Roles of Committee Chair: Toward Excellence in Reports

Reports of the institution are the principal enduring products of studies. The quality of a report is the single most important indicator of a successful project.

Some key principles for achieving a high-quality report--particularly reports that carry any finding, conclusion, advice, or recommendation of the committee--include the following:

The report must respond to the statement of task in its entirety.
The report is a work of scholarship and scientific inquiry. Its development should be guided by the usual standards for scientific, scholarly writing.
The report's tone and substance should be objective and free from prejudice and self-interest.
The findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the committee should flow logically from the data and information on which the report relies and from clear and coherent arguments presented in the report.
Sources of information and data must be cited through footnotes and lists of references. Selection of sources should be based on their quality and authoritativeness.
The report should distinguish the committee's evaluations and judgments from the work of others.
Judgments of the committee are appropriate but should be identified as such. The rationale for the judgments should be explicit.
The expertise and authority of the committee members should be demonstrated through analysis and reasoning rather than being presumed as sufficient ground for findings, conclusions, or recommendations.
Uncertainties in the evidence, in the lines of reasoning employed, or in the committee's judgments should be explicitly identified and addressed.
Consensus on findings, conclusions, and recommendations is a highly desirable attribute of reports. However, if reaching consensus would skew an important majority position of the committee, it is better to expose the lack of consensus than to obscure it completely through compromise.
In the event of failure to reach consensus, it is important to clearly identify and bound the areas about which disagreements still remain on the committee. If properly explained, a minority opinion or position could help direct attention to issues or areas where additional knowledge is especially needed.
Most reports have several audiences. The report (or parts of the report) must be cast to communicate its message to all interested audiences. Sometimes, it may be of value to prepare--for wider public dissemination--a second, shorter version of a report that is much more expressive of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
Clarity and readability of the report are very important. They come in part from good organization of the report, from attention to all levels of the report--chapter, section, paragraph--and from clear writing.