June 4 and 5, 2009
1:00 pm
Dunlap-Roddey Room, Johnson Hall
Winthrop University
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Members present: Kathy Bigham (Chair), Frances Davenport, Karl Folkens, Janet Smalley,
Jane LaRoche, Susan Smith-Rex, Donna Tinsley, Lee Cox. Dalton Floyd, David Vipperman,
Sam Foster, Bob Thompson, Anthony J. DiGiorgio (ex officio)
Members absent: One vacancyFirst Congressional District Seat
Representatives present: Sydney Evans, Student Representative; Cheryl Fortner Wood,
Faculty Representative
Representatives absent: None
Others present: Faculty and staff of Winthrop University, Matt Garfield, The Herald
The Board of Trustees met on Thursday, June 5 and Friday, June 6, 2008 on the campus
of Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC.
Chair Bigham called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. on June 4. Lee Cox made a motion
for the Board to move into Executive Session, Frances Davenport seconded. The Board
met in executive session for the purpose of the contractual and personnel matter of
reviewing the recommendations of the Executive Committee on the performance evaluation
of President DiGiorgio. David Vipperman moved the Board return to public session with
no actions taken. The motion was seconded by Janet Smalley. The motion passed unanimously
by voice vote. At that time, the meeting was recessed with continuation planned for
the afternoon of June 5.
As there were no requests made for public comments, the meeting continued on June
5, 2009 at 1:06p.m.
Bob Thompson made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting of April 17, 2009. The motion seconded by Lee Cox. The minutes were approved unanimously as presented.
Chair Bigham reported that the Executive Committee had met on campus on May 20, 2009.
Several matters were reviewed and discussed. The materials from the meeting have
been forwarded to each of members of the Board. Chair Bigham asked that the Board
consider a number of resolutions for meritorious service:
Resolution Honoring Ms. Tatiana Sosa for Meritorious Service to Winthrop University.
Janet Smalley, Chair of the University Relations Committee read aloud the citation
honoring Ms. Sosa for her one year of service to the Board. The resolution passed
unanimously.
Resolution Honoring Dr. Cheryl Fortner-Wood for Meritorious Service to Winthrop University. Lee
Cox, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee read aloud the citation honoring Dr.
Fortner-Wood for her two years of service to the Board. The resolution passed unanimously.
Chair Bigham then asked that the Board consider a number of resolutions pertaining
to the performance evaluation and contract of President DiGiorgio:
Resolution Regarding Performance Evaluation of President Anthony J. DiGiorgio. Based
upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Board and input from the
Faculty Representative to the Board as well as individual Trustees, the Board recommended
the President receive an "Exceeds Expectations" evaluation. The resolution passed
unanimously.
Resolution Regarding Contract of President Anthony J. DiGiorgio. Again, based on
the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Board and input from the Faculty
Representative to the Board as well as individual Trustees, the contract of President
Anthony DiGiorgio was extended for an additional year. The resolution passed unanimously.
As the last resolution to be put forth from the Executive Committee, the Chair asked
the Board to consider a Resolution Regarding Amendments to the Board Bylaws supporting
the implementation of the restructuring of the committees of the Board as a significant
element of the Board's ongoing commitment to institutional progress and development. With
this action, the former University Relations Committee was recast as two separate
committees, Committee on Institutional Advancement and Development and the Committee
on Student Life. The resolution passed unanimously.
The next order of business was the report of the Academic Affairs Committee. After
reminding the Board that each has received a complete set of briefing notes from all
of the committees, Committee Chair Lee Cox read aloud the Resolution to Confer Emeritus
Faculty Status on selected retired faculty. The resolution passed unanimously to
confer emeritus status to: William W. Grigsby, Jr; Richard C. Ingram; Gloria A. Kelley;
Richard L. Morris; John E. Robbins; Johnny Sanders, Jr.; John M. Schmidt; and Han
Vo.
He continued by reporting on the results of the recent tenure and promotion process
that resulted in 17 faculty receiving tenure and 13 promotions. He noted being impressed
with the tenure procedures leading to the final decision. The stated the process
is so thorough and consistent and that faculty are well advised throughout the process
and very few do not have a positive outcome.
Chair Cox recommended the Trustees give serious consideration to the Arts and Sciences
undergraduate research booklet as it is a wonderful representation of remarkable work
being done on the Winthrop campus by students and their faculty mentors.
The report concluded with Chair Cox's account of the presentation on University College
by Dean Gloria Jones.
As the next order of business, Karl Folkens, Chair of the Finance Committee brought
forth a Resolution to Empower the Executive Committee with the Authority to Adopt
the Tuition Schedule and Operating Budget for 2009-20010. The committee brought forth
this resolution because the future use of stimulus funds remains unclear. Without
the stimulus monies, Winthrop will have to immediately adapt operating budgets to
reflect the lowered state appropriations projected for fiscal year 2009-10. If the
stimulus monies are accepted by the state and distributed to higher education, Winthrop
will have approximately two years to adapt to the lowered appropriation amounts.
As the only source of real revenue is tuition and fees, parameters are set to remain
as close to the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) for Masters Level Universities
(4%) as possible. This resolution will give the Executive Committee the authority
to meet later in the summer to review the actions of the state as related to the stimulus
monies in order to set the operating budget as well as approve the tuition and fees.
The resolution passed unanimously.
The second order of business of the Finance Committee was to propose a Resolution
to Establish a "Red Flags Rule" Identity Theft Prevention Program for Winthrop University.
This program will ensure Winthrop complies with federal law as it pertains to protections
against identity theft of our students, faculty, and staff. The resolution passed
unanimously.
Folkens concluded his report by stating the Finance Committee met in executive session
to discuss contractual and legal matters. No actions were taken in executive session
and details of that meeting will be found in the minutes of the Finance Committee
meeting to be distributed to the Board in its entirety.
Chair Janet Smalley began her report by urging all Trustees to review the University
Relations briefing notes as provided. She continued with a discussion on the report
of Tom Hickman, Athletics Director. While the overall semester GPA of athletes increased
slightly from 2.93 to 2.94 the overall cumulative GPA decreased from 3.00 to 2.99.
The committee was introduced to Ms. Melissa Pluchos, Director of Academic and Student
Athlete Services. Ms. Pluchos serves as the liaison between the athletics department
and faculty as well as overseeing the academic support services for athletes such
as study hall, academic progress reports, tutoring, freshmen weekly meetings, identifying
"at-risk" students, mentoring freshmen and those identified as "at-risk", support
of upperclassmen transitioning out of mentoring and any other assistance identified
as needed throughout the semester.
Continuing on to the admissions/enrollment area, Chair Smalley summarized the report
of Kathryn Holten, VP of Advancement and University Relations. While projected enrollments
remain static, the admissions staff continues to work to improve recruiting efforts.
Particularly successful is a partnership with telecounseling firm RuffaloCODY to recruit
and enroll students for 2009 and 2010.
Moving to student life, Chair Smalley reported great progress in the area of the Critical
Incident Management Team. The team is doing so well that Dr. Ardaiolo recently was
requested to share all the university documents that the CIMT has developed with the
Harvard University Crisis Leadership in Higher Education Institute. In doing so he
gave permission to Harvard's request to use these documents in future institutes "as
examples of the kinds of forward-leaning anticipatory pre-thinking that organizations
can and should do".
Chair Smalley concluded her report with the recent changes to Foundation's spending
policies and priority uses of "rainy day funds" to help with scholarships and other
funding. She said many donors are stepping forward to offer additional support.
As the next order of business, Chair Bigham temporarily turned the meeting over to Karl Folkens for the purpose of the election of the Board officers for academic year 2009-10. Nominating Committee Chair Janet Smalley brought forth the recommendation of her committee. Kathy Bigham was recommended for Chair, Dalton Floyd for Vice Chair, and Frances Davenport for Secretary. Each agreed to serve if elected. The election was unanimous. The new officers will assume their duties on July 1, 2009.
Dr. Cheryl Fortner-Wood began her report by thanking the faculty for permitting her to represent them for two years as their representative to the Board of Trustees. She emphasized her appreciation that the Board asks for and seriously considers the perspective of the Faculty Representative when it is relevant for the decisions they make.
Newly elected Chair, Sydney Evans reported on upcoming plans for the Council of Student Leaders. As of a few weeks ago, all board positions linked to student committees have been filled. A few seats on the Board will remain open to be filled with incoming freshmen in the Fall semester. This summer she will be attending a leadership conference at the University of Colorado at Boulder and plans to report on it at the next Trustee meeting in November.
The President began his report by thanking the Trustees for their vote of confidence
in awarding him an "Exceeds Expectations" for his evaluation and by extending his
contract.
He summarized the 2008-09 academic year by characterizing it as intense, frustrating,
and disruptive at times as furloughs and other budget cuts had to be made. He reflected
that our willingness to be proactive in December with furloughs and cuts resulted
in a solid plan for next year. As further developments with stimulus funding and budget
issues arise, the Board as well as the campus community will be kept informed.
None.
None.
Hearing no objections, Chair Bigham adjourned the meeting at 2 pm.
Minutes submitted by Kimberly Faust, Secretary to the Board for 2009-10.
APPROVED BY THE BOARD ON NOVEMBER 5, 2009.
