As many students wind down finals week, the Board of Trustees began its work. Three of the four board committees convened on Wednesday at the Ford Alumni Center to discuss topics including tuition and fees, general revenue bonds, and confidentiality for the ombudsperson.
The Finance and Facilities Committee opened with public comment from two students about a proposed tuition and fees resolution. The students’ comments sparked discussion among committee members, who appreciated the students’ input and added some non-substantive, but clarifying amendments to the resolution, which will go to the full board Thursday.
Trustees were pleased by the professionalism of the students who brought forth concerns, made suggestions to mitigate those concerns, hashed out details with general counsel, and then participated in a dialogue with trustees to get a final product students and trustees could agree on.
The Finance and Facilities Committee also received information about a new licensing agreement and the bond market, which the university plans to enter for the first time as an independent entity next year. The committee approved a resolution authorizing the university to pursue $50 million in general revenue bonds
A timeline for a new residence hall and plans to renovate existing housing facilities were shared by Robin Holmes, vice president for student life, and Michael Griffel, director of housing. The new hall has a target completion date of August 2017, and will utilize the dining facilities of the adjacent Global Scholars Hall at a significant savings, Holmes and Griffel noted. Trustees noted their enthusiasm for moving forward with a project integral to student life at the university.
At the Executive and Audit Committee meeting, interim President Scott Coltrane advised the committee of the decision he and Board Chair Chuck Lillis made to postpone consideration of the resolution amending the policy process. The committee also received the university’s draft external audit report, which was free of any issues or concerns. Lillis and Trustee Ross Kari both commended the university’s management for the “clean” audit report. The Executive and Audit Committee also received the quarterly internal audit report and learned about the university’s enterprise risk management operations by Andre Le Duc, executive director of Enterprise Risk Services.
The Executive and Audit Committee concluded with a discussion about the need to set a Board agenda - identifying areas that, through critical decisions, the board could “fundamentally improve the academic quality of the university,” Lillis said.
The Academic and Student Affairs Committee included student trustee Helena Schlegel, who participated for the first time as an official trustee. Schlegel was confirmed earlier in the day by the State Senate and signed her oath of office at the Ford Alumni Center.
The committee heard from acting Provost Frances Bronet about the formation of the strategic planning taskforces, and updates from Coltrane on the clusters of excellence hiring program and opportunities to recruit exceptional individuals.
“We’re at a good place in that during the recession we hired a great number of assistant and adjunct professors when others weren’t,” Coltrane said. “Now those faculty members are truly rising stars and we need to focus on what we need to do to retain them. We need to think creatively about how we retain faculty and what areas we should be focusing on.”
Final items of business included passing resolutions approving the Sports Product Management Masters of Science program and allowing for confidential reporting to the university’s ombudsperson as part of the university’s resources for students and faculty.
The full Board of Trustees will convene Thursday, Dec. 11, and Friday, Dec. 12, at 8 a.m. in the Giustina Ballroom of the Ford Alumni Center.
—By Jen McCulley, Public Affairs Communications