Board of Visitors Meeting February 10, 2005

The Board of Visitors of Christopher Newport University met on February 10, 2005, in the Alumni Room of the Student Center with Rector William P. Heath, Jr. presiding.

Rector Heath welcomed those present and complimented the enjoyable dinner and entertainment by the CNU Chamber Choir the evening before.

Rector Heath called for a motion to approve the minutes of September 8, 2004 and November 10, 2004 meetings. Ms. Hoinkes provided the motion, seconded by Ms. Budlong and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

President's Report

President Trible began by congratulating Dean Mottilla and her faculty on the AACSB Accreditation of the School of Business .

President Trible updated the Board on admissions noting that 1,000 more applications have been received this year, than one year ago and that 50% more students have been admitted. He noted that the average GPA for the admitted freshmen is 3.6 with an SAT average of 1182. The SAT average for the students who have said “yes” is 3.5 and their SAT average is 1155. He invited the Board to the luncheon today noting that over 100 prospective students and their families were on campus and had been invited to be a part of the Honor's Program.

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President Trible reported that the Governor's budget included an additional $9.6 million for CNU. This includes $4.5 million in construction funds for the library project including nearly $2 million for equipment and almost $3 million for increased costs related to steel, concrete and asbestos abatement. The project budget for the addition to the library is now $24 million dollars. In addition, the Governor included funds for the operation of the library and the Ferguson Center for the Arts as well as $200,000 to support faculty salary increases. The state supported a 3% salary increase for faculty, however, CNU has allocated over 11%.

Although this is close to $10 million in additional funds, over and above the dollars that were in the budget a year ago, CNU is still desperately short in base funding. He noted that the new charter legislation may rectify some funding inadequacies for all of Virginia 's public schools. This legislation, now called The Structured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act, will grant expanded and enhanced administrative and financial powers to all the public colleges and universities. He explained that the Senate and the House passed similar versions of the legislation and the Conference Committee will resolve some minor differences before sending it to the Governor who has supported the charter concept. The legislation establishes a 3-level structure and schools can access an array of powers in the areas of procurement, capital outlay and personnel In return for the expanded freedom of operation, schools individually and collectively will be required to help achieve important state goals such as increasing enrollment, improving retention and graduation rates and facilitating the passage of students from the community colleges to 4-year institutions. He further explained the legislation stating that each university will be required to submit a 6-year enrollment plan, 6-year academic plan and 6-year financial plan. He thanked Ms. Perry and Mr. Brauer for their hard work on this effort.

President Trible stated that CNU's students had a fall formal event and for the first time alcohol was served to those 21 years old or older. He stated that there were no problems with the serving of alcohol. CNU remains a dry campus with a few exceptions of serving alcohol at a few events during the year.

He reported on construction projects stating that the CNU Village is on schedule and will be completed by mid-summer with many of the commercial enterprises up and running by end of summer. The softball field along Moore 's Lane will be complete in a few weeks; the student center and library are now under construction and the 1700-seat concert hall in the Ferguson Center for the Arts will be completed by mid-summer as well.

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Finance and Audit Committee Report

Mr. Joseph reported that the Finance and Audit Committee received an updated report on the status of capital projects. The committee was informed that the SCT Banner conversion on campus was making good progress. The committee received a detailed financial report for the 6 months ending December 31 and everything is on target and all variances were explained.

Mr. Brauer presented Resolution 1 explaining that this resolution is one the Board passes every year to write off uncollectible monies. Every attempt is made to collect these funds prior to this action. He explained that the write-off is a small amount compared to non-general fund revenues.

Rector Heath called for a motion to pass Resolution 1: Cancellation of Accounts Receivable Considered Uncollectible. The motion was provided by Mr. Mottinger, seconded by Mr. Hornsby and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

Mr. Brauer then explained Resolution 2 stating that this resolution is required by the IRS in order to reimburse the university for funds it expended prior to issuance of the 9(d) bonds. In order to proceed timely on construction projects the University uses money from its own reserve until the 9(d) bonds are issued to finance the projects.

Rector Heath called for a motion to pass Resolution 2: Intent to Reimburse Expenditures from Proceeds of 9(d) Bonds. Mr. Hornsby provided the motion, seconded by Ms. Crittenden and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

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 Academic Affairs Committee

Ms. Hoinkes stated the Academic Affairs committee met and discussed retention. She asked Mr. O'Connell to address retention efforts and Provost Summerville to discuss the freshman seminar.

Mr. O'Connell told the Board that different ad hoc groups had been formed and in addition a pilot-mentoring program had been established. We are now working with a consultant on increasing our retention rates. The different ad hoc groups were combined to form the current Retention Planning Team. The consultant has been on campus several times and will develop an action plan to be recommended to President Trible. Mr. O'Connell explained the goals of the Retention Planning Team and summarized the efforts that have been made to date.

Provost Summerville explained in detail the Freshman Seminar. He stated that there has been significant efforts underway since March 2002 to enhance the curriculum of the university in order to move it forward in a fashion commensurate with other advances the university has made. Under the leadership of Dean Gordon, a widely based effort to structure a curriculum appropriate for freshmen and sophomores at CNU is underway. This program will be implemented in fall 2006 so that in 2010 the first class under the new curriculum structure will be graduating. Students will come out of the experience knowing what is expected of them and feel comfortable with the expectations. A discussion about the freshman seminar and retention followed.

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Student Life Committee Report

Mr. Holloman gave an update on recruitment efforts. He stated that applications from out-of-state students are up by 78% and that over 400 applications have been received to date from out of state. The number of those students admitted increased by 92% (175 vs. 91 last year). Visits from out-of-state students is also up and in addition to the 500 schools normally visited in Virginia, New York, Maryland and New Jersey, 150 additional schools were added in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

He told the Board that the President's Leadership Program continues to be successful. To date 213 students have been admitted to the program with an average SAT of 1235 and GPA of 3.7. Applications to the PLP are up by 78% over last year. The average SAT for the 56 students who have indicated they will attend CNU is 1214.

Mr. Holloman told the Board that the Newport News Educational Foundation will be a conduit for funding for the Captains for Excellence Program. He then asked Melissa Bell to report on the activities of the SGA. She stated they were preparing for the second annual lobbying day, making efforts to increase voting by absentee ballot, making some internal reorganizations and preparing for elections next year.

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Alumni Society Report

Mr. Gallagher reported that the Alumni Society is pleased with the changes and progress the University is making. The Alumni Society is working to increase its membership. He reported that over $14,000 was contributed to the alumni scholarship fund from proceeds raised from the 5K race, and that the 50/50 alumni raffle has netted over $4,800. The theater scholarship and Betty Anglin Fine Arts Scholarship are now endowed at the $20,000 level and that the funding is in place to endow the music scholarship. The Society will also contribute to the Grace Lovegrove Scholarship. The Society is preparing for upcoming elections and the current president elect is Jane Barker and she is moving forward with starting a student alumni association.

At 10:30 a.m. Rector Heath called for a motion to enter closed session under Freedom of Information Act 2.2-3711(a)(1) Personnel, 2.2-3711(a)(3) Real Estate, 2.2-3711(a)(7) Litigation, and 2.2-3711(a)(8) Gifts, Bequests and Fundraising. Ms. Hoinkes provided the motion, seconded by Ms. Crittenden and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

The Board returned to open session at 12:00 noon and the Rector asked for a roll call certifying that only public matters identified in the public motion by which the executive or closed meeting was called were discussed. Board members Mr. Joseph, Mr. Holloman, Ms. Budlong, Rector Heath, Mr. Hornsby, Ms. Hoinkes, Ms. Ford, Mr. Passaro, Mr. Mottinger, Mr. Wilson, and Ms. Crittenden certified to the above.

Rector Heath called for a motion to adopt Resolution 3: Promotions of Instructional Faculty; Resolution 4: Instructional Faculty Tenured Appointments; Resolutions 5 and 6: Sabbatical Leave for Instructional Faculty and Resolution 7: Change in Appointment Status which were discussed in closed session and were presented to the Board on behalf of the Academic Affairs committee. There was no discussion and the motions were passed by unanimous vote of the Board. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Deborah L. Budlong, Secretary

Beverley Mueller Administrative Assistant To the Board

William P. Heath, Jr., Rector

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