February 28-March 2, 2014
Gold Room, DiGiorgio Campus Center
Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Members present: Kathy Bigham, Karl Folkens, Jane LaRoche, Susan Smith-Rex, Bob Thompson, Donna Glenn
Holley, Janet Smalley, Glenn McCall, Tim Hopkins, Don Long, Mitchell Zais, Tim Sease,
Scott Talley, Ashlye Wilkerson (via telephone), Jayne Marie Comstock (ex officio).
Members absent: None
Representatives present: Christopher Aubrie, Student Representative; John Bird, Faculty Representative
Representatives absent: None
Others present: Faculty and staff of Winthrop University, Anna Douglas of The Herald. David Thackham,
The Johnsonian, Manning Kimmel, WRHI
The Board of Trustees met Friday, February 28, 2014 on the campus of Winthrop University,
Rock Hill, SC.
Call to Order
Chair Kathy Bigham called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. There was no request for
public comment.
Approval of Minutes
Scott Talley moved, seconded by Tim Hopkins to approve the minutes of December 13,
2013. The minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote.
Report of the Executive Committee and Board Chair
Ms. Bigham reported that the Executive Committee had met on campus on February 5,
2014. Several matters were reviewed and discussed including the President's presentation
to the Subcommittee on Higher Education of the SC House Ways and Means Committee;
the upcoming Presidential Inauguration; and the plans for this retreat. The materials
from the meeting have been forwarded to each of members of the Board.
Chair Bigham apprised the Board of the resignation of Dr. James Williamson. Dr. Williamson
accepted a new position as President of the South Carolina Technical College System
and as a result could not continue in his position as a Trustee of Winthrop. Dr. Williamson
was appointed to the Board by the Alumni Association. They are presently conferring
and will soon name their replacement for Dr. Williamson. Chair Bigham asked the Board
to join her in extending best wishes and congratulations to Dr. Williamson.
Executive Session
Bob Thompson moved with a second from Karl Folkens that the Board go into Executive
Session for discussion of personnel and contractual issues. John Bird, Christopher
Aubrie, JP McKee, Amanda Maghsoud, and Kimberly Faust were invited to join the meeting.
Tim Hopkins moved with a second from Jane LaRoche the Board end the executive session.
The motion passed unanimously. No actions were taken in executive session.
Bylaw revision
Glenn McCall moved and Don Long seconded a motion to adopt a revised set of bylaws
for the Board of Trustees. Discussion of the revisions included an analysis of changes
to the bylaws and the reasoning related to those changes. Specifically, the changes
reflect the Board's desire for all elected and appointed Trustees to be eligible to
serve as officers of the Board; the granting to the Faculty Conference the right of
appeal to the Board in accordance with the Faculty Conference bylaws; and the addition
of a new Trustee seat to represent the newly formed seventh Congressional district
in South Carolina. The motion passed unanimously.
Memorandum of Understanding with Winthrop Foundation
Karl Folkens moved with a second from Jane LaRoche to accept the revised Memorandum
of Understanding with the Winthrop Foundation. Based on a desire to develop an open
and communicative relationship with the Winthrop Foundation, this memorandum confirms
that the Board of Trustees set the spending priorities for the funds raised by the
Office of Institutional Advancement and managed by the Foundation. The motion passed
unanimously.
Review of Key Performance Indicators
President Comstock provided an overview of the Key Performance Indicators noting the
progress made to date and the addition of the critical indicator of faculty-student
ratio.
Recess
Hearing no objections, Chair Bigham recessed the meeting until 9:00 am on Saturday.
Reconvene
The Board reconvened at 9:03 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, 2014 at the Shack located
at the Winthrop Recreational and Research Complex.
Saturday's retreat was devoted to strategic planning. The objectives of the retreat
were:
President Comstock began the retreat discussions with an introduction to the role
Winthrop plays in affordability and access and general overview of Winthrop's current
efforts/actions in regard to access and quality by focusing on Winthrop's 90% in-state
student rate, 33% minority rate, 97% state lottery scholarship rate, 39% Pell eligible
rate, and lowest debt rate of any SC public university. The resulting goal of this
discussion was to increase access for traditional, post-traditional, veteran and graduate
students; increase affordability for all students, be accountable for student success
as measured by increased retention, graduation, and placement rates, and to impact
workforce and economic development in the local region and state.
The second agreed upon goal was to grow enrollment while offering quality and access
in singular institution. To this end, the President with assistance from Provost Debra
Boyd reviewed the essential learning outcomes engendered by High Impact Practices
(HIP) of undergraduate research, global learning/student abroad, internships, and
service learning. An important component of this discussion was how the HIP could
be made available for all students including our post-traditional students. They noted
the need to provide working adult students easy access to programs and support services,
improvement of time on task via one location for classes and services, financial support
for HIP, and improved faculty and staff development to accommodate a new model for
degree attainment.
Associate Vice President of Information Technology James Hammond presented information
on ways to leverage campus technology to advance quality. Specifically, Winthrop will
work toward full Wi-Fi in all residence halls, maintain smart classrooms and innovative
21st century designs, implement administrative systems that maximize efficiency, compliance,
and security, expand online learning personnel, and expand infrastructure to address
students' expectations and demand for up to date computing and wireless technologies.
An additional focus in providing a quality experience for our students includes ensuring
that all facilities meet accreditation, safety, and ADA regulations. President Comstock
with assistance from Vice President of Finance and Business, JP McKee, reviewed for
the Trustees a number of needs related to renovations to make Byrnes Auditorium more
ADA friendly and multiple projects to address issues cited by evaluators during accreditation
visits for the departments of Design, Theater, and Music.
Provost Debra Boyd continued the presentation by discussing academic programs in development
that are both market-smart and mission-driven. Currently in development are graduate
certificates in management, school counseling, strategic communication, and human
resources. We are also planning for a low-residency program in creative arts and entrepreneurship
as well as online graduate programs in literacy and educational technology.
Vice President for Enrollment Eduardo Prieto discussed the plan to grow our student
enrollment by 1,000 through increases in traditional, post-traditional, graduate,
and online students. The plan is to increase our student body by 250 students in each
of the next four years. This will be accomplished through the addition of new students
as well as the increased retention of current students. An overarching goal in enrollment
management will be to increase the diversity of our students by recruiting more out
of state students, different categories of minority students, and more international
students.
In order to brief the Trustees on the need to refresh our marketing and institutional
positioning in support of a renewed emphasis on access, recruiting, and retention,
Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement Ellen Wilder Byrd presented
a video of our competitors' websites showing more up to date approaches. As we move
forward in our goal of increasing enrollment, it is critical that we refresh our marketing
and reenergize our branding both on and off-campus.
Vice President of Institutional Advancement Dr. Danny Nicholson presented the need
to create a culture of giving to support a spectrum of initiatives designed to ensure
the highest caliber instruction and academic and financial support for students. In
doing so, VP Nicholson reviewed the current status of Distinction: The Campaign for
Winthrop, the development of the Dare to Rise fund, and focused on future plans including
ways to increase alumni engagement and software to leverage the solicitation of major
gifts and annual giving.
In her role as Director of the Winthrop Foundation, Kim Keel, reported on the disbursement
of Foundation funds to Winthrop in support of: scholarships and grants (approximately
$1.8 mil), Alumni Association (approximately $91,000), and Institutional Advancement
(approximately $1.6 mil). For fiscal year 2014, the Foundation expects to have $170,000
and the Real Estate Foundation expects to have $365,000 for additional disbursement
to Winthrop.
The Trustees then moved into smaller working groups to discuss the Winthrop Foundation
funding priorities and the university's funding priorities. After much discussion
and reporting out of the working groups, the general consensus was support for the
following initiatives:
Support for refreshed, market-appropriate promotion by way of updated websites, new
avenues of advertising, and review of current messaging.
Support of all components (personnel, facilities, and programming) needed to grow
the student population to an additional 1,000 in the next four years comprised of
traditional, post-traditional, international, online, and graduate students while
minimizing tuition increases.
Support for expanded philanthropic support from all facets of the campus community
to result in an increase in need-based financial aid and other forms of student and
faculty/staff professional development.
Support for improvements in campus facilities leading to updated technological capacities,
accreditor-approved departmental facilities, and ADA compliance.
Recess
Hearing no objections, Chair Bigham recessed the meeting until 9:00 am on Sunday.
Reconvene
The Board reconvened at 9:10 a.m. on Sunday, March 2, 2014 at the Shack located at the Winthrop Recreational and Research Complex.
Sunday's meeting began with a presentation from Tom Hickman, Athletic Director, regarding the preliminary findings of the study of the possible addition of a Division 1 football team and marching band to Winthrop. Mr. Hickman began with an overview of the experiences of colleges and universities that recently added a football team. He reported that while each experience was unique, generally the additional of football led to increased applications, increased enrollment, and increased retention rates.
The costs of non-scholarship football were compared to scholarship football.
| Scholarship | Non-Scholarship | |
| Annual Costs | $3,472,470 | $1,881,681 |
| Annual Revenue | $1,499,000 | $2,693,000 |
| Net Revenue | ($1,973,470) | $811,319 |
| One-time start-up costs | |
| Football | $495,000 |
| Support Facility | $11,150,097 |
| Marching Band/Color Guard | $170,000 |
Upon conclusion of Mr. Hickman's presentation, the Trustees requested that President Comstock, Dr. Nicholson, and Mr. Hickman move forward with an exploration of the possible private funding to help offset the costs of adding football and marching band programs.
Executive Session
Glenn McCall motioned with a second from Tim Hopkins to move into executive session for the purpose of personnel discussions. Janet Smalley motioned with a second from Donna Tinsley Holley to return to public session with no report and no actions taken.
Old Business
None
New Business
Chair Bigham named a nominating committee in accordance with Article III Section B of the Board of Trustee bylaws. The committee will report to the Board of Trustees at least one month prior to the last quarterly meeting, the names of two voting members to be placed on a ballot for election to the Chair and Vice Chair positions. Mr. Glenn McCall was named as chair of the nominating committee along with members, Dr. Jane LaRoche and Dr. Sue Smith-Rex.
Adjournment
Hearing no objections, Chair Bigham adjourned the meeting at 1:46 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Kimberly Faust, Secretary to the Board
