Overseer Governance
Gennadius Library Board Responsibilities and Governance
1. The School Board (1) owns the School property, (2) invests the endowment, (3) approves the budget, (4) authorizes appointments as required by the School’s By-Laws, (5) serves as an advocate, and (6) raises funds.
2. The Managing Committee, currently composed of representatives from more than 190 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, oversees the excavations and academic programs and appoints the Director of the School, the Director of the Gennadius Library, and other School officers, subject to authorization by the School Board (and also, in the case of the Director of the Gennadius Library, subject to additional authorization by the Gennadeion Board).
3. In Greece, the Director of the School has general charge of the School, its property and its finances, carrying out the policies of the Managing Committee and the School Board. The Director of the Gennadius Library has charge of the Library and administers it in accordance with the policies of the Managing Committee, and the original deeds of gift of Joannes Gennadius and the Greek State, with the advice of the Gennadeion Board and the School Board. All officers in Greece, including the Director of the Gennadius Library, report through the Director of the School to the Managing Committee. The Director of the School reports to the Managing Committee on academic matters, and to the School and Gennadeion Boards on legal, financial, and administrative matters.
4. The School Board holds legal title to the physical plant and collections of the School (including the Gennadeion), and the School Board delegates the operation and maintenance of that property to the School’s Staff under the direction of the Director of the School.
5. The School Board shall include trustees who are also members of the Gennadeion Board. Some (if not all) of these trustees shall be members of the School Board’s Libraries & Archives Committee, concerned with the shared functions, needs, and challenges of the Blegen Library, the Gennadius Library, and the Archives of the School and the Gennadeion. This overlapping membership will assure effective communication of the views of the Gennadeion Board, will give the School Board a core of strong Gennadeion supporters, and will enable the School and Gennadeion Boards to deal more effectively with issues relating to the two libraries and combined archives.
6. In order to avoid any possible confusion concerning the legal responsibilities, authorities, and liabilities that might be attributed to a trustee, the name of the Gennadeion Board shall be the “Overseers of the Gennadius Library” (Eπίτροποι της Γενναδείου Βιβλιοθήκης).
7. The Gennadeion Board may number up to 30 members, not including Overseers ex officio and honoris causa. Board members shall serve for staggered five-year renewable terms. The total number of Board members shall be divided into five classes, with each group assigned to a five-year class. The President of the School Board, the Chair of the Managing Committee, and the President of the Philoi of the Gennadius Library shall be ex officio members of the Gennadeion Board.
8. The officers of the Gennadeion Board shall be the Chair, one or two Vice Chairs, and a Secretary-Treasurer. Officers shall serve for three-year terms.
9. The Gennadeion Board shall have a Nominating Committee, a Development Committee and such other committees (e.g., for Collections and Exhibitions) as the Board determines from time to time. Committee members shall serve for one-year terms.
10. All Overseers, officers and committee members shall be elected after nomination by the Gennadeion Board’s Nominating Committee with the concurrence of the Chair of the School Board’s Nominating Committee.
11. The Gennadeion Board shall meet at least twice a year (currently in New York on the Thursday before the last Friday in October and in Athens on the first Monday in June).
12. The School Board holds legal title to the endowment, and manages its investments. At least one member of the Gennadeion Board shall serve on the School Board’s Finance & Audit Committee to participate in decisions regarding the finances of the School (including the Gennadeion).
13. The Budget Director presents (a) the School’s consolidated operating budget to the Managing Committee for comments, questions, and discussion, (b) the Gennadeion budget to the Gennadeion Board for its approval, and (c) the School budget (which includes the Gennadeion budget) to the School Board for its approval.
14. Both the School Board and the Gennadeion Board authorize the appointment of the Director of the Gennadius Library as presented to them by the Managing Committee.
15. The Gennadeion Board advises the School Board, the Director of the School, and the Director of the Gennadius Library on the Gennadeion’s general welfare, including physical plant, collections, and financial resources.
16. The Gennadeion Board is an advocate for, and supporter of, the Library, increasing its visibility in Greece and throughout the world.
17. The Gennadeion Board raises funds for the Library in coordination and consultation with the School Board and the Staff of the School.
(revised May 2017)
(This document shall be amendable by the School Board.)