Board of Visitors Meeting February 3, 2023

Present from the Board

The Honorable Richard S. Bray
Ms. Regina P. Brayboy
Lindsey Carney Smith, Esq., Rector
Robert R. Hatten, Esq.
Mr. Steven S. Kast
Mr. John R. Lawson, II
Ms. Terri M. McKnight, CPA
Ms. Kelli Purdy Meadows, CPA, CCIFP
Mr. Sean D. Miller
Mr. C. Larry Pope
Dr. Lee Vreeland
Ms. Judy Ford Wason

Absent from the Board

Ms. Christy T. Morton
LTC (R) Boris G. Robinson

Present from the University

Dr. Bob Colvin, Interim Chief of Staff
Ms. Amie Dale, Liaison to the Board of Visitors
Dr. Rachel Holland, Faculty Senate President
Dr. Kevin Hughes, Vice President of Student Affairs
Dr. Quentin Kidd, Provost
Ms. Jennifer Latour, Vice President for Finance and Planning and CFO
Ms. Christine Ledford, Vice President for Administration and Auxiliary Service
Ms. Maureen Matsen, Esq., University Counsel
Dr. Lisa Duncan Raines, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success
Ms. Celine Rosario, Student Government Association President
Ms. Adelia Thompson, Interim President

Others in Attendance

Ms. Matilah Pamie George, Student Presenter
Rear Admiral William G. Kelly, President-Select
Ms. Angie Kelly

Call to Order and Welcome: Rector Lindsey Carney Smith

On February 3, 2023 at 12:20 p.m. Rector Carney Smith called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone present.

For the first order of business, in Secretary Morton’s absence, Rector Carney Smith appointed Vice Rector McKnight as acting secretary.

Approval of Minutes: Rector Lindsey Carney Smith

Rector Carney Smith called for a motion to approve the minutes of the Board of Visitors Regular Meeting on November 18, 2022. Mr. Kast provided the motion, which was seconded by Mr. Pope and the minutes were approved by a unanimous vote of the Board.

Rector Carney Smith called for a motion from the board members who served on the Board of Visitors Announcement Committee to approve the minutes of the Announcement Committee Meeting on December 2, 2022. Mr. Pope provided the motion, which was seconded by Dr. Vreeland and the minutes were approved by a unanimous vote of the members.

Rector Carney Smith called for a motion to approve the minutes of the Board of Visitors Special Meeting on December 11-14, 2022. Ms. Wason provided the motion, which was seconded by Dr. Vreeland and the minutes were approved by a unanimous vote of the Board.

President’s Report: Adelia Thompson, Interim President

Interim President Thompson welcomed everyone and thanked the Rector and the Board for their leadership and discernment during this presidential search process. She then welcomed President-Select Kelly and Mrs. Kelly and invited him to offer remarks.

President-Select Kelly thanked everyone for the opportunity to join the board meeting and stated that he is looking forward to listening and learning today and in the weeks ahead. He pledged to show up on July 1, roll up his sleeves and work with the Christopher Newport community to chase victories and exude excellence.

Interim President Thompson began her University update by asking Dr. Kidd to introduce the two faculty members who won the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award for this year. Dr. Kidd introduced Drs. Kelly Cartwright and Martina Marinova as two of the select group of 12 faculty members awarded this honor. The Drs. Cartwright and Marinova stood and were recognized with a round of applause. Interim President Thompson shared how proud she is of these two faculty and academic affairs. Highlights from her report include:

Academic Affairs: Important faculty searches are continuing, the number of faculty research grants is growing dramatically, and CNU has, once again, received a perfect “A” grade from ACTA.
Admission: In the weeks ahead, there are many on-and-off campus events that will work to encourage more applications and turn those applications into students who enroll as Captains. Attendance for events rivals pre-COVID numbers and the numbers across the board are encouraging, even at this early stage in the deposit process.
Student Life and Student Success: The 25th Anniversary Celebrations for PLP are underway and the highlight of the year will be on April 18 and 19 for the Tyson’s Corner Takeover in Northern Virginia. Student Success programs continue to serve students in record numbers, as the instructional and financial needs, and desire for internships and professional opportunities after graduation have continued to grow, post-pandemic. Student success coaches are operating at full capacity, tutoring schedules are filled, and our Career planning team is operating at full throttle.
Community Captains: The fifth cohort is being recruited from current high school sophomores at all of the city schools. The students who were in the first and second cohorts are thriving here and becoming the best messengers about this program to other students and families and cohort 3 are now high school seniors, making their college decisions, and we are hopeful that a number of them will enroll here.
Athletics: All fall sports made it to tournament play, and right now – the women's basketball team is undefeated and ranked number 1 in the nation and men are ranked number 4 nationally. Spring sports are getting cranked up – softball, baseball, golf, tennis, track and field and lacrosse–the men's lacrosse team will start their season ranked number 2 in the nation!
Arts: The Ferguson Center’s season is well underway and highlights for this Spring include Bernadette Peters, The Temptations and the Four Tops, Annie and Legally Blonde. At the Torggler, the Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature show will end the first week of March and in April, the next show will be “A Graphic Journey: Prints by Pablo Piscasso'' and a survey of works by Charlottesville-based painter, Russ Warren. In the student arts realm, Fine Arts is gearing up for the Senior Art Show, the spring musical ‘Head Over Heels’ will open Friday, February 17, the Wind Ensemble will be traveling to Argentina and the musical theater students will perform at 54 Below during spring break.
LifeLong Learning: Membership has rebounded post-COVID and they have broken the threshold of 600 members.

Interim President Thompson concluded her report by sharing lessons learned over her last six months in this role and sharing poignant stories of student interaction that inspire and create hope for the future.

The Rector thanked Interim President Thompson and called on Mr. Bobby Hatten to give the Finance and Facilities Report.

Finance and Facilities Report: Bobby Hatten

Mr. Hatten gave the report on behalf of the Finance and Facilities Committee which included a legislative affairs update, overview of the statement of revenues and expenses, the capital projects update, and the SWaM report. He offered special commendation to Christine and her teams on a job well done.

At the recommendation of the Finance and Facilities Committee, Mr. Hatten brought forward RESOLUTION 1: Cancellation of Accounts Receivable Considered Uncollectible. Rector Carney Smith called for any discussion. There being none, Mr. Bray made a motion and it was passed by a unanimous vote of the Board.

The Rector thanked Mr. Hatten and called on Vice Rector McKnight to give the Operations, Audit and Risk Report.

Operations, Audit and Risk Report: Terri McKnight

Vice Rector McKnight greeted the Board and reported on the activities of the Operations, Audit and Risk Committee. During committee the CIO gave a thorough report of campus technology resources and services, including efforts to reduce risk and expand controls to address potential malware and ransomware issues. The committee also discussed initiatives including continuing to secure applications and services with two factor authentication, upgrading the student information system web interface, and collaborating with campus constituents in a variety of academic and administrative endeavors. In the area of Human Resources, Vice Rector McKnight reported that compensation study for classified and wage stage resulted in more than 45% of that staffing category receiving a wage increase this year. The Board has asked HR to continue in its efforts and evaluate our administrative and professional faculty and staff. The study is underway, but initial results show that approximately 20% of those in that category are below our market target. A further report will be given once the study is completed and is expected at the April meeting.

Vice Rector McKnight concluded her report by provided updates on the status of several audit processes: the faculty recruitment and succession planning audit report is complete and is with the CFO, Jennifer Latour for review, the student accounts and audit planning is underway, the star res software application audit fieldwork is in progress, the Maxient audit follow up is progressing, the disaster recovery audit has four open points that are targeted for completion by June and finally, the laboratory safety audit has six points complete with eight remaining open, which are targeted for completion by the April meeting.

Rector Carney Smith thanked Vice Rector McKnight and called on Mr. Kast to give the Academic Affairs report.

Academic Affairs Report: Steve Kast

Mr. Kast began his report by further detailing the accomplishments of the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty members and congratulating them on their success. He continued by noting that since the last board meeting, there have been over $450,000 in grants and awards that have come in through the diligent work of the faculty.

Mr. Kast then called on Provost Kidd to bring forward RESOLUTIONS 2-4: Resolution 2: New Degree Program, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music, Resolution 3: Plan of Compensation and Resolution 4: Appointments to the Instructional Faculty at recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee. Rector Carney Smith called for any discussion. There being none, Mr. Kast made a motion to approve Resolution 2, Dr. Vreeland made a motion to approve Resolution 3, and Ms. Wason made a motion to approve Resolution 4 and they were all passed by a unanimous vote of the Board.

The Rector thanked Mr. Kast and asked him to also give the Student Life Report.

Student Life Report: Steve Kast, Acting Chair

Mr. Kast began his report by highlighting the current admission and enrollment statistics noting that the Office of Admission is on track to meet the freshman class enrollment goals delivering a class with a very strong academic profile. In the area of student success, he noted that there was an overall increase in student success support services requested with significant increases in tutoring, Captains Care referrals and testing and academic accommodations. Increases were also seen in Career Services with a 400% increase on the employment and internship platform Handshake, as well as a 14% increase in unique clients and 25% increase in sessions in the counseling center.

Mr. Kast concluded his report by underscoring the importance of addressing student mental health needs, caring for our students and planning for the future.

Dr. Vreeland added onto Mr. Kast’s report by sharing updated statistics on the Community Captains program, as well as unveiling the new marketing campaign to attract high school students to the program.

Rector Carney Smith thanked Mr. Kast for his report and Rob Lange, Lisa Duncan Raines and Kevin Hughes for their continued hard work with our students. She then called on Ms. Wason to give the Advancement Report.

Advancement Committee Report: Judy Ford Wason

Ms. Wason gave an update on Advancement activities noting that at the halfway point, fundraising is right where it needs to be with just over $3.7 million in new gifts and pledges toward the fiscal year end goal of $6 million. Alumni participation is on track with the adjusted goals and is expected to reach the 12% goal through the upcoming CNU Day, Faculty/Staff and Senior Gift campaigns.

Rector Carney Smith thanked Ms. Wason for her report and called on Dr. Holland for the Faculty Senate Report.

Faculty Senate Report: Rachel Holland

Dr. Holland greeted the Board of Visitors and on behalf of the faculty, underscored the excitement that the promise of new leadership brings and thanked the Board for embracing the faculty and thoughtfully considering the faculty senate’s request for further inclusion in the search process. She continued that the significance of the invitation for herself and Dr. Tatiana Rizova to participate in the final round of interviews cannot be understated and she is grateful for the outcome and encouraged that this is the start in a renewed commitment to shared governance and partnership between the Board and the faculty.

She relayed to the Board that faculty are committed to our values and laying a strong foundation for a productive and positive relationship between the President-Select and the faculty. She welcomed Admiral Kelly and said the faculty are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

The Rector thanked Dr. Holland for her report and deviated from the stated agenda by calling on Regina Brayboy to give a report on behalf of the Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

President’s Council on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report: Regina Brayboy

Ms. Brayboy thanked the Rector for including this report and stated how excited she was to serve in this new role and how pleased she is to see how this committee has been progressing over the course of the last few years. She updated the Board on what is being done at the Commonwealth’s level for diversity, opportunity, and inclusion noting that the state is especially focused on advancing the workforce. The Commonwealth’s current priorities include entrepreneurship and economic opportunity, free speech and civil discourse, faith cooperation and inclusive decision making in education.

Ms. Brayboy then recounted the efforts across campus focused on DEI included events, workshops, learning and professional development, a variety of inclusion research grants, tutoring and mentoring efforts with Newport News and Hampton city schools, and the creation of three new student groups: Disabled Student Union, We Care Women’s Empowerment Group, and the Minority Association of Pre-Med Students.

Rector Carney Smith thanked Ms. Brayboy and called on Ms. Celine Rosario to give the Student Government report.

Student Government Report: Celine Rosario

Ms. Rosario thanked the Rector and welcomed President-Select Kelly on behalf of the student body. She also thanked Ms. Brayboy for her work with the DEI Council and underscored how excited the students are to have this meeting in-person again and hear all of the updates on progress and upcoming initiatives and events. She recounted the recent work of the Student Government Association, Student Honor Council, IFC and Panhellenic organizations describing events, services and upcoming conferences, as well as the newest delegates that will be inducted into SGA.

Concluding her report and on behalf of the student body, Ms. Rosario thanked the Board for their support and introduced the student speaker, Ms. Matilah Pamie George.

Ms. George greeted the Board and shared her personal story of how she came to be at Christopher Newport, the organizations that she is a part of, her course of study and her future plans post-graduation. She completed her remarks by stating ‘I can say with confidence and pride that I am living a life of significance.’

Rector Carney Smith thanked Ms. Rosario and Ms. George and proceeded to the next order of business.

Closed Session Under Freedom of Information Act § 2.2-3711(A)(1) Personnel

Rector Carney Smith called for a motion to enter Closed Session under Freedom of Information Act §2.2.3711(A)(1) Personnel.

Mr. Kast provided the motion, it was seconded by Mr. Pope and the motion was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Return to Open Session: Acting Secretary Terri McKnight

The Board returned to Open Session and Acting Secretary McKnight 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. All Board members present, certified to the above by roll call: Mr. Bray, Ms. Brayboy, Rector Carney Smith, Mr. Hatten, Mr. Kast, Mr. Lawson, Acting Secretary McKnight, Ms. Meadows, Mr. Miller, Mr. Pope, Dr. Vreeland and Ms. Wason.

Mr. Kast brought forward RESOLUTIONS 5-7: Resolution 5: Promotions of Instructional Faculty, Resolution 6: Tenured Appointments of Instructional Faculty and Resolution 7: Faculty Sabbatical Leaves 2023-2024 at the recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee. Rector Carney Smith called for any discussion. There being none, Ms. Wason made a motion to approve Resolution 5, Mr. Pope made a motion to approve Resolution 6 and Dr. Vreeland made a motion to approve Resolution 7 and they were passed by a unanimous vote of the Board.

Adjournment: Lindsey Carney Smith

Rector Carney Smith called for discussion or questions. There being none, she called for any new business to be considered. Hearing none, the Rector called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Lawson called for a motion to adjourn, it was seconded by Ms. Meadows and approved by a unanimous vote of the Board.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 1:54 p.m.