Winthrop University
Board of Trustees Executive Committee
Thursday, April 16, 2026
10:00 a.m.
Thompson Conference Room | Tillman Hall
Winthrop University | Rock Hill, South Carolina
Committee Members Present – Trustees Joel Hamilton (Chair), Kathy Bigham (via Zoom), Randy Imler (via Zoom), David
McDonald (via Zoom), Tim Sease (via Zoom) and Gary Williams
Committee Members Absent – None
President’s Cabinet Present – President Edward Serna, Kevin Butler, and Tammie Phillips
Other Attendees Present – Hannah Small, Ellen Wilder-Byrd
(Only attending Trustees, President Serna, President’s Cabinet, Board Staff, and others presenting or participating in the meeting are noted as attendees).
The Board of Trustees Executive Committee met on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., at Winthrop University in Thompson Conference Room.
Roll Call to Establish Quorum
Tammie Phillips took the roll of the Executive Committee and confirmed a quorum of the committee.
Public Notice
The meeting agenda was posted on the Winthrop University website with proper notice of the meeting. The meeting was held in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Call to Order and Welcome
A quorum being present, Chair Hamilton called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. and welcomed all present both in person and virtually.
Approval of Executive Committee Minutes of October 16, 2025, and February 12, 2025
Chair Hamilton called for a motion to approve the minutes of the October 16, 2025 (revised to reflect Trustee Sease not being present at the meeting), and February 12, 2026, meetings. Trustee Williams moved; seconded by Trustee McDonald. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Remarks from the Chairman
Chair Hamilton commended SSC on the grounds and the vast improvement around campus. He reported that we are rapidly approaching the semester’s end with study day being April 28.
President’s Update
President Serna gave an enrollment update due to Dr. Amanda James being in Columbia for CHE Higher Education Day. Winthrop Day over the past weekend was a tremendous success, and it is a credit to everyone across campus and in the community. Momentum remains strong with undergraduate enrollment up 18% for the summer, and graduate enrollment up 11%. He reported the only area with a little weakness is in transfer enrollment, which seems to be an industry-wide problem. Fall freshman enrollment numbers are strong, and the incoming class looks to be very large. Deposit and orientation numbers are trending up, and the deposit numbers are a great lead indicator that students are serious about coming to Winthrop.
He reported the Q3 scorecards for the strategic plan phase two initiatives have been uploaded. The administration is still on budget and on schedule for a June 30 delivery on all of those. He reported the need to begin thinking about phase three initiatives. There are some multi-year initiatives that need to be completed, specifically the Career Center enhancements and the Branding and Marketing Initiative. Coming out of the organizational assessment, CampusWorks will be presenting the results at the June board meeting and making some recommendations. A new set of initiatives will be coming out that will bridge the first three-year sprint to the next phase to keep the momentum going.
Budget/Finance Update
Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs Kevin Butler provided information regarding the FY2026 Financial Report. Winthrop is having a very good year financially. A more detailed report will be provided at the Finance and Audit Committee meeting. We are projecting core revenue to be significantly higher than budget, and core expense to come in under budget. Non-core funds are expected to also help improve the university’s financial position. Plant funds will likely be over budget as we accelerated some projects and are using older capital project allocations from the State. The fund balance is expected to be considerably higher than anticipated from our last report in October. We are spending or liquidating Board commitments, which means that the unobligated fund balance will be much larger than initially projected as well. He discussed the FY2027 Budget Process and reported the campus and Budget Committee are on track to bring a balanced budget request to the Board in June. The initial compilation of budget requests presented a gap of about $2.6 million higher than projected revenue. Following an engaging budget retreat with Cabinet, that gap was entirely resolved. The goal now is to find between a half-million and $750,000 to be able to invest in new activities. There were 49 items representing $4.6 million in new activity requests. That list is being prioritized so that when we make our final enrollment projections and the State legislature adopts a budget, we can establish a “cut-line” on that list and roll approved requests into the budget. He reminded the committee of the new carry forward policy that was put into place last year. The goal is to eliminate the “use it or lose it” mentality that plagues higher education. Per this policy, units may roll forward any unexpended budget, up to 25%, of their original discretionary budgets (non-personnel). This will be allocated in August and we will report on it at the October meeting.
Mr. Butler reported on the Tillman renovation, noting so far Winthrop has received $4.2 million for the renovation with discussion of an additional $6 million from the current legislative session. His suggestion to the President would be to do a $10.2 million project focusing on the Student One-Stop, ADA issues, restrooms and building systems. Then, shift strategy to a larger State request for an advanced manufacturing facility, give or take $80M which could be shared with donors and industry. He also provided an update on the business centers, noting Winthrop is rolling out a pilot business center that will support Athletics, the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the general administration. A business center provides cradle to grave services for all business-related processes such as purchasing, contracting and hiring. Centers focus on building expertise which reduces the risk of error, ensures compliance and improves throughput. Based on analysis 18 months in the making, the university has 65 employees providing some level of business-related activity. According to current position descriptions this activity (with those 65 positions) equates to over 26 FTE. We believe that the entire university could be provided these services with 18 Business Center employees.
April Board Meeting
Chair Hamilton reviewed the itinerary and agenda for the April Board of Trustees meeting. Each committee chair submitted an agenda, including a brief overview of the areas the vice presidents will cover.
Executive Session--pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. §30-4-70(a) (2) for the purposes of discussion of legal matters covered by the attorney-client privilege
Chair Hamilton called for a motion to go into executive session for the purpose of discussion of legal matters covered by attorney-client privilege. Trustee Sease moved with a second from Trustee Williams. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
President Edward Serna, Ashley Abel, Tammie Phillips, and Hannah Small were invited to remain for the executive session.
Chair Hamilton called for a motion to end executive session. Trustee Sease moved, seconded by Trustee McDonald. The vote was unanimous to end executive session.
Chair Hamilton reported that no action was taken during executive session and thanked all in attendance.
Other Business
Chair Hamilton discussed the partnership with SCRA to establish an Innovation Hub for this region to be located at Winthrop. He shared that a live press conference will be held on April 23rd at 3 p.m. in the entrance of Tillman Hall.
Adjournment
Chair Hamilton called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Imler moved, seconded by Trustee Bigham. The vote was unanimous to adjourn the meeting. Chair Hamilton adjourned the meeting at 11:25 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Tammie C. Phillips.
