Running Header: Internship Proposal 1

Internship Proposal

Heather Gennette

LDRS890 Internship in Organizational Leadership

31 January 2021

Fort Hays State University

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Internship Proposal

Abstract

The relationship between Cloud County Community College (College) and the Cloud County

Community College Foundation (Foundation) has seen its fair share of ups and downs. With

high administrative turnover and changes in members of the governing boards, it has been

challenging to keep both entities on the same page. Although these organizations are separate,

they should be working together toward shared goals. The organizations should implement

practices of transparency and openness. Best practices suggest a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) that:

1. clearly defines the relationship between the College and its affiliated Foundation,

2. assures the preservation of mission alignment over time, and

3. is periodically reviewed, assessed, and adapted in keeping with changing circumstances

and the passage of time.

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Table of Contents

1. Abstract pg. 2

2. Assessment of Need pg. 4

3. Statement of Problem/Review of Literature pg. 5

4. Vision/Mission pg. 7

5. Plan/Objectives/Action Steps/Timeline pg. 7

6. Project Outcomes and Measurement pg. 11

7. Learning Outcomes pg. 11

8. References pg. 14
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Assessment of Need

The Cloud County Community College (CCCC) Foundation has been the philanthropic

arm of the Cloud County Community College (College) since 1988. It started as a small not-for-

profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Kansas and the rules of the Internal

Revenue Service. It has the necessary authorization to issue receipts certifying gifts as tax-

deductible. The purpose of the Foundation is to cultivate, receive, and hold in trust any real or

personal property given for use by Cloud County Community College. It is charged with the

responsibility of investing, managing, and disbursing all gifts for the benefit of the College.

Currently, the CCCC Foundation has two full-time employees (Foundation Director and

Foundation Specialist) and one part-time person (Director of Community and Alumni Relations).

This person works part-time for the Foundation and part-time for the College. The Co-Directors

answer to the College President and the Foundation Board of Directors.

The business of the CCCC Foundation is conducted and controlled by the Board of

Directors, which consists of a member of the College Board of Trustees and ten to twelve

additional volunteers. The President of the College serves as a non-voting ex-officio. The Board

is also required to sit on sub-committees (directors, donor development, policy, and investment)

that allow them to provide insight and help the Foundation Office with specific goals.

Since its founding, the Foundation has grown its endowment to $10 million. As the Foundation

grows, so do the needs of the College. The initial focus of the CCCC Foundation was

scholarships, but the needs of the College have shifted to facilities, improved equipment, and

enhancing the overall student experience. The Foundation has assisted in the fundraising for two

new facilities, a SimMan for the Nursing Department, and a Precision Ag tractor. They have
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also secured funding for an on-campus therapist free of charge to students and started a food

pantry to address the increase in mental health issues and food insecurity.

The organizational issue that exists is that there is no formal memorandum of

understanding (MOU) between the CCCC Foundation and the College. This has become a

standard best practice between college-affiliated foundations and the institutions they serve.

Right now, the Foundation Board is undergoing a review of policies and procedures that were

established more than ten years ago. Many questions have been raised regarding employee

structure, and who Foundation employees should report to. These were addressed in policies and

procedures, but the Directors thought they would be better suited in a formal MOU created by

the Foundation Board of Directors and College Board of Trustees.

This initiative will need to be a joint effort between the CCCC Foundation Board of

Directors and the College Board of Trustees. It will also require the teamwork of the Foundation

Director and the College President to facilitate the meetings between the two boards and create a

comprehensive MOU that addresses the relationship between the Foundation and the College.

The audience has been made aware that the MOU is needed, but has not been listed as a

significant priority. One of the Foundation Board Directors was recently elected as a College

Trustee, and he has said that he will make this an initiative he would like to see come to fruition.

This board member has been a part of the Foundation's policy committee and was the first to

identify the need and the benefit of the MOU. He will be a crucial player in getting this project

moving forward.

Statement of Problem/Review of Literature

The MOU will clearly define the purpose of the Foundation and its relationship with the

College. It will also address things like compensation and benefits of Foundation employees and
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who the Foundation employees will report to. Hopefully, this will alleviate the issues listed

above and allow the Foundation and College to work better together no matter who is in the

leadership positions.

While working through the process of creating the MOU the Foundation Board of

Directors and College Board of Trustees will need to discuss and decide the expectations of each

entity. They will need to come to a mutual agreement as to how the Foundation and College will

effectively work together. The questions that will need to be asked are what they want or need

the other party to provide, what they have to offer, what they are willing to negotiate, and the

rationale for an MOU (Chandler, 2011).

I plan to use the framework provided by Weisbord (2012) of the Future Search Principles

by getting the whole system in the room. This would involve representation from the leaders of

both entities and their governing boards. By following the Future Search Principles below, the

College and Foundation will have a better understanding of what each organization does. This

method will allow everyone to be a part of the process with the common goal of creating a

comprehensive MOU that clearly defines the relationship between the two systems. Once the

whole system is understood, the lines of communication and transparency can be addressed by

establishing information flows (Meadows, 2015).

Future Search Principles

 Get the “whole system” in the room. The quotes imply that you never get
everybody. You can get in the same room people with Authority, Resources,
Expertise, Information, and Need. Just calling this meeting can be a radical
change, making possible many others.
 Explore the whole before seeking to fix any part. Every person develops a
richer picture than each had coming in.
 Put the future and common ground front and center. Treat problems and
conflicts as information, not action items.
 Invite self-management and personal responsibility. Each time managers or
consultants do something for a group, they deprive others of initiative.
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Weisbord, 2012 p. 416

I would like to consider the organizations' past, present, and future when constructing the

MOU (Kolb, 2003). Although the document will be new, we should be mindful of the College

and Foundation’s history and make sure there is continuity throughout the process. I believe that

the Foundation Directors that have been on the Board for a long time will appreciate this

approach.

Although the overarching goal of this project will be to create a sense of unity between

the College and Foundation, the MOU should set clear boundaries to differentiate the systems

(Brock, 2012). Many have commented that the College President should not also be the

Foundation Executive Director. This could create a conflict of interest as the Foundation is

supposed to give money to the College for specific needs and scholarships. If the wrong person

were in the position, they could likely impose their agenda and guide the Foundation to fundraise

for their personal initiatives.

Vision/Mission

The mission of the leadership initiative is to create a Memorandum of Understanding that

both Cloud County Community College and the Cloud County Community College Foundation

can use to work side-by-side. This document will need to stand the test of time and clearly

define the relationship between the two organizations. The Memorandum of Understanding will

bring the College Board of Trustees and the Foundation Board of Directors together to help them

better understand the roles of each entity and how they can collaborate going forward.

Plan/Objectives/Action Steps/Timeline

The first step to getting the answers will be to speak to the College President and

coordinate our asks to the Foundation and College Boards to make this project a priority. We
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will need to carefully word our request and identify members of the boards who would work well

together on this project. Those members need to have a clear understanding of the mission and

purpose of the Foundation and the College. The presentation of need for the Memorandum of

Understanding needs to be a collaborative effort between the leaders of the College and

Foundation.

Objective 01: By March 1, there will be a meeting between College President and

Foundation Director and a presentation to the Board about the Memorandum of

Understanding.

Action Person Date to Be

Step Responsibl Completed
(What): How: e (Who): (When): Resources: Communication:
The
Foundation
Director
and
College
President
will
prepare a
proposal to The Foundation
the Director and
Foundation College
Set meeting Heather and President will
Meeting with President Gennette College collaborate to
with Administrative (Foundation February- Boards; 2 prepare
President Assistant Director) 21 hours proposal
Inform Present at Heather March-21 1 hour; 30 The Foundation
Board of Board Gennette minutes Director and
Need of Meetings (Foundation per College
Documen Director) meeting President will
t and Amber present need for
Knoettgen Memorandum
(President of
Understanding
and establish
three committee
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members from
each board.

Objective 02: By June 2021, the Memorandum of Understanding will be complete and

ready for Board approval.

An MOU will take time to write and get to a place where both the Foundation and

College Boards are in agreement, but steps can be made in this time to get the process started.

Measures would include forming a committee of members from each Board and scheduling time

to meet. With the hectic schedules of the individuals on the Board, this could be difficult. The

Foundation Director (me) and College President will need to bring the boards together with an

understanding of how important this document is to both organizations and the people who work

for them. There are worksheets available that could be used to draft the MOU and make it

something that all board representatives can be happy with.

Person Date to Be
Action Step Responsible Complete
(What): How: (Who): d (When): Resources: Communication:
The
College
President
Heather and
Gennette Foundation After meeting,
(Foundation Director the Foundation
Director) will Director will
Create and Amber collaborate compile
Organize agenda for Knoettgen to organize discussed items
retreat for retreat and (President) the into agenda and
MOU schedule and MOU retreat; 2 schedule a
Committee date Committee April-21 hours meeting place
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Create Foundation
Memorandum Fill in Director will
of information type document
Understanding given by and meet with
from MOU the MOU Heather College
Committee Committee Gennette President to
priorities and into (Foundation discuss next
directives document Director) May-21 1 hour steps
Schedule
meeting for
MOU
Approval of Committee If more
Memorandum to review meetings are
of and needed due to
Understanding approve further changes,
from MOU the MOU they will be
Committee document Committee June-21 2 hours scheduled.

We will use the guidelines laid out in the monograph written by Johnson and Sterthous

(1982). I will also use information from agb.org (Association of Governing Boards of

Universities and Colleges) and case.org (Council for Advancement and Support of Education)

for information and examples of other institutions and institutionally-related foundations. An

excellent resource will be an AGB-CASE Illustrative entitled "Memorandum of Understanding

Between a Foundation and Host Institution or System." Once the expectations and objectives of

the Board are identified, the College President and Foundation Director can use the formatted

fill-in-the-blank document to create a draft MOU.

Objective 03: By September 2021, unanimous approval of Memorandum of Understanding

will be obtained.

Date to
Person Be
Action Step Responsib Complete Resource Communicati
(What): How: le (Who): d (When): s: on:
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The
Foundati
on and
College's
Approval of Boards
Memorandu will The MOU
m of approve Committee
Understandi documen will present
ng from ts that the document
College and their MOU to their
Foundation regular Committe Septembe 20 designated
Boards meetings e r-21 minutes Boards

Project Outcomes and Measurement

The over-arching goal is to have a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding that

both the College and Foundation Boards can take pride in creating. This is anticipated to be

complete by the Foundation Board of Director’s meeting in September 2021. The College Board

of Directors will have an opportunity to approve it at their August 2021 meeting. By May 1, I

plan to have a draft of the Memorandum of Understanding created. I hope to submit this

document in my final project assignment.

Learning Outcomes

The College and Foundation interconnect in several areas, as you can see, but there are

several gray areas. I will address these as I explain the map. The whole purpose of working

through this is to hopefully create a Memorandum of Understanding that will clear up these gray

areas and allow for clarity of the roles of leadership in both organizations. Walton (2004) states,

“Getting an organization on the same page requires an organizing framework or model that

expresses the essentials of system operation in a way that all the participants can understand and

accept” (p. 266).

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The connections between the systems have been defined in the map by the dash marks.

According to the Bylaws of the Foundation, there must be one Board of Trustee representative to

serve as a voting member of the Foundation Board of Directors. The College President also sits

on the board as an ex-officio, non-voting member. This is where I see another gray area. The

College President is currently the Foundation Executive Director and ex-officio on the

Foundation Board. If this is going to continue, I believe that it should be clarified in the MOU.

The Foundation provides the College with funding for various projects and scholarships,

while the College, in turn, compensates the Foundation Executive Director and any other

positions within the Foundation. There has been discussion of the Foundation taking on the

responsibility of paying for the Executive Director's salary or a portion of it by various

Foundation Board members. Many other institutionally related foundations do this, and I could

see it brought up again while the BOT and BOD discuss the parameters of the MOU.

The MOU will be created by and agreed upon by the governing board of each system.

The MOU will be an opportunity for both sides to discuss the expectations of the other and
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clearly define the roles of the leadership. I hope it will explain all of the gray areas I mentioned

above and give clarity to the underlying issues.

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References

Brock, W. (2012). Synthesizing a systems perspective and organizational change: Principles of a

whole-systems metrics model. Organization Development Journal, 30(3), 17-28.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1124543086?accountid=27424

Chandler, N. (2011). How a Memorandum of Understanding Works

HowStuffWorks.com. <https://people.howstuffworks.com/memorandum-of-

understanding.htm>

Kolb, D. G. (2003). Seeking continuity amidst organizational change a storytelling approach.

Journal of Management Inquiry, 12(2), 180. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/203315238?accountid=27424

Johnson, M. L., & Sterthous, L. M. (1982). A Guide to Memorandum of Understanding

Negotiation and Development. Retrieved from https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/guide-

memorandum-understanding-negotiation-and-development

Meadows, D. H., & Wright, D. (2015). Thinking in systems: a primer. White River Junction, VT:

Chelsea Green Publishing.

Walton, D.C. (2004). Modeling Organizational Systems: Banathy's three lenses

revisited. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 17(4), 265-284. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/211446365?accountid=27424

Weisbord, M. (2012). Productive workplaces: Dignity, meaning, and community in the

21st century. (3rd ed.) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-0-470-90017-8.