This book presents "best practices" for both the governing board of a college or university and the president of the institution. The book is organized into a series of practical principles and guidelines. Underlying the subject of board and president communication is the essential insight that whenever possible communication should be a tool, and not a weapon, and that it should be a force for bringing the academic community and the larger political and social communities closer together. The relationship between boards and presidents need not be left to chance, intuition, or episodic trial and error. The performance of all parties can be improved with constructive work. (SLD)