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WINTHROP UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
November
2, 2007
10:30 a.m.
Polly Ford Conference Room
Winthrop University
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Minutes
of Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Members
present: Karl Folkens (Chair), Kathy Bigham, Sam
Foster, Frances Davenport, Leland Cox, Janet Smalley, Glenda Owens, Jane
LaRoche, Susan Smith-Rex, Donna Tinsley, Dalton Floyd, Anthony J.
DiGiorgio (ex officio).
Members absent: David Vipperman
Others
present: Faculty and staff of Winthrop
University, Jessica Schoenburg.
The Board of
Trustees met on Friday, November 2 at 10:30a.m. in the Polly Ford
Conference Room of the West Center on the campus of Winthrop University,
Rock Hill, SC.
Call to Order
Chair Folkens called the meeting to order at 10:38 a.m.
Report of the Executive
Committee and Chair of the Board
Chair Folkens began by presenting a resolution to honor
Mrs. Lois Rhame West for her lifetime of service and dedication to
Winthrop and the state of South Carolina. As this resolution originated
with the Executive Committee, a second was not needed.
The board voted unanimously in favor of the resolution.
Mr. Folkens then asked for a motion to move into Executive Session for
the purpose of discussing personnel, legal, and contractual matters.
Lee Cox made the motion and it was seconded by Janet Smalley.
After a short discussion with no actions taken, Sue Smith Rex moved the
board return to public session. Jane LaRoche seconded the motion.
At
this time (11:47 a.m.) the chair recessed the board so that they could
take part in the dedication ceremonies for the Lois Rhame West Health
and Wellness Center.
As
there were no requests for public comment, the Board resumed its meeting
at 1:46 p.m. in the Dunlap-Roddey Room in Johnson Hall on the campus of
Winthrop University.
Chair Folkens resumed the meeting by welcoming Mr. Dalton Floyd, Jr. and
Dr. Cheryl Fortner-Wood as the newest members of the Board of Trustees.
Mr. Floyd is the Governor’s Appointee to the Board and Dr. Fortner-Wood
is the Faculty Representative to the Board.
Approval of Board
Minutes of June 8, June 9, and September 25, 2007
Lee Cox
moved, seconded by Jane LaRoche that the Board approve the minutes. This
motion was approved unanimously as presented by voice vote.
Report of the
Executive Committee and Chair of the Board
Next, Chair
Folkens reported that the Executive Committee had met on campus on
October 17, 2007. Several matters were reviewed and discussed. The
materials from the meeting have been forwarded to each of members of the
Board. Most of the issues that were discussed will be or have already
been a part of today’s agendas.
The Executive Committee asked that the
Board consider the following Resolutions:
-
A Resolution to Endorse the Agency
Head Objectives 2007 - 2008. The resolution passed
unanimously.
-
A Resolution to
Endorse the Vision of Distinction 2007 -
08. The resolution passed unanimously.
-
A Resolution to
Honor Dr. Sanita Savage for her service to the Board. The
resolution passed unanimously.
-
A Resolution to
Honor Mr. Larry Durham for his service to the Board. The resolution
passed unanimously.
-
A Resolution to
Honor Dr. Tim Daugherty for his service to the Board. The resolution
passed unanimously.
Chair Folkens reported the Executive Committee also had an executive
session for discussion of legal, personnel, and contractual matters. No
action was taken in the executive session.
Report of the Academic Affairs Committee
Committee Chair Cox report the committee was asked to consider a
Resolution in Honor of Dr. Mark Dewalt, Bank of America Professor.
The Resolution was unanimously approved. The committee then
heard updates on plans to expand degree program offerings including a
degree in Athletic Training, Exercise Science, and a MAT in Early
Childhood Education as well as an update on collaborations between
Winthrop and York Tech in order to make transferring to Winthrop from
York Technical College an easier process.
Additional updates included a report on the Academic Leadership Retreat,
the annual retreat held prior to the Fall semester which focused on
faculty roles, rewards and priorities, Core Commitments, and General
Education goals were reviewed and the importance of each assessed; a
report on the thirty new faculty hired for the start of the Fall
semester; a national search to replace Dean Pat Graham; a search for
dean of University College; and a national search for dean of the
Graduate School.
The Academic Unit Updates included a summary on the process to review
future goals and objectives of library services with regard to
technological advances and technological expectations of users in
preparation for a possible new library; the $15,000 grant from the South
Carolina Arts Commission to increase participation in cultural events,
especially with regard to minority audiences; the Winthrop/Carolina
Orchestra’s trip to Spain; the first graduate of the Certified Financial
Planning option in the College of Business; the authorization received
to begin a chapter of the Upsilon Phi Delta Honor Society for health
care management students; the Teaching Teachers WELL three-year grant
from the US Department of Education providing $700,000 to prepare Rock
Hill School District teachers with strategies for working with English
Language Learners; external grant funding in the College of Arts and
Sciences totaling over $645,000; the full accreditation to 2015 of the
Social Work program; the Mathematics Department faculty in collaboration
with the College of Education faculty’s plans to edit and publish
MathMate, the journal of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of
Mathematics; University College reported on Winthrop’s first Student
Fulbright application submission as well as House Calls, tutoring
service delivered in the residence halls; Graduate Studies reported on
increased enrollments due to increased marketing in high quality
Metrolina publications funded by the switch to an electronic catalog
which has saved enough money to fund most of the new marketing; and
finally, Registrar Tim Drueke reported on the integration of the
Cultural Events Office into the Office of Records and Registration and
the move of the registration functions of the Graduate Studies to
Records and Registration.
Report of the Finance Committee
Committee Chair Bigham summarized the standard report of outside
auditing firm by confirming the finding to be “unqualified opinion of no
instances of noncompliance.” This means the University has complied with
all of the rules in terms of handling federal monies. The committee
went on to review additional controls to be put into place that will
help us do more testing of internal controls. Bigham noted the extra
controls are not in response to any perceived problems but rather
proactive efforts to avoid any problems.
The Committee reviewed the Allocation Status report and agreed with the
projection that we will finish the year in the black. The 2007-08 goals
and objectives were discussed with many of the projects underway and
some already finished.
Associate Vice President of Information Technology, James Hammond,
presented a report on the status of smart classrooms and highlighted the
progress of the campus Alertus system. The Committee was most impressed
with the efforts being undertaken to ensure the safety and security of
the campus.
Report of the University Relations Committee
Committee Chair Owens reported on the upcoming Big South Athletic
Conference’s 25th Anniversary to special ceremonies and
recognitions throughout 2008-09, a culmination event in May 2009, and
recognition of Top 25 achievements including student-athlete
performances, team achievements and leadership examples over the years.
Updates from the Division of Athletics also included the plans to video
forty-four live events plus all championships hosted by Winthrop
University including streaming of all men’s and women’s basketball not
being televised.
The Division of University Development and Alumni Affairs reported on
events planned jointly with admissions for January and February in
Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta; homecoming, Alumni Reunion Celebration
and the plans underway to develop a presentation for a variety of
audiences on planned giving and the many attractive options for donors.
Major new focus on marketing planned giving is showing results; the
unrestricted Loyalty Fund is up substantially compared to this time last
year. Although the largest contributors are alumni, we have also
increased our giving in corporations, parents, and friends. To date this
fiscal year we have raised over $931,000 compared to $543,000 at the
same point last year.
The Division of Student Life briefed the committee on the programming
that goes on in the Academic Success Communities operating this Fall
semester including the 100+ page training manual is used by the 3
graduate student Residence Directors and 4 professional Residential
Learning Coordinators to train the some 58 undergraduate Resident
Assistants. There are now 22 Academic Success Communities operating.
Also included in the update was a review of the new critical incident
management team created to review our approaches to managing emergency
incidents on campus in light of the Virginia Tech mass shootings. This
team was already responsible for bringing to campus SMS cell phone and
voice mail emergency notification system that was recently tested
successfully and is overseeing the installation of 49 ALERTUS emergency
notification panels that will be installed by the start of Spring
semester in key building locations.
The Division of University Relations and Enrollment Management reported
on the new recruiting software system Recruitment Plus (RP) acquired
this summer and an update of the Content Management System under the
direction of University Relations.
Report from the Chair of Faculty Conference and Faculty
Representative to the Board
Dr.
Cheryl Fortner-Wood updated the Board on the work of the faculty
including the review of faculty governance. The Committee on Faculty
Governance has divided into subgroups, each focusing on a different area
of governance. Dr. Fortner-Wood then gave her own perspective as a
faculty member by saying how much she enjoys telling prospective faculty
that Winthrop really is as it seems to be, i.e. an enjoyable place to
work and one that supports and rewards good work. She continued to say
how she had heard such favorable comments about the Board of Trustees
from the former Faculty Representatives to the Board and now she has
proof of those comments and has her own high regard for the Board.
Report from the Chair of the Council of Student Leaders
and Student Representative to the Board
Mr.
Dustin Evatt reported on the efforts of the Council to amend the
Dedication of Excellence to reflect a more modern outlook and to
incorporate the Core Commitments framework. A second project of the
Council is to work toward increasing voter registration and encouraging
students to prepare to vote in the upcoming presidential election. A
Las Vegas theme is planned for this year’s Homecoming celebration and
the Council is hard at work with the plans. Mr. Evatt reported
tremendous student satisfaction with the West Center. He continuously
hears from students that it has transformed student life at Winthrop
University.
Report from the President
The president began his
report by commenting on the positive way in which the new academic year
began and congratulated the faculty, staff, and students as they have
accepted and adapted to the challenges of
bringing two new buildings on line and preparing sites for others. We
are at about the halfway mark of completing the campus master plan with
most of the infrastructure and underground utilities complete. Although
not visible from the outside, work is progressing inside Peabody in
preparation for demolition, which will begin soon. Once that site is
clear, construction on the new Campus Center should begin early next
year as we are in preparation to accept construction bids by late
December/early January. In the meantime, we are continuing work on the
Thurmond auditorium as well as beginning phase one of Scholar’s Walk
which will include the beginnings of a consistent branding program such
as banners, flags, and signs with a distinct Winthrop logo.
As we retire
debt from previous projects, we can reassign the debt to the newer
projects. At present, approximately 20% of our capital projects are
funded by the State and the remaining 80% are self-funded. The State
does have the capacity for a Bond Bill but most likely will not support
one in the upcoming year. While funding for a new library is not to be
immediate, we are moving forward with a fulsome study of the amenities
needed in a modern library as was noted in the Academic Affairs
Committee report.
We are continuing our
efforts to
have our
campus zoning changed to the new category of the city’s revised zoning
code designed specifically for campus uses: “Planned Educational
District” (PED. Winthrop
already has held a neighborhood meeting to which all property owners and
residents within 300 feet of campus were invited in anticipation of
Planning Commission and City Council action on the requested change in
December and January, respectively. No major issues of concerns were
raised by the property owners. Therefore, we expect the process to move
smoothly forward.
Old Business
There
was no old business
New Business
There was no new business.
Adjournment
Glenda Owens moved, seconded by Dalton Floyd, that the
Board adjourn. The motion was passed unanimously by voice vote and the
Board adjourned at 3:13 p.m.
Minutes submitted by
Kimberly Faust, Secretary to the Board for 2007-08
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