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 also has a unique fiduciary role in finance and budgeting, in endowment and investment management, and in preserving and expanding physical resources. In addition, the board ordinarily is called on to participate in fundraising activities.
Specific responsibilities of the board of trustees include:
- Setting and clarifying the institution’s mission and purpose
- Appointing the President, supporting the President, and evaluating the President’s performance
- Assessing its own performance as a board
- Supporting the institution’s engagement in sound strategic planning
- Reviewing the institution’s educational and public service programs
- Participating in fundraising
- Ensuring good institutional management
- Preserving institutional independence
- Relating the campus to the outside community and the outside community to the campus
- Approving policies
2026 BOARD OF TRUSTEES
April Cummings, Chair
Yolanda McCoy, Vice-Chair
Kaitlyn Elphinstone, Secretary
Anand Adapa
Matthew Adam
Winston Connolly
Wayne McManus
Raul Nicholson-Coe
Lucille Seymour
Brian Williams
Dr. Elsa Cummings, President Emerita
Trustees Emeriti
Audrey Ebanks (Posthumously)
Colleen Williams (Deceased)
George McCarthy, George Town
Carlyle McLaughlin, West Bay