Executive Committee Meeting October 10, 2018

The Executive Committee of the Board of Visitors met on October 10, 2018 in the Board Room of the David Student Union with Rector Bobby Hatten presiding.

Present from the Board

Mr. William R. Ermatinger, Chair of Building and Grounds
Robert R. Hatten, Esq., Rector
Mr. C. Bradford Hunter, Vice Rector and Chair of Academic Affairs
Mr. W. Bruce Jennings, Chair, Finance and Audit
Mr. Steven S. Kast
The Honorable Gabriel A. Morgan, Sr., Chair of Student Life
Kellye L. Walker, Esq.

Present from the University

Paul Trible, President
Mr. William Brauer, Executive Vice President
Mrs. Cynthia Perry, Chief of Staff
Dr. David Doughty, Provost
Mrs. Jennifer Latour, Vice President for Strategy and Planning
Dr. Lisa Duncan Raines, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success
Dr. George H. Ebbs, Dean of the Luter School of Business
Professor Ronnie Cohen, Accounting and Finance
Ms. Gabriele Lingenfelter, Instructor, Accounting and Finance
Dr. Quentin Kidd
Ms. Beverley Mueller, Executive Assistant
Mr. Tom Kramer, Director of External Affairs
Mr. Jim Hanchett, Chief Communications Officer
Ms. Amie Dale, Executive Director of University Relations<

Others:

Ms. Jane Hammond, Daily Press
Ms. Morgan Barclay, Captain’s Log

Rector Bobby Hatten welcomed everyone present and called the Executive Committee meeting to order and then called on President Trible.

President Trible said that the Board will be asked to consider a proposal for a program to enrich our academic curriculum by approving a Master of Financial Analysis degree. He noted that the staff at the State Council of Higher Education has suggested that Virginia would benefit from this new degree and industry experts have indicated that such a program would be in high demand. The new degree would provide advanced education in the fields of finance and accounting preparing graduates to be competitive in obtaining the Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Financial Analysis and Certified Financial Planner certifications.

President Trible applauded the considerable efforts of Dean Ebbs, Professor Ronnie Cohen and Professor Gabriele Lingenfelter in developing this new degree program which has now received the approval and recommendation of the Graduate Council. Upon approval by the Board, the proposed Master of Financial Analysis Degree can be submitted to the State Council of Higher Education so this program can be made available to our students perhaps as early as fall of 2019.

Dean Ebbs said this program has been given much consideration and is the result of a lot of hard work of our faculty over the last two years. Professor Ronnie Cohen explained in detail the market and student demand for this degree, the curriculum, costs and benefits to our students.

Following Professor Cohen’s presentation and discussion among the Board, Rector Hatten noted that RESOLUTION 1: New Degree Program, The Master of Financial Analysis comes at the recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee. Sheriff Morgan made a motion to approve the new degree program and Mr. Kast provided a second to the motion. Rector Hatten called for a vote to approve Resolution 1 and it was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Rector Hatten next brought forward the proposed guaranteed tuition and fee program. He stated this was in response to the Governor’s call on public colleges and universities to provide financial certainty to students and their families so they can plan for the full four-year cost of their education. In addition the General Assembly has encouraged higher education to limit tuition increases to less than 3% per year.

He said the program being considered is a guaranteed tuition and fee program for each incoming class for four years. Rector Hatten noted that CNU will be the first school to include the comprehensive fee in the guaranteed plan and that the average annual increase for our students will be 2.5% each year. He explained that in the first year, tuition and fees will increase by $990 – a 6.7% increase. Over the following three years, tuition_and_ fees will increase by only 1% each year – $160 per year. Rector Hatten said that monies would be set aside to take care of CNU’s Pell eligible students.

He said that current students and transfer students will be given the opportunity to participate in the guaranteed tuition and fee program or continue to pay the tuition and fees provided by the six-year plan. Rector Hatten said that the six-year plan provides for an average increase for tuition and fees for our current students of 4.9%. He noted that it is our hope that we will receive operating funds from the Governor and the General Assembly in the future and will make every effort to curtail these tuition increases.

Rector Hatten then asked Ms. Cindi Perry to review the proposed tuition and fee proposal with the Board. Ms. Perry said the President convened a working group which included Provost Dave Doughty, Mr. Bill Brauer, Ms. Jennifer Latour, Dr. Quentin Kidd, Dr. Lisa Duncan Raines, Ms. Pat McDermott and herself, to bring forward an alternate tuition model. Ms. Perry reviewed with the Board the proposed guaranteed tuition and fee proposal and how this would position us with other schools in the state.

There was discussion among the Board and a unanimous consensus that this plan is

a way of making the cost of higher education predictable and affordable in light of the state’s lack of sufficient funding. Rector Hatten thanked President Trible and Ms. Perry for their thoughtful consideration and for finding a good way to handle a difficult situation.

Rector Hatten then asked for a motion that the Board express its support for the proposal and that pursuant to Code of Virginia, Section 23.1–307, that Christopher Newport provide “students and the public a projected range of the planned increase” and that the proposed plan for tuition and fees be presented to the Board of Visitors at its meeting on November 16th for consideration and approval. Mr. Hunter provided the motion, seconded by Sheriff Morgan and it was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

President Trible thanked the Board for approving the Master of Financial Analysis Degree and for their support of the proposed guaranteed tuition and fee model and expressed his appreciation to his colleagues for their hard work in shaping this proposal.

In closing Rector Hatten expressed his enormous pride in the new professorship in honor of Richard Abbitt by his wonderful wife Carolyn. He said many people knew Richard before his death about 10 years ago. He said Richard was a great and beloved leader in our community. He knows he is smiling down on CNU today and is pleased for him that this new chapter at the university will be made possible in part through their generosity.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.