Board of Visitors Meeting September 22, 2006

The Board of Visitors of Christopher Newport University met on September 22, 2006, in the Board Room of the David Student Union with Rector William P. Heath, Jr. presiding.

Rector Heath welcomed all those present at the meeting. He then called for a motion to approve the minutes of the June 16, 2006, meeting. Ms. Budlong provided the motion, seconded by Ms. Hoinkes and there being no discussion, the minutes were unanimously approved.

Rector Heath recognized Ms. Hoinkes, as Chairman of the Nominating Committee for the election of officers. Ms. Hoinkes presented the committee's recommendations for the new slate of officers as follows:

Rector – Mr. Claude S. Hornsby, III, Vice Rector – Mr. James R. Joseph, and Secretary – Ms. Deborah Budlong. Ms. Hoinkes asked for nominations coming from the floor, there being none Mr. Allen moved that nominations be closed with a second by Ms. Frank. Ms. Hoinkes entertained a motion for the waiver of the requirement to elect the slate by secret ballot. Mr. Passaro made the motion which was then seconded by Ms. Frank. Calling for the vote, the motion was passed by unanimous vote of the board. Since the slate of officers was a recommendation from the Committee, it required no second and was passed by unanimous vote of the board.

Rector Heath then explained that Mr. Hornsby was out of the country and then turned the meeting over to the new Vice Rector, Mr. Joseph. Mr. Joseph distributed a letter from Mr. Hornsby regarding his appointment as Rector.

President's Report

President Trible welcomed everyone and thanked Mr. Heath for his great job as Rector of the Board and for his generous donation of his time and talents to the success of CNU.

President Trible reported that the academic year was off to a great start. The Ferguson Center opened with the performance of Chicago and a few days later Tony Bennett performed. The Ferguson Center has sold over 37,000 tickets with $1.5 million in posted sales. Thus far, CNU students purchased over 1,700 tickets all at discounted prices.

He reported on other recent events on campus including the presentation by Fidel Castro's daughter, Linda Fernandez who spoke to the students, faculty and staff. Chip Hornsby was recently on campus as the Visiting Executive in Residence and he spent a day meeting with students and faculty and was the first leadership speaker of the year.

On the athletic side, the football team recently won a game against Mary Hardin Baylor from Texas who was ranked #6 in the nation. President Trible also noted that men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball were all off to a winning season. He advised the Board that he was elected Vice Chairman of the NCAA Division III President's Council.

President Trible reported on the admissions activities for the year stating that during Spring Break CNU hosted 2,000 juniors and their families and currently there are over 15,000 students on the database inquiring about CNU. This fall many visits are planned to different high schools and CNU will take part in 50 college fairs and will host 18 separate events on an off campus in order to recruit the best and brightest students to CNU.

President Trible shared with the Board goals for the upcoming year and said that he would work with Rector Hornsby and Vice-Rector Joseph to fashion a ten-year plan for the University.

President Paul Trible proceeded to give an executive summary overview. He said that the construction, expansion and enhancement of the library will be completed by the start of classes next year. Madison Hall, which was destroyed by fire, will either be rebuilt or knocked down completely. He explained that the building is owned by the Foundation and the Foundation is working with the insurance adjustors to make this decision. In either event, it will be completed in time for classes next year. He told the Board that CNU will begin to design and break ground next summer on a new academic complex. The General Assembly has appropriated $30 million to build two new academic buildings and architectural teams are working with faculty and administrators to define the requirements of the academic departments. A new Science Complex is also needed and the design of that facility is moving forward. Funding for the Science project will be sought in the next General Assembly session. Finally, an addition to the Freeman Center is necessary in order to meet the expanded needs of the residential student population and to repair the wear and tear on the building.

Next, President Trible updated the Board on Admissions for the 2006-2007 academic year stating that the fall 2006 freshman class is comprised of 1,174 students. The average SAT score is 1165 and the average GPA is 3.43. He further stated that the 2007 goal will be for a class of 1,200 with an average SAT score of 1175 and GPA of 3.5.

The President's Leadership Program currently has 192 students and the goal for next year is 200. The Honors Program will remain at approximately 125, and the number of Oxford Scholars will increase from 12 to 24. In addition, 100 Smithfield/Goodwin scholars will be recruited.

President Trible reported on the continued efforts to increase the minority enrollment. This year, 13.4% of the freshman class is minority compared to last year's 10.9%. Additionally, the African-American freshman enrolled increased from 6.3% last year to 6.8%.

This year's freshman class is comprised of 6% out-of-state students compared to 3.9% last year. Currently the university's goal is to increase that number by 1 percent per year until 10% of the freshman class is from out-of-state.

CNU is currently negotiating an agreement with the Virginia Community College System to accept students who graduate with an associates degree and GPA of 3.5 or better as well as seeking to increase the number of transfer students to 150 next year and to 200 by the year 2009.

President Trible reported on academics and shared with the Board the launching of a new curriculum in the Liberal Learning Core. This new curriculum will offer freshmen 68 unique and intellectually challenging seminars that will be a part of the first year experience.

Also in the area of academics, CNU is focusing much time and attention on the reaffirmation of accreditation with an expectation of compliant certification being received in late November. Additionally, President Trible informed the Board that CNU will be submitting their “quality enhancement plan” in January 2007, which will focus on the effectiveness of the university's first year seminars. And finally in March 2007, a committee of peers will visit the campus to assess our progress in final preparation for reaffirmation of accreditation in December 2007.

President Trible told the Board that a committee has been established for the selection of a new Provost. He stated that the committee includes 11 people, comprised of 7 faculty members, the university librarian and three senior administrators. The committee is chaired by Dr. Tracey Schwarze and the goal is to have a new Provost by late spring.

In the area of Academics, President Trible also updated the Board on the progress being made in regard to increasing the number of faculty sabbaticals as well as reducing teaching loads from 4-4 to 4-3.

International education remains an important part of CNU. He noted that students today are demanding opportunities to study abroad. CNU currently has several study abroad programs but there is a need to expand those opportunities for CNU students. President Trible also told the Board that CNU is working aggressively to build partnerships with major employers to recruit our students for internships and reported to the Board on the successful program with Ferguson Enterprises.

Finally, President Trible apprised the Board of continued efforts to improve Student Success with special emphasis on retention and graduation rates.

In the area of fund raising, President Trible reported that the goal is to increase private funding by 20% in dollars and 10% in participation. Recently the athletic department raised $300,000, in five months, toward a goal of $500,000 for the year. There are also continued enhancements to the Parents Council and the Alumni Society with the establishment of comprehensive membership programs and increased involvement and financial support from both of these key constituencies.

Next, President Trible outlined a new administrative reorganization. Mari Beth Trun, the current comptroller will become the Special Assistant to the President for Strategy and Policy working closely with Cindi Perry and Bill Brauer. A new position of Senior Associate Vice President for Administration and Finance is being created and a search is underway. Bob Midgett, the current Internal Auditor will become the Senior Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services and he will oversee the bookstore, housing, dining, culinary services and a new position of Director of Auxiliary Services will report to him. Doug Shipley, who currently runs the Freeman Center , will become the Director of Auxiliary Services and will be responsible for parking, transportation, scheduling, summer conferencing and operation of the David Student Union. A search will be conducted for a new internal auditor.

Finance and Audit Committee Report

Vice Rector Joseph, who also serves as Chair of the committee said they met and reviewed the Statement of Revenues and Expenditures for Twelve Months Ended June 30, 2006 and 2005. He noted that a transfer was made for $3.7 payment on the Ferguson center from the reserve account. Mr. Joseph reminded the Board that at the June meeting, the budget was passed not knowing what funds would come from the General Assembly. The Administration was given the authority to adjust the budget as necessary once those funds were allocated. CNU was awarded an additional $234,000 however, the state charged us with $300,000 for a centralized state-processing fee. He stated that the biggest change was the movement of the Ferguson Center for the Arts into Auxiliary and out of the Educational and General funds which caused a shift in the numbers.

Vice Rector Joseph then called attention to Management Standards Letter for fiscal year 2006, dated August 31, 2006 from the Secretary of Finance, Jody M. Wagner, which

informed CNU that it has met all of the Management Standards for 2005-2006, including the Prompt Payment Statistics for fiscal year 2006. Ms. Crittenden inquired as to the final disposition of federal grant money that is not extended each year. President Trible stated that grant money does not come to the university, but to the students in annual appropriations. Mr. Brauer then stated that academic grants CNU attempts to take full advantage of what authority is granted insuring that we submit for full recovery of expenditures on research grants. Vice Rector Joseph asked for further questions, there being none, he recognized Ms. Hoinkes for the Academic Committee Report.

Academic Affairs Committee Report

Chair Ms. Mary Lib Hoinkes stated that she wanted to first say that the Committee was sorry to hear of the retirement of Provost Summerville. She praised the Provost for his work with the faculty and his familiarity with all of them. At the meeting the Provost presented a description of where the new 23 faculty appointments are coming from, the positions that they are taking, their academic backgrounds and their own specialties. Ms. Hoinkes asked Provost Summerville to elaborate on the proposal for the establishment of a new major and minor in American Studies. The Provost explained that American Studies is an area of learning which is representative of major programs at all institutions that CNU aspires to be like. The proposal is undergoing the curriculum review process and will ultimately come to him for final approval for addition to next year's curriculum.

Ms. Hoinkes noted that Chinese will be added to the language offerings. Currently CNU offers Italian, French, German, Italian, Greek, Latin and Arabic. A proposal is being considered for the future which would require students to spend some period of time studying at a university in the country in the language of their major.

Ms. Hoinkes stated that the average faculty salary is $63,317. The 4% increase that is appropriated by the General Assembly is presently distributed as follows: 25% is designated on a flat increase across the board to all members of the faculty and the remaining 75% is distributed based on merit. A portion is also set aside to deal with inequities. The committee also discussed teaching loads and the desire to move away from the “4-4” ratio.

Student Life Committee Report

Vice Rector Joseph turned the floor over to Chair Thaddeus Holloman. Mr. Holloman reported on the meeting of the Student Life Committee citing a report made earlier by

Mr. Maury O'Connell indicating a slight increase in minority enrollment from 10.9% last year to 13.4% this year. Mr. Holloman also made reference to Ms. Donna Eddelman's

report regarding activities on campus including the remarkable response from students, faculty and staff to the fire at Madison Hall, the expeditious manner in which students were moved into their dorms when they arrived for school and other upcoming events on campus.

Mr. Holloman also reported on the continued increase in students participating in the Captain's for Excellence program in which they are continuing to move forward in that regard. Mr. Holloman then turned the floor over to SGA President Molly Buckley who reported on upcoming SGA events including Political Awareness week. President Trible shared with the committee that he is now meeting with Ms. Buckley and other members of SGA on a regular basis and that he has been invited to give a State of the Union address to the SGA.

Mr. Holloman shared the students' excitement about the new David Student Union and how this facility has given the students a greater sense of involvement. The committee also discussed briefly recent trends regarding admissions and how some universities are placing less emphasis on SAT's and more on GPA's.

Dr. Tracey Schwarze, President of Faculty Senate, reported that the Senate was continuing to pursue its goals of improving the quality of activity and academic life at the University. In addition, the Senate is moving forward with a proposal to the Provost and President to adjust the academic calendar to delay the start of the semester by one week and the start of the spring semester by one week in order to provide a reasonable time frame that does not run into the December holidays allowing faculty and students to travel and provide and to provide an opportunity for a short course. This would also delay graduation by one week. Dr. Schwarze noted that the Senate was working closely with the Administration on the designing of the new academic buildings.

Mr. Michael Koontz reported to the Board on current Alumni Society events including the recent 5K Race. The race raised about $11,000 which he believes is a good building block for the future. Mr. Koontz also informed the Board of the ongoing car raffle which had been generously donated by Mike Martin. All proceeds from the raffle will fund scholarships. Additionally, he shared details surrounding the upcoming Homecoming festivities. He noted that currently the Alumni Society has 227 new members with a goal of having 700 members this year.

At 1:45 p.m. Vice Rector Joseph called for a motion to enter closed session under the Freedom of Information Act Sections 2.2-3711(a)(1) Personnel, (3) Real Estate and (8) Gifts Bequests and Fundraising. Mr. Duncan provided the motion, seconded by Mr. Heath and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

The Board returned to open session at 2:20 p.m. and the Vice Rector asked for a roll call certifying that only public matters were discussed that were identified in the public motion by which the executive or closed meeting was called. Board members Mr. Allen, Secretary Ms. Budlong, Ms. Crittenden, Mr. Duncan, Ms. Frank, Mr. Heath, Ms. Hoinkes, Mr. Holloman, Vice Rector Joseph, Ms. Luter, Mr. Martin and Mr. Passaro certified to the above.

Vice Rector Joseph called for a motion to approve Resolution 1: Promotion of Instructional Faculty which was discussed in closed session. Mr. Heath provided the motion, seconded by Ms. Hoinkes and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

_____________________________           _____________________________

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

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