CMHA SUDBURY BRANCH Strategic Planning Process

BRUCE-GREY TRAIL NETWORK Board Review Questionnaire

This survey is a component of the current governance review project and is designed to obtain your views as a Board member of the Bruce-Grey Trail Network (BGTN). It contains questions about various aspects of BGTN governance and asks about your perceptions of the organization as a whole.

The questionnaire will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. All questionnaires will go directly to the external consultant helping us with the project, so your replies will be completely anonymous and confidential. For the survey to be effective, it should be completed by all current members of the BGTN Board of Directors.

Please complete this questionnaire by Friday, April 8, 2005. This will allow time for the findings to be analysed and presented at the Board session scheduled for April 27, 2005.

First, please rate the following aspects of the BGTN Board's ongoing operations:

		Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor
a.	Degree of organization at board meetings
b.	Level of participation by members
c.	Clarity of board and staff roles
d.	Board member access to relevant information
e.	Staff support

Think now of your own involvement with the Board of Directors, and indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with each of the following statements:

		Agree Strongly	Agree Somewhat	Disagree Somewhat	Disagree Strongly
a.	The board is dealing with important matters
b.	The board has a hard time focusing on issues
c.	We spend too much time discussing things that have nothing to do with the agenda
d.	We have many good discussions and debates on this board
e.	The board seems to have a hard time making decisions
f.	Board members represent a variety of philosophical perspectives
g.	The members of this board work well together
h.	There is a good member skill mix on the board
i.	I feel quite comfortable in "speaking my mind" at board meetings
j.	Some members tend to dominate board meetings
k.	I believe that my comments are respected by others
l.	Some board members spend too much time representing the interests of specific areas
m.	We tend to deal with a lot of issues that are outside our mandate
n.	I believe that I make an important contribution to this board
o.	I believe that this board makes an important contribution to the mandate of the organization

What do you feel is the single most important strength of the BGTN Board?

List below what you feel are the three main obstacles interfering with board performance:

Obstacle 1:
Obstacle 2:
Obstacle 3:

This question pertains to the role of the BGTN Board. For each item, Column 1 asks you to agree or disagree with a statement about what the role of the board should be. Column 2 asks you to indicate how the board actually behaves.

For each item, make a selection which most closely corresponds to your view:

	4 = Agree strongly		3 = Agree somewhat
	2 = Disagree somewhat		1 = Disagree strongly

		We Should Do This				We Actually Do This
		4	3	2	1	4	3	2	1
a.	Keeping up with relevant trends, events and emerging issues
b.	Establishing strategic directions for the organization
c.	Ensuring the needs of our customers (trail users) are addressed
d.	Influencing government policy
e.	Communicating with the public and specific stakeholder groups
f.	Overseeing financial matters
g.	Overseeing operational matters
h.	Evaluating BGTN services
i.	Lobbying for more resources
j.	Establishing community linkages

Any there any other important roles that should be carried out by the Board?

This next series of questions deals with your perceptions of the BGTN organization and some of the challenges that it faces in the next few years.

Our current mission statement reads as follows:

The Bruce-Grey Trail Network will plan, advocate, educate, promote and partner in the development of a comprehensive regional trail system in Bruce and Grey Counties, with links to the Trillium Trail Network.

How would you rate our overall effectiveness in pursuing this mission?

Very effective	Not too effective
Somewhat effective	Not at all effective

Now rate the effectiveness of BJTN in pursuing each of the following goals related to its mission.

		Very Effective	Somewhat Effective	Not Too Effective	Not At All Effective
a.	Advocating for the establishment and maintenance of trails along public corridors
b.	Promoting and facilitating the linkage of trails within Grey and Bruce Counties
c.	Educating the general public and trail users in order to encourage responsible shared use of trails
d.	Promoting and providing funds for these objects

Please list one major strength and one major weakness of BGTN:

Strength:
Weakness:

10.

Now list one opportunity and one threat facing the organization:

Opportunity:
Threat:

11.	Feel free to make any other comments or suggestions to assist in the BGTN governance review process.

Completed by:

(Necessary only for follow-up with non-respondents)

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance.