The vast majority of research that examines public boards of trustees concerns the role and responsibility boards are given after they have been formed. However, a key step that is regularly overlooked in predicting or evaluating the performance of a board is the appointment of its trustees. To begin to address this fundamental "first step" this guide focuses on criteria to be used in the selection of members for public boards of trustees. These findings have been based on 132 interviews with leaders in higher education. Two sets of criteria are essential: one for individual nominees, which will be discussed first; and the second for the board as a whole. Just as nominees to the Supreme Court are judged by the American Bar Association according to specific criteria, so too, should nominees to public boards be evaluated in terms of established standards. Accordingly, the guidelines that follow are intended to serve as minimum requirements for the appointment of new board members to either single or multiple institutions. (Contains 7 available resources.) [This document produced by Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, University of Southern California.]