title: Evaluation of board performance in Iran's universities of medical sciences.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The critical role that the board plays in governance of universities clarifies the necessity of evaluating its performance. This study was aimed to evaluate the performance of the boards of medical universities and provide solutions to enhance its performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  The first phase of present study was a qualitative research in which data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed by thematic approach. The second phase was a mixed qualitative and quantitative study, with quantitative part in cross-sectional format and qualitative part in content analysis format. In the quantitative part, data were collected through Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME). In the qualitative part, the content of 2,148 resolutions that were selected by using stratified sampling method were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants believed that the boards had no acceptable performance for a long time.RESULTS also indicated the increasing number of meetings and resolutions of the boards in these 21 years. The boards' resolutions were mostly operational in domain and administrative in nature. The share of specific resolutions was more than the general ones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the current pace of change and development and the need to timely respond them, it is recommended to accelerate the slow pace of improvement process of the boards. It appears that more delegation and strengthening the position of the boards are the effective strategies to speed up this process.
authors.affiliation: Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Haniye Sadat
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Sajadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maleki
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ravaghi
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Homayoun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Farzan
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aminlou
authors.affiliation: Chancellor Office , Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hadi
keywords: Academic Medical Centers; Evaluation; Governing Board; Task Performance