🎓 Community Colleges
Sunshine Law compliance + two-day packet builds make board governance an immediate urgency.
Section 1
Market Snapshot
Governance body: Board of Trustees (publicly elected or governor-appointed by state)
Budget authority: President / VP of Administration / CFO
Procurement cycle: Annual budget (typically July fiscal year)
Spend triggers: New president onboarding · Accreditation review · Board turnover · Trustee recall
Section 2
Decision Maker Map
Who signs, who champions, who uses, who blocks — and Boardable's hook for each.
President, Chancellor
Cares about: Institutional reputation, accreditation, board cohesion
Boardable's hook: Governance documentation for HLC/SACSCOC
VP Administration, Board Coordinator, Executive Secretary
Cares about: Meeting efficiency, document control, reducing manual work
Boardable's hook: Agenda builder + document distribution
Trustees, Board Chair
Cares about: Ease of use, mobile access, clarity before votes
Boardable's hook: Simple interface, mobile-ready
IT Department
Cares about: SSO, security, integration with Banner/Ellucian
Boardable's hook: SOC 2 compliance, SSO support
Section 3
Buyer Language
Speak the vertical's language — not nonprofit-speak.
They say this
- shared governance
- board of trustees
- accreditation
- IPEDS reporting
- Title IV
- fiduciary duty
- open meeting laws
- Sunshine Laws
- trustee orientation
- board self-assessment
NOT this (nonprofit-speak)
- nonprofit board
- mission alignment
- community impact (too nonprofit-centric)
Pain phrases — quote these back to them
“Our board doesn't have visibility into what's happening between meetings”
“We're still emailing PDFs to trustees”
“We can't prove who reviewed the materials before the vote”
“Building the packet takes my assistant two full days”
Section 4
Regulatory Pressures
Each framework is a board-governance trigger that authorizes spend.
State Open Meeting / Sunshine Laws
minutes, public notice, quorum documentation
HLC / SACSCOC / WSCUC / NWCCU
regional accreditation governance standards
FERPA (indirect)
board discussions touching student data
Public Records Act
board packets must be permanently archivable and producible
Robert's Rules compliance
recorded votes, motions, seconds
Section 5
Competitive Landscape
What they use today, and where Boardable wins.
| Alternative | Why they use it | Boardable's wedge |
|---|---|---|
| Email + Google Drive | Free, familiar | No audit trail, no governance structure |
| BoardEffect (Diligent) | Purpose-built | Enterprise pricing; Boardable wins on cost + simplicity |
| Diligent Boards | Enterprise standard | Overkill for community colleges; Boardable right-sized |
| Paper packets | Legacy habit | Sunshine Law risk + labor cost creates urgency |
| Homegrown SharePoint | IT-built | No purpose-built workflow; no mobile; no audit trail |