Board of Visitors Meeting June 10, 2016

The Board of Visitors met on June 10, 2016 in the Board Room of the David Student Union with Rector Preston White presiding.

Present from the Board

Mr. William B. Downey
Mr. William R. Ermatinger
Mrs. Vicki Siokis Freeman, Secretary
Robert R. Hatten, Esq.
Mr. S. Anderson Hughes
Mr. C. Bradford Hunter
Mr. W. Bruce Jennings
Mr. Steven Kast
Mr. N. Scott Millar, Vice Rector
Hon. Gabriel A. Morgan, Sr.
Mr. Mark Rodgers
Hon. Ronald L. Tillett
Mr. Preston M. White, Jr., Rector

Absent from the Board

Hon. Ella P. Ward

Present from the University

President Paul Trible
Mr. William Brauer, Executive Vice President
Ms. Cynthia Perry, Chief of Staff
Dr. David Doughty, Provost
Mrs. Adelia Thompson, Vice President for University Advancement
Mrs. Beverley Mueller, Executive Assistant
Dr. Christopher Kennedy, Faculty Senate Member
Mr. Tom Kramer, Director of External Relations
Dr. Lisa Duncan Raines, Vice Provost
Dr. Kevin Hughes, Dean of Students
Mr. Michael Camisole, Student Assembly President
Mr. Robert Jacklin, Alumni Society President

Reporters

Captain's Log: Mr. Ben Leistensnider
Daily Press: Ms. Jane Hammond

Rector White welcomed everyone present and called for approval of the minutes of the April 22, 2016 meeting. The motion was provided by Sheriff Morgan, seconded by Mr. Downey and the minutes were approved by unanimous vote of the Board.

President’s Report

President Trible recognized each of the Board members whose terms will end on June 30th– Mr. Bill Downey, Mr. Ron Tillett and Mr. Mark Rodgers. He elaborated on their many contributions to the success of Christopher Newport and thanked them for service and commitment to the University.

President Trible reviewed with the Board the national recognitions and notable achievements for the year and these were presented to the Board in a Power Point presentation which is attached to the minutes.

President Trible recognized and thanked Rector White for his service as Rector and for his strong and generous support of Christopher Newport through the years. The Board of Visitors gave Rector White a standing ovation.

Finance and Audit Committee Report

Mr. Millar said the committee had a very good meeting. The Committee received a report from the Auditor of Public Accounts on the most recent audit. There were a very limited number of recommendations and overall it was a stellar report. Mr. Millar thanked the staff for their hard work and dedication. The Internal Auditor presented to the Committee the Internal Audit Report and the Audit Plan for FY17. Chairman Millar said the primary focus of the meeting was the FY17 Operating Budget and asked Ms. Cynthia Perry to review the proposed budget with the full Board.

Ms. Perry reviewed in detail the proposed 2016–17 Operating Budget. Ms. Perry explained that the recommended budget supports the priorities of the University and is based on a conservative headcount of 5,000 FTE and an incoming class of 1,225 students. A total budget of $159,569,461 was recommended and of this amount, $72,605,512 is for educational and general programs; $7,100,601 for student financial assistance; $77,004,566 for auxiliary enterprises; $1,498.882 for financial assistance for educational and general services and $1,359,900 for the unrestricted contributions account.

Mr. Millar thanked Ms. Perry and her team for their hard work and said the proposed budget comes at the recommendation of the Finance and Audit Committee. Following discussion and questions, Rector White called for a motion to approve Resolution 1: Budget Resolution Fiscal Year 2016–2017. Mr. Ermatinger provided the motion, seconded by Mr. Tillett and Resolution 1 was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Mr. Brauer reviewed with the Board the Statement of Revenues and Expenditures and said things are in order and are tracking well for the end of the year. He also commented on the SWaM Report stating that we are doing well in most areas and we are close to meeting our goals for the year.

Academic Affairs Committee Report

Chairman Hughes said the committee had a very good meeting. He said that we are on track for 279 faculty positions this year with only one position left to be filled. He said the average faculty salary increase is 3% and will take effect in November.The committee learned that the six-year graduation rate is now 75% and the goal is to increase that to 80%. The freshman retention rate is between 87% and 88%. He said that classes continue to remain small with no classes larger than 100 students and 60% of our classes have less than 20 students. He mentioned that CNU would be receiving an award for achievement in student success and that announcement will be made in the near future. Also, the number of students studying abroad continues to increase with 357 students this year. Chairman Hughes said the university is still working hard and preparing for the SACSCOC visit.

Student Life Committee Report

Chairman Morgan thanked Mr. Rob Lange, Dr. Kevin Hughes and Dr. Lisa Duncan Raines for their hard work in recruitment, enrollment, student success and student life. He highlighted a number of remarkable statistics – this was the largest graduating class in the history of CNU and the average GPA of the undergraduates was 3.14; 21.5% of the class studied abroad; CNU won the Noel Levitz Retention Excellence Gold Award for 2016; 85% of our students are employed full time or enrolled in graduate school upon graduation; and the Luter School has become a premier business school and 94% of the graduates from the Luter School are employed or are in graduate school.

This year 7,731 applications were received for the freshman class of approximately 1,240 students. The average GPA of the freshman class is 3.76 and 7% of our applicants are from out of state which includes six international students. He said more money has been applied toward scholarships and the scholarships awarded between $5,000 and $10,000 yielded a 28% increase in students and scholarships for $2,000 to $5,000 yielded a 9% increase.

Chairman Morgan said that CNU offers an impressive array of student groups and the number and diversity of options from which students can choose and CNU ranks favorably compared to the top 10 liberal arts schools in U.S. News & World Report.

Building and Grounds Committee

Chairman Tillett said that CNU received the largest financial commitment from the Commonwealth for construction which reflects the hard work of the staff. This year two projects were included in the Capital Bond Bill – expansion of the library and construction the fine arts center. He noted that construction on the library could begin as early as July. He said that the Commonwealth will have to issue debt in the near future but funds have been set aside to advance these projects. The members of the Committee toured the new Greek Housing and said they are very impressive. Greek Village will be ready in August in time for the beginning of classes.

Student Assembly Report

Mr. Michael Bamisile said the Executive Board of the Student Assembly met to set the goals and priorities for the organization and they want to make sure the student assembly is enriching the life of students on campus. One big push for them is sustainability and a large recycling event was held in conjunction with Spring Fest. He said that there is discussion about putting a plagiarism model into place to educate our students on this important matter.

Alumni Society Report

Alumni Society President, Mr. Macklin, said that elections for the new Alumni Board will take place next week. He noted that the Alumni Society has received the results of their recently conducted survey and will be working hard to implement the suggestions and ideas they received.

Secretary Vicki Freeman called for a motion to enter closed session under Freedom of Information Act Section 2.2–3711(a)(1) Personnel and (a)(8) Gifts, bequests and fundraising. Mr. Downey provided the motion, seconded by Mr. Kast and the motion was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

The Board returned to open session and Secretary Freeman asked for a roll call certifying that only public matters were discussed that were identified in the motion by which the executive or closed meeting was called. Board members Mr. Downey, Mr. Millar, Mr. Jennings, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Ermatinger, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hatten, Ms. Freeman, Mr. Steve Kast, Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Tillett and Rector White certified to the above.

Other Business

Mr. Downey said that since Mr. Tillett was not reappointed to the Board of Visitors the Nominating Committee recommends that Ms. Vicki Freeman be nominated to serve as Vice Rector.

Rector White said that a Success Bonus for the President for the Comprehensive Campaign did not address exceeding $40 million. He called for a motion to continue the Success Bonus at 2% until the end of the Comprehensive Campaign on June 30, 2017. Mr. Jennings provided the motion, seconded by Mr. Tillett and the motion was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.