Over the past several years we seem to have become complacent with waiting until a board meeting to distribute information about our committee work. This includes not only our standing committees, but our ad-hoc committees as well.

Used to be, that wasn't the case. When a committee had a meeting or a telecon an agenda was distributed to everyone, minutes were completed within a week or two and then distributed to the entire board. That seems to have stopped in all but a case or two.

We have to be better than that....we must be better than that. We all know that it is absolutely impossible to absorb everything we have going on and to get up to speed with everything we are supposed to be knowledgeable on while attending a meeting our cramming just a few days before a meeting like a final exam.

You have my personal commitment that I will keep you informed as to what I have going on. I asked that I have that same commitment from each of you in your committee work. If you are a committee chair or secretary then you are responsible for getting your meeting/telecon information out to the board so we all know what we each have working.

We should not circumvent our committee process by trying to get signed up on every committee reflector we have or get involved in the committee's work. If you're not assigned to a particular committee you should not interfere with its work, but you can certainly should stay informed as to what is happening and the committee has a responsibility to keep you informed, as it is the board that has the final decision authority and as a director will have a final say in a committee' output.

There is no need for "secrets" within our group. There is obviously, from time to time, matters that arise or that we are discussing that requires confidentiality....to not be distributed or discussed outside the board. I expect everyone to understand and abide by whatever specific instructions are given in each case. But that does NOT exclude any member of the board from access to such....just remember you may be bound by confidentiality within the board. That's not just my position, but everyone one of your colleagues sitting around the table that expects adherence to this. If you are uncertain about a particular topic, then simply ask.

So, please, join me in stepping up our dissemination of information from within our "sub-groups" to the board so we can stay better informed as to what each committee is doing. What I expect to see is a routine discussion at the board level about various things we are working throughout the year and not the flood of discussion that breaks out just a few days before our board meetings because reports are just being distributed.