February 2-3, 2018
Members present:Karl Folkens, Glenn McCall, Jane LaRoche, Janet Smalley, Tim Hopkins, Don Long, Randy
Imler, Donna Glenn Holley, Scott Middleton, Ashlye Wilkerson, Julie Fowler, Sandra
Stroman, Kathy Bigham, and Dan Mahony (ex officio).
Members absent:Tim Sease
Representatives present:Tadean Page, Student Representative; Michael Lipscomb, Faculty Representative
Representatives absent:None
Others present:JP McKee, Amanda Maghsoud, Tammie Phillips, Kirk McSwain, Judy Longshaw, Jeff Perez,
and Kimberly Faust
The Board of Trustees met on Friday, February 2, 2018 on the campus of Winthrop University,
Rock Hill, SC.
There were no requests for public comment.
Chair Folkens called the meeting to order at 1:20 p.m. He welcomed all present.
Julie Fowler moved to accept the minutes from the meeting of November 10, 2017. Don
Long seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor of the minutes as submitted.
Chair Randy Imler brought forth a resolution regarding the authorization and approval
of certain equipment lease/purchase transactions totaling $1,996,176. Donna Holley
moved to approve the list of equipment and to enter into a lease of up to $2 million
with the State Treasurer's Office. Janet Smalley seconded the motion. Questions were
raised regarding the allocation of equipment by academic program specifically the
allocation to the Vice Provost's budget line. Ms. Maghsoud explained the list of equipment
included preliminary, estimated prices. If the actual prices are lower than estimated
prices, the remaining funds would be used to purchase the items listed in the Vice
Provost's budget line. Those items would then be distributed among the various academic
departments as needed.
The vote was unanimous in favor of the resolution.
Chair Folkens called for a motion to create a task force to study the short term and
longer term needs of the President's House. The task force will review House expenditures
and recommend policies and a system of oversight for the House. Suggested members
of the task force are Karl Folkens, Glenn McCall, and Kathy Bigham. The task force
will share their findings and recommendations with the Committee on Finance and the
full Board. Jane LaRoche moved to support the creation of the task force as described;
Ashlye Wilkerson seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Dr. Mahony began his report by reviewing Spring 2018 enrollment and current state
of the budget. He also provided following campus updates to the Board.
Diversity
Per the South Carolina Human Affairs Diversity report guidelines, Winthrop has reached
84.3% of our diversity hiring goals. We are the second most successful university
in South Carolina in reaching the stated goals.
Coke Plant
520 Cherry Road (aka Coke Plant) was reappraised for $1,450,000. It is currently serving
Winthrop as storage site for the Courtyard furnishings from 24 apartments (couches,
dining tables, TV cabinets, beds, dressers, chairs, etc.). A local business owner
is interested in possibly purchasing it for a new location. His decision will be based
in part on City of Rock Hill regulations for the property. If he does not purchase
the property, we will again use the State Property Office contract Real Estate Agency
as a listing agent.
Miracle Park
The Rock Hill City Council agreed to lease part of the land known as Winthrop Park
to York County Disabilities Foundation for $1 a year, so the Foundation could purse
the creation of a Miracle Park.
The park is planned in three phases. The first phase on the City property is expected
to be finished by the end of 2018. It will include one Miracle Field, a specially
designed playground and infrastructure including parking lots and restrooms.
The first phase of the project will cost roughly $1 million. The Foundation already
has about 70 percent of the needed funds from previous fundraisers. The City of Rock
Hill has also invested $550,000 for the parking lot and restrooms.
Phase two and three are expected to be finished in the next three to five years. Phase
two would consist of the second Miracle field and two multi-purpose fields. They hope
to eventually be able to host regional and even national Special Olympics competitions
at the Miracle Park. Phase three would include a retail section, including a coffee
shop that employs and is mostly run by people with disabilities. Both phase II and
phase III will be on Winthrop property.
When and if the Disabilities Foundation is able to fund the second and third phases,
at that point approval for Winthrop to lease the property to the Foundation will need
to be taken through the State Approval process (SC Property Office, JBRC and SFAA)
for lease approval.
Knowledge Park/University Center/Lowenstein Building
The Exercise Science facility (labs) in the Lowenstein Building is currently scheduled
for an August 2018 opening.
Courtyard water damage status
Currently, the furnishings have been removed to the Coke Plant and are being cleaned
and stored. The wet materials (drywall, carpet, etc.) have been removed and the structure
is being dried. Next steps are to repair drywall, paint, hallway and kitchen tile,
and carpet. The 22 rooms affected will be unusable through May. Eighty-eight students
had to be relocated. The freshmen and sophomores were required to accept alternative
housing on campus while juniors and seniors were given the option of staying on campus
or moving elsewhere. We are working with our insurance company to cover the cost of
repairs plus lost revenue.
Wofford 7th floor stabilization
This project has been advertised through the Office of the State Engineer and the
site visit is scheduled for February 15th. It is our goal to start this project May
of 2018.
Thurmond Building
Bids for the roof were opened on January 30th. Low bid was $485,000. Repairs will
begin later this spring. The elevator pump, tank and controls will be replaced starting
in early May 2018.
Executive Searches
Justin T. Oates, the new Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs/Chief Financial
Officer will begin his new role on February 19, 2018.
Four finalists have been named for the candidates for on-campus interviews for the
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Interviews are scheduled for February 18-28,
2018.
The search for the new Vice President for Student Affairs continues. Phone interviews
are planned for later this month with airport/hotel interviews to be held in March.
Finalists will be on campus in late March or early April for a campus visit, which
will include both a public presentation and a community reception.
New foodservice contract
Draft has been submitted to the Materials and Management Office for review and approval.
They will return it to us for our final approval prior to posting. Once bids are received,
a selection committee of three will read all proposals. The committee consists of
a representative from CHE, MMO, and Winthrop. The bid is awarded on a number of criteria
including technical ability, experience; not just low cost. The current contract ends
on July 31. The creation of the Request for Proposals (RFP) included staff from Athletics,
University Events, Finance, and the University auditor.
New HR application process to replace State supported one
RFP posted 1/28/18; anticipated award date 4/30/18; system will provide online application
for staff; improved performance management system for staff; management of position
descriptions; and online onboarding processes.
Employee satisfaction survey
The survey is expected to go live in mid-February. Results will be available in late
March or early April and will be shared with the Board as well as the campus.
SC EIS
Conversion of HR-related information from current HRIS system to SCEIS is on track
— working with staff in Columbia for a projected July 17 go-live date. After go-live
date, HR-related information will be electronically provided and updated daily in
the SCEIS system.
Classification and salary study
RFP in final stages with state procurement office. It is expected to be posted in
next few days with an anticipated award date of May 2018. Work is expected to begin
during fall semester.
Pre-College Programs
Dual Enrollment/Concurrent Enrollment Initiative
Winthrop's Dual Enrollment/Concurrent Enrollment Initiative is in its second semester.
Five Students completed dual enrollment courses in the fall. Three of those returned
along with five new students for the current semester for a total of twelve classes.
We continue to actively advertise using a dedicated webpage and visits to high schools.
Moving forward we are pursuing options for offering courses language and economics
classes on high school campuses taught by Winthrop faculty in the spring of 2019.
Pre-University Arts Summer Program: a 2-week Arts Camp (Summer 2018)
Target Population: With a goal of 20-30 students for the first year of this program,
the primary target will be high school rising seniors. Students will work creatively
and collaboratively across a variety of disciplines (music, theater, dance, visual
arts, design) in the production and performance of interdisciplinary arts events.
Students will earn 3 transferrable college credits.
Honors College
A white paper is still under development for use by Advancement to seek donors for
a naming opportunity. In lieu of waiting for such a donor, we will continue to move
forward creating a proposal for organizational personnel, structure, and location
by June 2018.
Online Programs
As of two weeks ago, and before the launch of the new microsites, we are on schedule
to meet (if not exceed) enrollment targets for all four online graduate programs.
The new online microsites, which you can find at https://online.winthrop.edu, launched
on January 16, 2018. Program planning has begun for all four online degrees, and instructional
design for the first master courses will commence in March 2018. We remain on schedule
for a start date of August 2019.
Rebranding and website redesign:
The new branding will be rolled out to the campus over the course of the next several
months. The new logo will be unveiled on February 22. At that time merchandise will
be available at the bookstore. Licensing and trademarking processes are currently
underway. Banners and campus and on Oakland Avenue will be replaced in the next few
months.
New website design templates for the 40,000 pages on the website are being developed.
At the same time we are transitioning to new content management system. The website
redesign is scheduled to be completed by September 2018.
Dr. Perez addressed changes to the federal tax laws pertaining to fundraising. The
doubling of the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married
couples may lead to fewer people making donations to nonprofits including universities.
The new tax bill continues interest deductions on student loans and continues the
ability for universities to provide free tuition for employees. Graduate student tuition
assistantships will not be taxed.
Changes to the Unrelated Business Tax means employees may no longer exclude from income
tax, reimbursements received from their employer for their moving expenses. As State
law permits us to reimburse moving expenses only for employees moving into SC and
not within SC, this will typically only apply to new faculty hires.
Chair Folkens called for a motion to move into Executive Session pursuant to S.C.
Code Ann. 30-4-70(a)(2) for the purposes of discussions incident to proposed contractual
arrangements. Tim Hopkins made the motion with Sandra Stroman seconding the motion.
Mr. Bjorn Reigle, VP JP McKee, Associate VP Amanda Maghsoud, Associate VP Walter Hardin,
Assistant VP Keith Williams, and Secretary to the Board Kimberly Faust were invited
to remain. The vote was unanimous to enter into executive session.
Scott Middleton moved to end executive session. Randy Imler seconded the motion. The
vote was unanimous to end executive session with a report that the Board has been
apprised of the current status of Title IX policies and procedures at Winthrop.
Chair Folkens recessed the meeting until 8:30 a.m. Saturday, February 3, 2018.
The Board reconvened at 8:42 am on Saturday, February 3, 2018. President Mahony began
the day with a presentation on the national landscape of enrollment trends. Critical
issues discussed included the decline of high school graduates in most states; the
growth of the percentage of at-risk students; and the escalating competition for merit
aid.
Specific to Winthrop and South Carolina data show Clemson and USC-Columbia increasing
by nearly 13% (5,788 students) during the 2007-2011. At that same time, the USC —
regions increased by 10.17% (983 students), the comprehensive institutions increased
by 3.85% (1,543 students) while Winthrop decreased by 7.35% (469 students).
The period of 2011-2016 saw Clemson/USC — Columbia increase by 13.57% (6,870 students),
the USC — regionals increase by 6.86% (730 students) while the comprehensive institutions
decreased by 1.4% (583 students) but Winthrop increased by 3.31% (196 students).
Moving forward, it will be critical for Winthrop to cultivate additional streams of
potential students including international undergraduates, community college transfers,
adult degree completers, and students interested in a professional Master's degree.
An analysis of net cost of tuition for first time freshmen (Fall 2017) showed the
average in-state student paid $2,200 per semester while out of state freshmen paid
an average of $4,500 per semester. The difference between the net cost and the published
cost is due to State, Winthrop Foundation, and institutional grants made to the students.
Vice President Eduardo Prieto gave a presentation on the current and future strategies
for increasing enrollment. They included a focus on local recruitment, targeted out-of-state
recruitment, international student recruitment, an increased focus on diverse populations,
transfer student recruitment push, enhanced marketing and student outreach, increased
parent engagement, increased outreach to high school guidance counselors, increased
Winthrop community involvement, better use of financial aid, more new academic programs,
and increased efforts for retention.
Graduate Dean Dr. Jack DeRochi presented an update regarding the status of the online
graduate programs to begin in fall 2018 and the new bachelor of professional studies
to begin in fall 2019. Opportunities for Winthrop in this area include the large number
of adults with some college experience but no degree. They constitute a large pool
of potential students for the new degree. Challenges include creating a streamlined
admissions and enrollment process, blended academic and occupational curricula, flexible
scheduling and easy-to-access instruction, flexibility and degree completion curricula,
and credit for prior learning (PLA).
Dr. Zach Abernathy joined the Board retreat to present his findings of research study
to identify the predictive factors of student success at Winthrop. Using F2010-F2016
cohort data (N=7343) the goal of the study was to rank the best predictors of cumulative
WU GPA from the following variableshigh school GPA, high school rank percentile, SAT/ACT
scores, number of AP classes taken, number of IB classes taken, and number of transfer
courses taken. Multiple linear regressions were used to isolate each variable's individual
contribution to the variance in cumulative WU GPA. Results of the study indicate that
high school GPA clearly correlates the strongest with cumulative Winthrop GPA. SAT/ACT
scores ranked second amongst the other variables studied.
A second goal of the study was to rank the best predictors for successfully graduating
from Winthrop, using the following variables: cumulative Winthrop GPA (baseline for
comparison), first semester Winthrop GPA, high school GPA, and SAT/ACT scores. Using
F2006-F2012 cohort data (N = 7252), a regression analysis was used to compare how
each variable correlated with Winthrop graduation. Results indicated Similar to cumulative
WU GPA, students' HS GPA again correlates much better than SAT/ACT scores. The first
semester Winthrop GPA correlates much more strongly with Winthrop graduation rates
than either of the two leading variables from students' high school academic profile.
These results reinforce the importance of effective intervention strategies for students
struggling academically after their first semester.
At the conclusion of the presentation, the Board requested the creation of a proposal
to consider the idea of making SAT/ACT tests optional in the admissions process.
Hearing no objection, Chair Karl Folkens adjourned the meeting at 12:32 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Kimberly A. Faust, Secretary to the Board
