November 10, 2017
Members present: Karl Folkens, Glenn McCall, Jane LaRoche, Janet Smalley, Tim Hopkins,
Don Long, Randy Imler, Ashlye Wilkerson, Tim Sease, Julie Fowler, Sandra Stroman,
Kathy Bigham, and Dan Mahony (ex officio).
Members absent: Donna Glenn Holley, Scott Middleton
Representatives present: Tadean Page, Student Representative; Michael Lipscomb, Faculty
Representative
Representatives absent: None
Others present:David Thackham, The Herald; members of Winthrop faculty and staff
The Board of Trustees met on Friday, November 10, 2017 on the campus of Winthrop University,
Rock Hill, SC.
There were no requests for public comment.
Chair Folkens called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. He welcomed all present.
Tim Sease made a motion with a second from Julie Fowler to move into executive session
pursuant to South Carolina Ann. 30-4-70(a)(1) and (2) for the purposes of discussion
of employment matters involving certain current and former university employees and
for a discussion of proposed contractual arrangements. The vote was unanimous in favor
of the motion.
Julie Fowler moved with a second from Tim Hopkins to end the executive session without
any actions and return to public session. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Glenn McCall moved to accept the minutes from the meeting of August 23, 2017. Don
Long seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor of the minutes as submitted.
Mr. Folkens reported the Board has successfully concluded the arbitration procedure
with Dr. Jamie Comstock Williamson. Mediation with Dr. Williamson was conducted in
the fall of 2014 but did not result in a settlement. Her contract with the university
stated that if mediation was unsuccessful, arbitration could be used to resolve a
dispute.
Dr. Williamson chose to file an "Arbitration Demand" in which she named Winthrop University
as the sole respondent regarding her June 26, 2014 termination of employment. In her
Demand, Dr. Williamson sought a declaratory judgment that she was terminated "without
cause" and damages for an alleged breach of contract.
Prior to the scheduled hearing, Dr. Williamson through her attorney notified the University
that she was dismissing her claim and releasing the University, its current and former
employees and trustees, the Foundation, and others with prejudice, which means she
will not be able to bring that claim or any other claim she may have had in the future.
The dismissal and release end the legal process between Dr. Williamson and the University
with finality. Mr. Folkens thanked Trustee Kathy Bigham, Provost Debra Boyd, and Chief
of Staff Kimberly Faust in particular and the faculty and staff in general for their
good work and support during the mediation and arbitration process.
Mr. Folkens also thanked the Winthrop Foundation and Real Estate Board for including
him in their regular meetings as well as joining the Trustees for a social event last
night and a fundraising presentation this morning. The increased interaction of Winthrop's
Boards will result in a stronger base for the university.
As a precursor to the Committee on Finance report, Mr. Folkens shared a chart documenting
Winthrop's unrestricted net position from 1988 through the present. He noted the peak
of $20,400,000 in 2008, a subsequent low point of $10,641,000 in 2013, and back up
to $18,751,000 currently. The low point was partly due to Phelps residence hall being
offline for repairs for two years as well as spending on other campus development
projects. The return to a currently stronger net position is due to Interim President
Boyd's budget freeze of 10% in 2015 and President Mahony's budgeting since then.
Mr. Folkens concluded his report by congratulating the University for its good showing
in a state-wide review of travel expenses among public universities. Of the nine state
institutions reviewed, Winthrop had the lowest mileage expense per FTE.
Dr. Mahony presented an update on the Winthrop strategic plan. He reviewed a number
of metrics highlighting those goals that were quickly met including student faculty
interaction, scholarship funding, and technology upgrades in classrooms.
Five strategic plan action groups have been formed to provide leadership and coordination
in developing and monitoring future initiatives in the Winthrop Plan. Each is chaired
by a vice president and includes faculty, staff and student representation. At total
of 75 employees and students are involved in the groups. Building upon the work done
by the original strategic plan working groups, these action groups will not only monitor
progress but also suggest new ideas and modifications/new goals as the original goals
are met or exceeded.
Chair Tim Sease reported on Athletic Director Ken Halpin's presentation on his department's
strategic plan. Goals in the plan include Winthrop student-athletes fully develop
as persons with a focus on academic achievement, personal wellness and professional
success and are prepared to be active citizens after graduation; Winthrop Athletics
is competitive in all inter-collegiate sports; Winthrop Athletics is fully integrated
into the university culture; Winthrop Athletics is recognized as essential to the
well-being and vitality of the community and region;
Winthrop Athletics is a national model for innovative operations of an athletic department;
and Winthrop Athletics creates an environment that promotes inclusive excellence.
Mr. Sease brought forth a motion from the Committee to endorse the candidates for
the Winthrop Athletic Hall of Fame. They are: Vinevius Bortolatt formerly on the men's
tennis team; Saidi Isaac — formerly on the women's soccer team; Lisa Kingmore formerly
on the women's softball team; Joe Hudak formerly the men's baseball coach; and Vernon
& Ann Terry who are donors and supporters of Winthrop Athletics.
Not needing a second as the motion was from a standing committee; Mr. Folkens called
for a vote. It was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Mr. Sease concluded his report with a summary of the Vice President Frank Ardaiolo's
presentation on the history of student discipline in universities.
Chair Glenn McCall informed the Board on the work of the Diversity Council. It reports
directly to the president and advises on diversity issues and serves the university's
populations by recommending institutional procedures and initiatives that help achieve
the objectives as outlined in the Winthrop Plan. Recent diversity initiatives include
the first Diversity Task Force meeting for the College of Visual and Performing Arts
in November. The group discussed ways in which they can increase the number of diverse
faculty in the college and serve as diversity advocates on all faculty searches within
CVPA. The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education currently have
similar committees within their colleges and the College of Business Administration
(CBA) is set to form their own diversity task force in the near future.
President Mahony, Dr. Takita Sumter, and Zan Jones attended the Compact for Diverse
Faculty conference in Atlanta, GA on October 26 — 28. The conference is the largest
gathering of minority Ph.D. scholars in the country. To date, Dr. Mahony is the only
university President who has attended the conference. While at the conference, he
meets individually with attendees to review and give feedback on their curriculum
vitas. Interim College of Arts and Sciences Dean Sumter followed up with all attendees
who showed interest in Winthrop to thank them for considering Winthrop for future
employment.
Human Resources is in the process of submitting the annual EEO report to the state.
The SC Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC) requires that all state agencies and universities
report their current workforce, new hires, and promotions each year. SCHAC determines
compliance with affirmative action goals for black males, black females, and white
females based on job availability as determined by the 2010 U.S. Census Data. Each
state agency must meet an overall goal of 70% of the availability. Winthrop ranked
number two in 2017 among the four-year colleges and universities in the state for
meeting our goals.
Chair Hopkins summarized recent activities of the Faculty Conference as reported by
Dr. Lipscomb. Moving forward the Provost will appoint a task force to review tenure
and promotion policies, as well as, guidelines for pre-tenure, tenure, post-tenure,
and promotion review.
The Committee was provided with a brief history of the first-year experience at Winthrop
University. The First Year Seminar was implemented in 1985 and has undergone a few
changes over the years including recent creation of the Office of the First-Year Experience
with Leah Kendall serving as Director. Mr. Hopkins praised the staff of the First-Year
Experience for their exceptional work in producing the "You Belong" video for new
freshmen as well as their outstanding efforts related to retention.
The Committee also received a status update of the Bachelor in Professional Studies
program. They received information on demand and supply, enrollment changes in higher
education, degree-completion opportunities, challenges facing the post-traditional
learner, local demographics, and potential employer partners. Next steps include work
groups to study and make recommendations on prior learning assessment and the Bachelor
of Professional Studies degree. The program launch is expected in Fall 2019.
As the final item, Mr. Hopkins spoke of the Committee's examination of the accountability
data site maintained by the Office of Accreditation, Accountability, and Academic
Services. Committee members were instructed on how to access data and perform quick
analyses.
Chair Randy Imler began his report by reviewing the report from external auditor,
Mr. Ben Kochenower. There were no material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or
questioned costs thereby resulting in an unmodified opinion on the financial statements
and the federal programs.
A report on the on 2017-2018 Budget showed fall semester revenues were less than originally
projected but the State's Appropriation allocation was more than projected plus Vacancy
Management Savings to date are tracking ahead of the original amount. Consequently,
adjustments were made to offset the shortfall.
The Committee reviewed the Governor's Executive Budget Request with clarification
that it included a request to increase the budget authorization level for "Other Funds"
in the amount of $9,000,000 as flow-through funds and was not a request for Winthrop
to receive $9,000,000 in additional funding.
Mr. Walter Hardin presented a PowerPoint to the Committee of a 10-year projection
of campus maintenance needs. The Committee reviewed the estimated costs of each of
the Auxiliary, Education and General, and Athletics infrastructure and maintenance
projects.
The Committee was made aware of the imminent ending of the current food service contract
and the development of a request for proposals (RFP) to advertise for a new contract.
Chair Janet Smalley reported on the information shared with the Committee regarding
the changes to the Office of University Events. The Office has been restructured to
better serve campus and external clients, play a more prominent role in the region,
and generate more revenue. Previously the Office did not share revenue with other
university offices nor did it support all campus offices, resulting is disjointed
operation and multiple versions of contracts being used across campus.
The Committee was excited to see plans for the new Winthrop website. The new design,
developed with the consultant, FMB, will be on a video loop and include "Apply Now"
and "Choose Your Path" links, as well as a link to the "YouVisit" virtual tour. Along
with developing templates for the new website design the project includes transitioning
40,000 website pages to a new content management system. Completion of the new design
is expected in early summer 2018.
In the presentation by Mr. Evan Bohnen, the vice president of university advancement,
the Committee heard about the formation of the Scholarship Task Force to address persistent
issues with maximizing the value and impact of the Winthrop Scholarship program, plans
to increase the alumni giving participation rate, and an update on the Winthrop Women's
Coalition (WWC) plans to bring more attention to leadership annual giving and to segment
the engagement and solicitation strategies of alumni and friends. Annual membership
in the WWC is $2,400.
The Committee was informed of discussions with the Real Estate Foundation and Winthrop
Foundation to consider shifting responsibility for receiving, managing, and processing
gifts of real estate to the Winthrop Foundation.
The Foundation's new endowment asset manager, Vanguard, is outperforming its benchmarks
at a reduced investment fee from 1.00% to 0.26%. For FY17, endowment assets under
management exceeded a $47.5M stretch goal and currently stand at $52.1M. The university
and the Foundation Board have been working to lower the endowment management fee (EMF)
from a historic high of 6.00% in 2009 to a target of 1.50%. In the current 2017 calendar
year, the EMF is 2.25%.
Chair Julie Fowler told the Board of Dean Jack DeRochi's presentation of graduate
enrollment initiatives including the Degree-Completion Program, Education Specialist
in Educational Leadership and the partnership with Wiley and Sons who are delivering
the suite of four 100% online programs. The Degree-Completion Program will offer a
Bachelor of Professional Studies and will begin in Fall 2019. The Education Specialist
in Educational Leadership degree will begin in Summer/Fall 2018. The online graduate
programs will include the Master of Business Administration, Master of Social Work,
Special Education-Intervention, and Arts Administration and will begin in Fall 2018.
Work is pending on new contracts for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
to process recruitment data for students for Fall 2019 and beyond. Financial Aid is
also working on a new contact process for software to assist in awarding financial
aid to students beginning in Fall 2019.
New enrollment goals for Fall 2018 include 1,100 freshmen students and 354 transfer
students. Sub-goals were presented and include a 15% increase over last year's number
of first-time freshmen from the Fort Mill/Rock Hill area; a 2% increase over last
year's number of African-American/Latino American/Native American (AALANA), Asian
and international student enrollment; a 2% increase over last year's number of out-of-state
students; increase/maintain the average high school GPA, SAT and ACT; and increase
the number of valedictorians and salutatorians. Correspondingly, the recruitment goals
for the Fall 2018 cycle include increasing activity in primary South Carolina Markets;
increasing outreach at targeted feeder and non-feeder high schools; continuing to
actively recruit in the Charlotte/Mecklenburg County market; increasing outreach in
Georgia, Florida, and continuing to utilize agents to assist with the recruitment
of international students.
Dr. Michael Lipscomb began his report with acknowledgement of the six faculty members
who were awarded tenure, the twelve who were promoted to the rank of Professor and
the four promoted to the rank of Associate Professor at the end of the spring 2017
semester. Forty new faculty members (24 as tenure track) were hired and eight new
administrative positions were filled to begin the fall 2017 semester.
A new task force will be created to review tenure and promotion policies, as well
as, guidelines for pre-tenure, tenure, post-tenure, and promotion review. Additionally,
there has been a request to create a standing committee to consider and make recommendations
regarding the creation of an Honor Code.
Looking forward, faculty are involved in national searches for a Dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences, as well as, thirty new faculty positions.
Dr. Lipscomb concluded his report by recognizing the President and the Provost on
their commitment to address the threat of faculty burnout related to workloads across
the areas of teaching, service, and scholarship.
Mr. Tadean Page updated the Board on recent activities of the Council. Currently,
they are preparing for Homecoming and looking forward to the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day of Service. Last year more than 350 students contributed 1,558 hours of service
to the local community during the MLK, Jr. Day of Service.
Other activities the Council has been engaged in include working with students from
Sullivan Middle School to prepare 1,000 care packages for local homeless shelters.
There was no new business.
Chair Folkens adjourned the meeting at 3:40 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Kimberly A. Faust, Secretary to the Board
