Board of Visitors Meeting June 20, 2008

The Board of Visitors of Christopher Newport University met on June 20, 2008, in the Board Room of the David Student Union with Rector Claude S. Hornsby, III presiding.

Rector Hornsby welcomed everyone and called for a motion to approve the minutes of the April 29, 2008 meeting and May 16, 2008 Executive Committee Meeting. The motion was made by Mr. Heath seconded by Ms. Crittenden and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

President's Report

President Trible reported that the class matriculating in August is the strongest class in history of CNU and the freshman are currently on campus participating in the Setting Sail orientation program along with their families prior to arriving the start of classes in August. The average GPA is 3.5 and average SAT is 1180 which is an increase of 10 points over last year. The freshman class will consist of 1150 students which includes 175-200 transfer students.

He stated that the leadership program continues to be the definer of excellence at CNU and this year there are approximately 200 leadership students with an overall GPA of 3.8 and 1260 SAT. Leadership students are offered scholarships of $1,000, $2,000 (from the generosity of Smithfield Foods and the Luter Foundation) and this year $5,000 from Canon. There were 400 offers to students to participate in the Leadership Program with 200 accepting. These students are the best in terms of academic success and in terms of engagement with the community. The Canon Scholars' average GPA is 4.1 and their SAT is 1336.

This year CNU will enroll its largest number of African-American freshmen - 118 or 10% of the freshman class. The number of students of color overall will increase from 18% to 20%. Also, 7% percent of the freshman class is from out of state.

In addition to the outstanding freshman class, ten new faculty positions will be added bringing to campus faculty members who have spent time at great colleges and universities in this country and who remain intellectually alive and on the cutting edge of their work. The plan is to create 10 new faculty positions each year.

President Trible noted that the retention rate of students continues to increase from year to year. Currently CNU is at 83% retention rate. This is due to the efforts of the faculty, student services and the deans who are creating opportunities to increase connections with students and encourage their success. The graduation rate (a 6-year measure) also continues to rise. The current graduation rate is 55% and the projection for next year is between 55% and 60% with the following year projected to be 65%.

President Trible thanked everyone for their support in fundraising efforts noting that at the end of June $9 million in cash and pledges would have been raised making this the best year ever. Over the course of the last year Elizabeth Taraski has been working to rebuild the fundraising staff and now CNU is in a position to move forward.

Mr. Wilson said that the CNU is moving in the right direction in attracting minority students and inquired as to what is making the difference. President Trible said this is a priority for CNU and that there have been focused and disciplined efforts in this regard. He thanked the Board members and others for supporting those efforts and praised the work of the Minority Task Force. He said that the single most important factor in attracting minority students is scholarship money. As an example of the challenges in this regard, President Trible said that Riverside Health Systems has established a scholarship for CNU students who want to be medical professionals in the amount of $5,000. President Trible noted that a Riverside Scholarship was offered to an African American student but he declined because he was offered full room and board elsewhere. . Mr. Wilson asked for information regarding scholarships established for that purpose at CNU and President Trible said that he and Rosemary established the William Willis Scholarship for minority students and would determine if there are others.

Rector Hornsby expressed his appreciation for all that President Trible and his staff have done for CNU and their hard work and dedication to the success of the students.

Finance and Audit Committee Report  

Mr. Joseph said the Finance and Audit committee received the state auditor's report and the draft showed a clean audit. When the report is finalized it will be mailed to all Board members. There was one mention of noncompliance where there was date missing on an I-9 form which will be corrected. The year-to-date financial results were in order. There was one follow item to make a presentation at the next meeting on actions to be taken to modify the programs and management of the Ferguson Center in the coming year.

Mr. Joseph reported that the Executive Committee met in December and passed the Tuition and Fees Resolution. CNU stayed within the 4% guideline suggested by the State which qualified CNU for participation in the incentive fund. In addition, the Committee heard from Ms. Christine Ledford, the Internal Auditor who discussed the audit plan for the year.

Mr. Joseph then asked Ms. Perry to review with the Board the proposed operating budget for the upcoming year. Ms. Perry noted that the proposed budget had been thoroughly reviewed with the Finance Committee and she presented the Executive Summary to the Board. A total budget of $111,901,957 was presented with $51,646,643 allocated for educational and general programs; $3,773,990 for student financial assistance; $52,418,604 for auxiliary enterprises; $3,537,720 in financial assistance for educational and general services and $525,000 in unrestricted contributions. Following Ms. Perry's presentation, Mr. Joseph reported that the budget comes as a recommendation from the Finance and Audit Committee to the full Board and moved for approval. Following discussion and questions, Ms. Crittenden seconded the motion and it was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Mr. Joseph asked Mr. Brauer to review Resolution 2 for land acquisition. He explained that this is a debt issuance resolution which is prepared by bond council to satisfy requirements of the state treasury and authorizes CNU to issue debt for land acquisition. This land acquisition has been appropriated by the General Assembly. CNU will purchase $15 million in land from the CNU real estate foundation thus transferring ownership from the foundation to the University. Mr. Joseph explained this comes to the Board at the recommendation of the Finance and Audit Committee. Ms. Crittenden moved for approval, seconded by Mr. Passaro and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Mr. Brauer explained that the next three resolutions are required by the IRS and they allow CNU to spend money out of reserves on projects where tax exempt debt has not yet been issued. This resolution provides for the reimbursement of these reserves from tax-exempt debt when the bonds are issued. The three projects are residential housing, a residence hall and land acquisition. This has been approved by the General Assembly and requires Board approval. The resolution comes to the Board at the recommendation of the Finance and Audit Committee. Following questions and discussion, Ms. Crittenden moved for approval of Resolutions 3-5, seconded by Ms. Frank and passed unanimously by the Board.

Student Life Committee Report

Mr. O'Connell reported that the focus of the meeting was the review of Resolutions 6 and 7 pertaining to suicide prevention policies and parental notification of mental health concerns. He said both resolutions had been reviewed by the Attorney General's office and follows the Code of Virginia. He noted that CNU has a suicide prevention program in place which provides training for hall directors, resident assistants and professional staff. The parental notification puts into law a policy that was already in effect and that CNU is active in involving parents and the community services board when there may be a suicide concern. Ms. Frank said that CNU is aggressive in dealing with these problems and has a well thought out plan. The remainder of the meeting was an overview of admissions and the success of the emergency notification system and the plans to improve and enhance our capabilities of communication in time of an emergency. Mr. O'Connell said Resolution 6: Parental Notification Mental Health and Resolution 7: Suicide Prevention Policies come to the Board at the recommendation of the Committee. Rector Hornsby called for discussion and questions. Ms. Crittenden moved for approval seconded by Ms. Luter and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Development Committee Report

President Trible repeated that new pledges and cash for the year are approximately $9 million. A very capable and professional advancement team is in place under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Taraski. He explained that CNU is still young and it will take time to build relationships with our alumni. In that regard a steady and sustained communications program will be put into place. President Trible has asked Dr. Taraski to meet with each board member and share the development plans and bring them up to date on our fundraising efforts.

Rector Hornsby introduced Dr. Rebecca Wheeler, President of the Faculty Senate, who expressed her enthusiasm to be at CNU and that she is looking forward to working with the Board this upcoming year.

Alumni Society Report

President Scott Millar that the Alumni Society is reorganizing at this time, making changes to by-laws, longer terms for officers for consistency of leadership, etc. as they move forward with a capital campaign. The Alumni Society sponsored again this year the Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award which went to Dr. Quentin Kidd. Mr. Millar said he was pleased to address the graduating class prior to commencement and encouraged all of them to stay in touch with the University. Their goal is to increase the participation at homecoming weekend in the fall and there are plans for a reunion weekend event in the spring. The Society is focusing on chapter development and recently held an event in Richmond and will charter a chapter there in the fall. The Society is also reaching out Northern Virginia area and hopes to establish a chapter there as well.

Rector Hornsby called for any other business or discussion and there being none, the meeting was adjourned.

___________________________                                          ________________________________ 

Deborah Budlong,                                                                   Secretary Beverley Mueller,
                                                                                              Administrative Assistant to the Board

______________________________

Claude S. Hornsby, III, Rector

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