April 12-13, 2012
Gold Room, DiGiorgio Campus Center
Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Members present: Dalton Floyd (Chair), Kathy Bigham Frances Davenport, Janet Smalley, Jane LaRoche,
Susan Smith-Rex, Don Long, Glenn McCall, Bob Thompson, Tim Hopkins, Karl Folkens,
Donna Tinsley-Holley, Tim Sease, Scott Talley, Anthony J. DiGiorgio (ex officio).
Members absent: None.
Representatives present: Kambrell Garvin, Student Representative; Cliff Calloway, Faculty Representative
Representatives absent: None.
Others present: Faculty and staff of Winthrop University. Jimmie Williamson
The Board of Trustees met on Friday, April 12, 2012 on the campus of Winthrop University,
Rock Hill, SC.
Call to Order
Chair Floyd called the meeting to order at 6:36p.m.on Thursday, April 12 and welcomed
the Board and guests to the meeting.
Executive Session
Jane LaRoche moved, seconded by Frances Davenport, that the Board move into Executive
Session for the discussion of personnel, contractual, and legal issues. Trustee-elect
Jimmie Williamson and staff member Kimberly Faust were invited to remain for the meeting.
No actions were taken in Executive Session. Karl Folkens moved that the Executive
Committee return to Public Session with Bob Thompson seconding the motion, which was
approved unanimously by voice vote.
The meeting was recessed until 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 13, 2012.
Chair Floyd called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. on Friday, April 13, 2012. He
welcomed the various guests at the meeting including Dr. Jimmie Williamson who has
been elected to fill the Alumni Seat to be vacated by Frances Davenport when her term
ends on June 30, 2012.
Approval of Board Minutes of February 17-18, 2012
Don Long made a motion to approve the minutes from the Board retreat and meeting of February 17 through the 18th. The motion seconded by Glenn McCall. The minutes were approved unanimously as presented.
Report of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Board
Chair Floyd reported that the Executive Committee had met on campus on March 28, 2012.
Several matters were reviewed and discussed. The materials from the meeting have been
forwarded to each of members of the Board.
Chair Floyd then asked that the Board consider a number of resolutions including a
resolution to honor Mr. W. Brien Lewis for meritorious service to Winthrop University
and a resolution to congratulate Nantong University on the occasion of its 100th year.
As the resolutions were from the Executive Committee, no second was needed. Both resolutions
passed unanimously.
As per Article III, Section B, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees shall appoint
from among the voting members of the Board the members of a Committee on Nominations,
subject to the consent of the Board of Trustees. Chair Floyd appointed Mr. Bob Thompson
as chair of the committee, with Mr. Tim Hopkins and Dr. Jane LaRoche as the remaining
two members. The Board had no objections to the selection of these three members.
As noted in the bylaws, the committee will notify the full Board of their slate of
nominees for chair and vice-chair within 30 days of the next meeting.
Mr. Floyd then brought forth a resolution regarding the Charge to the Search and Selection
Committee and the Operating Guidelines for the Search for the 10th President of Winthrop
University. Again, no second was needed and the vote was unanimous to accept the resolution
charging the Search and Selection Committee with its task of providing to the Board
of Trustees an unranked recommendation of suitable candidates to be the 10th President
of Winthrop University, with a proposed target date of no later than March 2013. The
members of the Search and Selection Committee are Ms. Kathy Bigham (chair), Mr. Bob
Thompson, Mr. Karl Folkens, Ms. Janet Smalley, Dr. Sue Smith-Rex, Dr. Cliff Calloway,
Mr. Gary Williams, Ms. Vivian Carroll, Mr. Kambrell Garvin, Mr. Glenn McCall.
The final resolution from the Executive Committee was the resolution regarding the
solicitation of an executive search firm to assist with the selection of the 10th
President of Winthrop University. With no second needed, the vote was unanimous.
Report of the Committee on Academic Affairs
Chair Janet Smalley reported on BigSURS, the Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium
now being held on our campus. Students submitted 228 abstracts including all of the
Winthrop Honors program students.
The Office of Assessment currently has two alumni surveys ongoing. One is for graduates
within the past 12 months and one for graduates of 2008-09 year.
Plans are underway for the upfit of Dacus Library. The Library will remain open during
the 16 weeks of renovation. Ebrary, the library's database of 100,000 academic ebooks,
has proven quite successful, providing access to titles at only 30 cents each as compared
to about $40 for a print copy.
The STEM scholars program will award its first 10 scholarships for the coming academic
year. The Department of Mathematics has been awarded a grant to train SC teachers
to teach AP Calculus.
Fine Arts sculpture students have been commissioned by the Wells Fargo Golf Championship
to design and complete eight sculptures at Quail Hollow to commemorate its 10th anniversary.
The establishment of the James and Sue Rex Institute for Educational Renewal and Partnership
was commemorated with a reception on March 29, hosted by President DiGiorgio and former
SC Governor and US Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley. The Rex Institute acknowledges
the Rexes' long commitment to excellence and innovation in education through university-school
partnerships.
The MBA program has been completely revised including updating topical coverage, revising
the course sequences and the prerequisite stream, and shortening the required number
of hours for the program.
Report of the Committee on Finance
Chair Karl Folkens reported on the briefing from the independent audit firm, Cline
Brandt Kochenower Company regarding the upcoming financial audit for the year ending
June 30, 2012. Mr. Pat Rhyne, Internal Auditor, reported to the committee on the ongoing
and completed audits and projects conducted since the November meeting. JP McKee discussed
with the committee the upcoming RFP process for obtaining a new five year contract
for the annual financial and federal single audit, as well as the Intercollegiate
Athletics Program Agreed-Upon Procedures audit.
The Finance Committee reviewed the College of Education's proposal for a 6.5% increase
for Macfeat lab fees for the 2012-13 academic year. The College believes the proposed
rates are competitive with premier early childhood education programs and is needed
to reduce the difference between the costs to offer the Macfeat program and the current
tuition income.
Chair Folkens then brought forth two resolutions from the Finance Committee. The first
is a resolution to approve a master lease not exceeding $2,000,000 for instructional
equipment and software. This resolution will provide a loan through the State Treasurer's
Master Lease Program for the purchase of needed instructional equipment and software
for no more than $2,000,000. This loan is administered through the State Treasurer's
Office in conjunction with Bank of America. This loan program allows the university
to receive the proceeds at very favorable interest rates (3 to 4% range) and repay
over the next 7 years. Needing no second, the resolution was approved unanimously.
The second resolution brought forth was the proposed auxiliary student fees. The committee
is recommending a room fee increase of 2.9% and an increase of 4.9% for food services
due to the increase in the price of foods. Needing no second, the resolution was approved
unanimously.
Report of the Committee on Student Life
Committee chair Kathy Bigham began with a summary the report from Athletic Director
Tom Hickman. As Mr. Hickman stated, the Winthrop athletic teams enjoyed their best
academic semester ever with 3 men's teams and 7 women's teams having average GPAs
of 3.0 or better. On a broader front, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors recently
approved multi-year scholarships for student-athletes; a controversial change as scholarships
used to be single year. The standard for immediate initial access to competition for
prospective student-athletes is increasing to at least a 2.3 GPA and an increased
sliding scale. The old standard will still allow freshmen to practice and receive
financial aid. A benchmark Academic Progress Rate (APR) will now be used to determine
team eligibility for post-season competition. The benchmark will gradually increase
from 900 currently to 930 in 2014-15. At this point, all Winthrop teams have an APR
score above 930
Chair Bigham then summarized the reports from the Division of Student Life. Director
of the Campus Center Alicia Marstall and Assistant Director of Student Engagement
& Diversity and Leadership Alex Miller gave a general overview of r student activities
programming efforts involving more than 150 clubs and organizations. Director of the
Campus Compact Kim Keel was joined with Matt Sohner, a Winthrop AmeriCorps/VISTA member,
to describe the Reading Tent Project, a Winthrop ACAD 101 civic engagement project
aimed at improving childhood literacy in our local community. Over 1,000 Winthrop
students and faculty participated in the project with more than 300 children benefiting
from the distribution of 3,625 free books
Report of the Committee on Institutional Advancement and Development
Committee Chair Bob Thompson reported on the status of freshman applications for Fall
2012. The trends continue to look positive with admitted students numbers up nearly
10% and an increase in deposits of 31% when compared to 2011. Admitted transfer students
are up nearly 8% compared to last year, including an increase of almost 3% for the
non-traditional student population.
Next, Mr. Thompson summarized the update and presentation on the successful marketing
initiative for the second annual World Wide Winthrop Day including a Class of 2016
Facebook page featuring incoming students.
The election process is complete for an Alumni seat on the Winthrop Board of Trustees.
Congratulations to Jimmie Williamson '80 and '85 on winning the election. Many thanks
to Frances Davenport for her exemplary service in this role, which will conclude at
the end of June.
2011 saw a 21.3% increase in "cash in hand" gifts (not including pledges or planned
giving expectancies), with $3.6 million received compared to $2.9 million in 2010.
Parent giving rose substantially in 2011, with a 246% increase in the total gifts
from parents as compared to 2010. The number of parent donors providing gifts to the
Winthrop University Foundation also increased by more than 50%. As of April 5, 2012,
the Distinction Campaign has received gifts and commitments of $36,105,635 or 72.2%
of our $50 million goal.
Report of the Chair of Faculty Conference
Dr. Cliff Calloway summarized the actions of the most recent Faculty Conference. The
faculty have been busy reviewing and revising programs on campus. A new program in
Conservation Biology has been initiated while other programs have been revised to
be more efficient.
The Faculty recommended to President DiGiorgio that the criteria to be a freshman
or sophomore in good standing be raised to a new standard of 2.0 GPA. This will become
effective in 2012-13.
Dr. Calloway expressed the faculty's thanks for the Board's decision to move forward
on securing funding for the new scientific equipment and software schedule to be purchased
in the upcoming academic year. Both students and faculty will benefit from the purchases.
Report of the Chair of the Council of Student Leaders
Kambrell Garvin reported on the recent elections for the president and vice president
of the Council of Student Leaders. Kambrell was reelected as the president with Mr.
Christopher Aubrie being chosen as the new vice president. This year's accomplishments
include an Environmental Sustainability Program, a Legal Aid Survey, registration
of 200 voters, Homecoming Pep Rally, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Events, student
Customer Service Survey, initiated the B3 Safety Campaign, allocated $32,000 in student
funding, and sponsored the annual Study Day Break by providing snacks and other giveaways.
Report of the President
While the House-adopted budget plan now pending in the Senate includes no increases
in operating funds for higher education for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It
does include one-time funds for use on campus maintenance projects at Winthrop and
$500,000 for Winthrop technology needs. Senate Finance Committee members will work
on their version of the budget over the next couple of weeks.
The improved revenue picture this year has created some good news: State employee salaries remain targeted for a 2% increase. The amount allocated by the General Assembly in this process does not include funds sufficient to cover employees, however, so Winthrop will need to identify between $700,000-$750,000 in additional funds for this purpose. Health insurance rates will not be set by state officials until later in the year, so it is too soon to tell how the salary increase and health insurance rates will balance out.
Similarly, the General Assembly has under consideration a bill that proposes major
changes to the regular state retirement system because of concerns about its long-range
sustainability as presently structured.
Once the Senate adopts its version of an appropriation plan, the bill will go back
to the House, then likely be headed to a conference committee to work out any remaining
differences with the House. After a compromise is agreed to, the bill will go to the
Governor for possible vetoes, which the General Assembly will vote to sustain or override
to finalize a spending plan for all of state government for the fiscal year that begins
July 1. Winthrop develops its spending plan in part on the final state appropriation
number, so tuition recommendations cannot be determined until after the veto session
finalizes the state funding available.
Old Business
None
New Business
None
Adjournment
Hearing no objections, Chair Floyd adjourned the meeting at 2:29 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Kimberly Faust, Secretary to the Board
