MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
DECEMBER 17, 2009
1. Roll Call
Present- Ms. Elizabeth Bradbury, Governor
Mr. Michael Duggan, Governor (arriving at about 7:30 p.m.)
Mr. Gordon Elliott, Governor
Mr. Brian Hammons, Chair of the Board
Ms. Ashley Hoyer, Student Governor (arriving at about 8:40 p.m.)
Ms. Mary Sheid, Governor
Ms. Cathy Smith, Governor
Ms. Phyllis Washington, Vice-Chair of the Board
Mr. John Winston, Governor
Absent- Mr. Orvin Kimbrough, Governor
Also
Present- Michael Nietzel, President
Paul Kincaid, Chief of Staff
Clifton Smart, General Counsel
John McAlear, Secretary of the Board
2. Presiding --- The presiding officer for the meeting was Mr. Brian Hammons, Chair of the Board of Governors. He called the meeting to order at 6:25 p.m. in Plaster Student Union, Room 315, on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
3. Presidential Search --- Mr. Hammons asked Ms. Bradbury to lead the Board in a discussion on the desired attributes/qualities that they would like to see in the next president of Missouri State. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided to have Ms. Bradbury, with the assistance of Mr. Elliott, draft a “presidential qualities statement” to be reviewed by the Board before it is forwarded on to the presidential search committee.
4. Closed Meeting --- It was determined that the Board of Governors needed to meet in a closed session to consider items of business provided in the Revised Statutes of Missouri. Mr. Hammons asked if a resolution authorizing a closed meeting of the Board was prepared. Thereupon, the following resolution was presented for consideration:
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Governors for Missouri State University that a closed meeting, with closed records and closed vote, be held during a recess of this December 17, 2009, meeting of the Board of Governors to consider items of business pursuant to:
a. R.S.Mo. 610.021(1). “Legal actions, causes of action, or litigation involving a public governmental body…”
b. R.S.Mo. 610.021 (3). “Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting of particular employees by a public governmental body…”
c. R.S.Mo. 610.021 (12). “Sealed bids and related documents…”
Ms. Sheid moved the approval of the resolution and Mr. Duggan seconded the motion.
A roll call vote on the motion was as follows: those voting in favor – Governors Bradbury, Duggan, Elliott, Hammons, Sheid, Smith, Washington, and Winston; those voting against the motion – none; those absent – Governor Kimbrough.
Mr. Hammons declared the resolution passed unanimously.
The Board recessed their meeting at 8:00 p.m. and reconvened at 9:05 p.m.
5. Presidential Search (continued)--- Mr. Duggan reported that he, Ms. Sheid, and Ms. Washington each contacted two other governors so that the entire board was contacted and it appears that the majority of the board was in favor of a ten-person presidential search committee made up of: three governors, one faculty, one staff, one student, one administrative council member, and three alumni/community members. Mr. Elliott moved to approve this size of a search committee. Mr. Winston provided the second to the motion. Mr. Hammons commented that he felt that there needed to be more faculty members on the committee so he moved to amend the motion by adding two additional faculty members making it a twelve-person committee with three faculty members. His motion died for lack of a second. Ms. Bradbury moved to amend the motion by adding one faculty member. Ms. Washington seconded the motion to amend.
The amendment passed 6-2 (Mr. Winston and Mr. Elliott voting against).
The original motion was now amended to be an eleven-person committee with two faculty members. Ms. Smith then moved to amend the motion on the floor by adding three additional members to the committee – one more faculty member, one more alumni/community member, and one academic administrator. Ms. Bradbury seconded the amendment.
The amendment passed 5-3 (Mr. Winston, Mr. Elliott, and Ms. Washington voting against).
A vote on the original motion that had been amended twice was then taken and passed by a 5-3 vote (Mr. Winston, Mr. Elliott, and Ms. Washington voting against).
Mr. Duggan summarized that the approved search committee size and makeup was now: a fourteen-person committee made up of three governors, three faculty, one staff, one student, one administrative council member, one academic administrator, and four alumni/community members.
Mr. Duggan then remarked that a charge from the December 1, 2009, conference-call meeting was to present three possible search timelines. He commented that the three possible time-periods for the finalists to visit campus would be: a) late April/early May; b) mid-July; or c) mid-September. He recommended that the timeline should be left up to the Search Committee as they will have first-hand knowledge on how the search is progressing. (Ms. Sheid had to leave the meeting at this time). Mr. Duggan then moved that the presidential search committee expenditures not exceed $100,000 without further approval by the Board of Governors. Mr. Elliott provided the second to the motion.
Motion passed 7-0.
Mr. Duggan then commented that it is planned to have a conference-call meeting of the Board sometime the week of January 4, 2010, to name and approve the fourteen-person presidential search committee. They hope to interview search firms sometime the week of January 18, 2010, and the first presidential search committee meeting is projected to be February 6, 2010.
6. Date of Next Meeting --- The date of the next meeting was set for Friday, December 18, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. in the Traywick Parliamentary Room in the Plaster Student Union on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
7. Adjournment--- Mr. Hammons adjourned the meeting at 9:50 p.m. on the motion of Mr. Duggan, the second of Ms. Washington, and the unanimous vote of the Board.
John W. McAlear
Secretary