Friday, April 8, 2022 | 10:30 a.m.
Gold Room | DiGiorgio Campus Center
Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Members Present: Kathy Bigham, Ed Driggers, Julie Fowler, Tim Hopkins, Randy Imler, Jane LaRoche, Glenn McCall ,Robby Sisco, Janet Smalley, Sandra Stroman, Isaiah Venning, Ashlye Wilkerson, and Gary Williams
Members Absent: John Brazell, Tim Sease, President George Hynd
Others Present: Kimberly Faust, Tammie Phillips, Leigh Crain and various members of the faculty, staff, and students of Winthrop University. Chase Duncan of the Herald newspaper.
The Board of Trustees met on Friday, April 8, 2022, on the campus of Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC.
Call to Order
Chair McCall, called the meeting to order at 10:44 a.m. He welcomed all present both in person and online.
Executive Session--pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. §30-4-70(a)(1) and (2) for the purposes of discussion of employment matters and contractual items related to Winthrop University Kathy Bigham moved with a second from Jane LaRoche to move into executive session pursuant to South Carolina Ann. §30-4-70(a)(1) and (2) for the purpose of discussions of personnel issues and legal matters. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Kimberly Faust was invited to remain for the executive session
Ed Driggers moved to end executive session. Sandra Stroman seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous to end executive session with no actions.
Approval of Minutes from February 25, 2022
Janet Smalley made a motion to accept the minutes of the February 25, 2022 minutes as written. Robby Sisco seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Report of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Board
Chair McCall began his report by thanking Dr. Noreen Gaubitz, Nancy Scurry, Kelly Scott, and Meg Webber for their excellent work on the university’s behalf on the reaffirmation work with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Committee on Colleges (SACSCOC.) We are looking forward to the final report from SACSCOC, expected to be received in December 2022.
Chair McCall thanked Provost McCormick for her work with an Academic Master plan. President-elect Serna will be given a copy of the work and is expected to supplement the work already done with the help of professional consultants.
In a related matter, Chair McCall thanked President Hynd for his work to arrange for the Winthrop Foundation to fund a study of the Athletic Division. The study will focus on a review of staffing, funding, and facilities.
In response to continuing questions from the faculty about the possibility of renaming the Tillman building, Chair McCall reminded everyone that state law still prohibits the changing of names that are based on historical figures.
On behalf of the executive committee, Chair McCall brought forth a resolution to thank the Presidential Search Advisory Group for their good work in supporting the recent president search. The Board of Trustees felt strongly that the Winthrop community voice be heard and heeded in the search process for such a leader. Therefore, a Presidential Search Advisory Group was established under the leadership of co-chairs Dr. Gloria Jones and Mr. Peter Moroni and comprised of a diverse mix of members from across Winthrop’s stakeholder groups, including staff, faculty, students, alumni, the Winthrop Foundation, and community leaders.
Needing no second, Chair McCall called the vote; the vote was unanimous in favor of the resolution.
Report from the President
President Hynd was not able to attend the meeting.
Report from the Committee on Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Enrollment
Chair Smalley brought forth a resolution from her committee to honor the Close family for their continued support of Winthrop University. The Close Scholars Program was launched in 1999 with funding by the Springs Close Foundation, and was expanded in 2019 with funding from the Springsteen Foundation for the Close Exploration: Global Close Scholars program. The Close Scholars Junior Year study abroad experience will launch in Summer 2022 with additional funding from the Springsteen Foundation and will fund up to 6 Juniors for a study abroad experience.
Chair Smalley brought forth five motions for Board consideration. The Board accepted the recommendations as one unit. Chair McCall called for the vote. It was unanimous in favor of the group of recommendations as listed below.
Chair Smalley completed her report by making a motion to accept the faculty put forward for tenure and promotion as vetted by the university processes and procedures and recommended by the Provost and President. Gary Williams seconded the motion. Chair McCall called for the vote. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
Report from the Committee on External Engagement and Athletics
Chair Hopkins brought forth a number of recommendations from the committee for consideration by the Board. Those action items include the Dual Enrollment template, Dual Credit template, EDCO-1745 Teacher Cadet MOU renewal, Lancaster Dual Credit MOU, Disc Golf Contract, McNair Scholars Grant renewal, and Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot Program funding opportunity.
Needing no second, Chair McCall called for the vote. The vote was unanimous in favor of all recommendations listed.
Report from the Committee on Strategic Planning and Facilities
Chair Imler brought forth a number of recommendations from the committee. The Board received the recommendations in total. Chair McCall called for the vote. It was unanimous in favor of the following recommendations.
$9,188,419 be allocated to projects based on campus needs and in conjunction the FY21 Comprehensive Permanent Improvement Plan (CPIP) submittal.
Addition of $1,000,000 from Auxiliary Net Position to fund the WiFi project in the residence halls will form a $3,000,000 campus WiFi project.
$2,866,055 (from ICPF Institutional Capital Project Funds) be allocated to the classroom AV refresh as recommended by the campus technology Committee.
$3,600,000 be allocated from Auxiliary Net Positon to fund the demolition of Wofford Hall. In addition, Facilities recommends allocating $3,600,000 from Auxiliary Net Position to fund the demolition of Richardson Hall.
At the completion of the design phase, when the Foundation has the funds, the demolition of the old fountain and construction of the new fountain begin.
Report from the Committee on Finance
In the absence of Chair Tim Sease, Mr. Ed Driggers chaired the meeting and presented the Committee report. Mr. Driggers brought forth two action items as recommended by the Strategic Planning and Facilities committee. Chair McCall called for a vote on the items listed below. The vote was unanimous in favor of the recommendation.
Accept the bid to remove the tile and underlayment on the DiGiorigo Campus Center plaza with funding of $480,000 that was allocated from the FY20 net Position of $1,000,000 to cover the cost of construction.
Accept the bid to replace fire alarms in Johnson Hall and work with the designer and vendor to look for cost savings. The state funded a project at $2,107,000 in FY20 to design and then replace the fire alarms in six buildings. Work on Johnson Hall was bid at $541,630, which is significantly over the estimate. Therefore, Winthrop will work to lower this cost.
Motions brought from the Finance Committee to the Board included discounted tuition for the M.Ed. In Learning Design and Technology and M.Ed. in Counseling and Development. Additionally, the committee recommended the following rate increases for AY2023 tuition and fees: 0% undergraduate, campus based graduate students at 1% increase, 0% on graduate online students over last year’s rates and a 2.4% increase in housing fees with a 4.8% rate in the health and counseling fees. Finally, the committee proposed a series of course and lab fees for certain classes. All the items were combined into one action. Chair McCall called the vote. It was unanimous in favor of all items.
Mr. Driggers concluded his report by mentioned the Finance Committee asked that a safety fee for non-residential students to be brought before the Board at the June Board meeting.
New Business
Chair McCall requested Dr. Julie Fowler to reconvene the Bylaws ad hoc committee to evaluate the bylaws and suggests possible revisions based on a year’s worth of experience with the new bylaws.
Adjournment
Hearing no objections, Chair McCall adjourned the meeting at 2:12 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Kimberly A. Faust, Secretary to the Board