For governing boards
The board page
What a board decides about the National Call to Action. A board secretary can place this page in a docket; trustees do not need the full instrument to vote.
What the letter asks
On August 3, 2026, the U.S. Secretary of Education asked every postsecondary institution to post, by the end of 2026, a public statement of its commitments across seven questions: admissions transparency; free expression and campus order; intellectual pluralism; affordability, value, and student outcomes; rigor in the age of artificial intelligence; research integrity and foreign influence; and national service and workforce contribution. The request is advisory. It creates no new legal obligation and conditions no funding, according to law-firm analyses published in August 2026. The letter is addressed to presidents and boards. The full reading quotes each question and cites its sources.
The decision
A posture is the institution's chosen way of responding. The board selects one and records why. No posture is universally correct.
| Posture | What it signals | What it costs | What it gives up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary holding response | Prudence during a defined review | A public timeline and a named decision process, or it reads as absence | Nothing, if it ends on schedule |
| Decline | An informed judgment about governance timing, legal review, or system structure | The appearance of evasion if performance questions remain unaddressed | A record in the institution's own voice |
| Collective or system response | Consistency and coordination | Campus differences absorbed into an aggregate | Campus-level accountability, unless an evidence appendix accompanies it |
| Mission-anchored engagement | Command of the institution's own evidence, answered from mission | Precision; vague qualifications appear evasive | Nothing; the evidence assembled also serves concurrent filings |
| Full affirmative response | A visible reform agenda | Exposure; every claim needs verified evidence and an owner | Room to correct overclaims later without cost |
Five questions to ask the president before the vote
- Question 1
Which posture, and why does it fit our mission and our risk profile? What does it leave unresolved, and when do we revisit it?
- Question 2
Which claims in the draft sit at E4 or E5, and where can a member of the public reproduce each figure? Which claims sit at E0 or E1, and how are they worded?
- Question 3
What did the contradiction ledger surface, and what did we do with it? If it surfaced nothing, why not?
- Question 4
Which commitments carry an executive owner, resources, and a completion date, and where will progress be published?
- Question 5
Which concurrent filings share this evidence, and are they current? In particular: the October 1, 2026 FVT/GE and STATS submission, the January 15, 2027 backfill, and the January 31, 2027 Section 117 report.
One evidence base, several filings
Part of the evidence a statement requires is evidence the institution already files: program-level cost, debt, and earnings under FVT/GE and STATS (due October 1, 2026, with unreported 2024 and 2025 data due January 15, 2027); foreign gifts and contracts under Section 117 (next deadline January 31, 2027); campus safety under the Clery Act (October 1). Evidence entered once serves the statement and each filing that shares it. The domain-by-domain table is in the instrument.
The resolution
Resolved, that the [Institution] governing board directs preparation of a Public Trust Ledger addressing the Secretary's seven questions; that no public claim be published above its evidence code; that material counterevidence be presented to the board before publication; that each commitment carry an executive owner, resources, and a public reporting date; and that the board review the completed Ledger before any statement is posted.
The certification
We certify that this response distinguishes current performance from proposed action; that material counterevidence was presented to the governing board; that no known adverse finding was omitted solely because it complicated the institution's narrative; and that every dated commitment has an accountable executive owner.
Signatories. President or chancellor; board chair; chief academic officer; chief financial officer; general counsel; institutional research officer; faculty-governance representative; student representative where governance permits; date. The workbook has the signature block.
What the president brings to the meeting
- Item 1
The posture decision record.
- Item 2
The evidence appendix: every claim with its code, source, period, owner, limitation, and next update.
- Item 3
The contradiction ledger, with the action taken on each row.
- Item 4
The board accountability docket: commitments with owners, resources, dates, and public reporting dates.
- Item 5
The governance memorandum: why this posture, what was excluded for insufficient evidence, what remains unresolved.
- Item 6
The draft public statement, marked to show the evidence code behind each sentence.
The calendar
- Sep 2, 2026
Advance questions due for the Federal Student Aid office hours on FVT/GE and STATS.
- Sep 10, 2026
Federal Student Aid office hours, 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern time.
- Oct 1, 2026
FVT/GE 2026-cycle data due; the STATS reporting-path election is made by what the institution reports. Clery Annual Security Report due. The 2027–28 FAFSA opens.
- Nov–Dec 2026
Board reviews the completed Ledger and votes on the statement, or records the decision not to publish.
- Dec 31, 2026
The letter's requested target for posting.
- Jan 15, 2027
Final deadline for unreported 2024 and 2025 FVT/GE data.
- Jan 31, 2027
Section 117 reporting deadline.
Sources for each date are listed in the instrument's Sources. Verify each date against its primary source before relying on it.