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
Representatives present: Dustin Evatt, Student Representative; Cheryl Fortner-Wood, Faculty Representative
Representatives absent: None.
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.
