Informed Trustee aims to encourage more diverse boards
Edinburgh Napier has endorsed a new online course by STEP, the professional body for practitioners specialising in family inheritance and succession planning.
The Informed Trustee will equip both established and aspiring charity trustees with knowledge of a broad range of charity regulation and charity finance matters.
It will cover aspects relevant to the 21st century trustee including social media and data protection, as well as more long-established topics of charity law, regulation, accounts and risk management.
This is intended to lead to more confident trustees who are better able to participate and challenge at board level.
Recent charity governance failures have highlighted the need for a better mix of knowledge and skills around the charity board table.
The Informed Trustee is aimed at encouraging a wider mix of individuals to consider taking on a charity trustee role, supporting more diverse boards.
The course can be taken entirely online and on-demand, so it fits more easily with work or family commitments. It involves a writing team of 17 charity specialists drawn from across the UK.
STEP has developed the course as its contribution to its public good agenda, with Julie Hutchison - Charities Specialist at Standard Life Wealth - the originator and Chief Editor of the course.
The Informed Trustee: An introduction
Dr Miles Weaver, Associate Professor and Programme Director of the Leadership in Board Governance Programme at Edinburgh Napier, said: “Edinburgh Napier University is confident that this e-learning course will make an impact on both individuals and the charities they serve, will encourage more individuals to consider trusteeship and develop the necessary underpinning knowledge, skills and mind-set to fulfil this role.”
Nigel Race, STEP’s Director of Professional Development, said: “Many people become trustees without being fully aware of all it entails. The Informed Trustee course will enable newcomers to gain the know-how needed to become a valued board member, one who contributes to the board agenda.”
The Informed Trustee can be accessed at www.step.org/informedtrustee. It will cost £249 and features 11 modules, concluding with an online assessment based on multiple choice questions.
Dr Miles Weaver and Dr Jacqueline Brodie on the new course