts of its advisory committee. Committee

members regularly review the annual accrediting report and discuss it at length, reviewing prior

outcomes and looking for opportunities to improve operations.

and let someone else drive.” They and the other advisory committee members feel that this is

They talk regularly about what equipment and materials are being used in the eld as well as

current industry practices, which leads to eorts by committee members to procure industry-

standard equipment and set up work-based learning opportunities for students. They are

technologies, law and public policy, and media arts and communication. The reason, according

to Career & Technical Education Director Kara Mueller, is the overlap between programs:

“Many of our programs strive for shared outcomes in terms of postsecondary readiness and

employability skills, and several of our board members have expertise that applies to more than

one program of study. We thought it would be best to bring all the programs together rather

While a board that averages between 35-40 people may sound unwieldy to some, Mueller says

the board runs well thanks in large part to Carrie Jennissen, a parent who joined the school as

job involves recruiting new board members as needed and providing orientation, managing

each meeting oering time for group discussions as well as ad-hoc breakouts based on either

program area or topic as needed. Aside from the board’s executive committee, there are no

formal subgroups in place.

and pursuing opportunities for improvement. This year’s strategic initiative, a brainchild of the

board chair inspired by discussions with school and executive committee members, involves

looking at the customer experience oered by the school (specically, with the student in mind

While hands-on participation in the school is not required of members, it is an unwritten

expectation, and most participate in work-based learning activities by providing resources to

various programs and initiatives. In fact Jennissen has identied the business partners already

two-year public college in the state of Minnesota, founded in 1915 at the urging of Dr. Charles

Mayo. Today the college serves approximately 12,000 students annually in credit-based

programs, with another 11,000 served in noncredit and credit-based workforce initiatives.

oers concentrations in Animal Sciences, Plant Sciences, Life Sciences and Leadership

Development. Over 750 students participate in the Agriculture Education program at Forest

Lake.

the department’s major initiatives. The committee ranges in size from seven to fteen members,

and currently sits at twelve; each member commits to three year terms, and members can be

reappointed after their terms expire. The committee has strong representation from business

landscaping, feed sales, and greenhouse operations, as well as non-industry voices including

are reserved for industry partners.

will assume their oces immediately following the meeting. Ocers may be re-elected.

Article VI: Amendment of Bylaws

Final accounting for capital campaign

Program of Work Update

Thank you for your commitment to serving on the [CTE COMMITTEE]. Your cooperation and

support are tremendously important in making sure our students have the opportunity to

explore, and become prepared for, a career in [FIELD].

With your help and recommendations, we will continue to improve our eorts to serve these

students and future employees. Our students and sta have already beneted from your

guidance, and we plan to make other improvements resulting from your suggestions.

Please accept my sincere appreciation.