American Samoa Community College

IV.C.3. The governing board adheres to a clearly defined policy for selecting and evaluating the CEO of the college and/or the district/system.

The American Samoa Community College is a single College and the only public institution of higher education in American Samoa.
The written policies describing the selection and evaluation of the President as chief administrator are found in Public Law 22-30 and the Governance Policy Manual (GPM).

Selected by the Governor since 1992 when PL 22-30 first became law, section 16.2005 was amended in 2003 to give complete autonomy to the Board in selecting the College President.¹

Chapter III of the GPM states the Board “hires the President … to implement the Board’s policies for governance of the College.” Subsequent sections describe the qualifications of the President (3001.1), the contract (3001.3), and salary (3001.5).²^, ³^, ⁴

After the previous President resigned in 2007, the Board used established Human Resources processes to search for and select the next President. This included developing a job description, advertising the position, interviewing qualified applicants, and making a final selection as a whole.
The current President was hired in 2008. The Board has conducted biennial evaluations of the President, prior to contract renewal. ⁵

These policies were followed when the current President was selected in 2008.

Policy 3000 Delegation to the President states how the board delegates administrative authority to the President.
“The Board of Higher Education’s authority to the overall operations of the College is delegated through the President. All authority and accountability of the staff/faculty members as defined by the Board is considered to be the authority and accountability of the President. The Board delegates to the President of the College the function to implement policy decisions and to designate the detailed arrangements under which the College will be operated.”⁶

Further –

Policy 6500 Master Plan states –
“The President shall develop, in document form, for review and approval by the Board of Higher Education, a College Strategic Master Plan, which encompasses the needs of the entire institution with specific attention given to educational, financial, and construction planning. The ASCC Master Plan will be based upon current determinations of community needs and responsible use of fiscal, physical, and human resources.⁷

Finally –

Policy 3001.2 College Goals states --
“College goals are mutually agreed upon between the Board and the President, and the President is charged with developing an action plan for implementation of goals. The goals will be reviewed quarterly by the Board to ensure status and level of accomplishment.”⁸

The delegation of administrative authority to the President is clear.

The board has its performance evaluation form to evaluate the College president.⁹

The Board has an annual performance evaluation of the President includes ways to evaluate the implementation of board policies and the achievement of institutional goals.

The policy provides the basis and the instrument is the mechanism used by the Board to evaluate the President’s performance.¹⁰

Policy 3001.4 Evaluation of the President ¹¹

Policy 3002 Monitoring the President’s Performance ¹²

The Board sets clear expectations for regular reports on institutional performance in these two governance policies:

Policy 3010 Communication and Counsel to the Board ¹³

Policy 3002.2 Internal and External Monitoring Report ¹⁴

Beginning with the “Statement of Instructional Policy”, the Board sets expectations for sufficient information on educational quality in Governance Policy

Policy 5000 Statement of Instructional Philosophy ¹⁵

Based on these policies the President provides Institutional Data Collection, Community Surveys, Placement Data, Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes, and Financial/Grant Reports.¹⁶ The Board relies on recommendations from the President and his key staff for the best information and encourages input and generally bases its decision on policy.

There are also policies that hold the President accountable for keeping the Board apprised of the College’s growth, development, and challenges are:

Policy 2009.3 Adequate Information to Precede Action ¹⁷

Policy 2013 Relationship Between the Board and the President of the College ¹⁸

Policy 3007 Budgeting and Forecasting ¹⁹

While the Board has the responsibility of formulating policy for the operation of the College (see 2005), Policy 3003.A charges the President “with the duties and responsibilities of developing, revising, recommending to the Board, and implementing College policy.” ²⁰

The Board requires that the President provide accurate information to the Board for review prior to making decisions. The Quarterly Reports are a comprehensive vehicle for providing sufficient information to the Board.

The written policy for selecting and evaluating the College President Policies # 3001.1, (qualifications) 3001.3 (contract) and 3001.5 (salary).

The Board has consistently followed the authorized procedures for advertisement, application screening, interview, selection and evaluation of the President.