MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
March 7-8, 2013
1. Roll Call
Present- Mr. Stephen Bough, Governor (arriving at 8:30 a.m.)
Mr. Joe Carmichael, Governor (arriving at 1:00 p.m.)
Ms. Carrie Carroll, Governor
Mr. Gordon Elliott, Governor
Mr. Peter Hofherr, Governor
Mr. Stephen Hoven, Governor
Ms. Paige Jenkins, Student Governor
Mr. Orvin Kimbrough, Chair of the Board
Ms. Beverly Miller, Vice Chair of the Board
Ms. Cathy Smith, Governor
Also
Present- Clifton Smart III, President
Drew Bennett, Chancellor of the West Plains Campus
Frank Einhellig, Provost
Earle Doman, Vice President for Student Affairs
Ken McClure, Vice President for Administrative and Information Services
Jim Baker, Vice President for Research and Economic Development
Kenneth Coopwood, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
Stephen Foucart, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Brent Dunn, Vice President for University Advancement
Penni Groves, General Counsel
Paul Kincaid, Chief of Staff
June McHaney, Director of Internal Audit
Kyle Moats, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
Randy Blackwood, Executive Director of Athletics & Entertainment Facilities
Stephanie Bryant, Dean of the College of Business
Tammy Jahnke, Dean of the College of Natural & Applied Sciences
John McAlear, Secretary of the Board
2. Presiding --- The presiding officer for the meeting was Mr. Orv Kimbrough, Chair of the Board of Governors. He called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. in the Regency Ballroom in the St. Louis Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.
3. Approval of 2013-14 Fee Resolution --- Mr. Clif Smart, President, first presented a resolution (Fees No. 140-13) for the approval of the 2013-2014 Fee Schedule. He reminded the Board that this resolution was covered in detail in the February 8, 2013, Finance Committee meeting. He commented that the Student Government Association asked us to consider decreasing the increase in parking violation fines and to counter this with an increase in parking permit fees. After a closer look at this option, when presented, the students prefer the original recommendation. Mr. Smart indicated that there is one small recent change to the Fee Schedule since distributed to the Board members – a new page 11 shows that the Late Admission Fee of $25 has been dropped from the Fee Schedule. This fee generates little revenue and leads to considerable bad will. Also, the Board had requested average debt load and employment information of students in Music and Media, Journalism, and Film, the two programs with new special fees in this proposed Fee Schedule. Mr. Smart indicated that this information was included in the materials provided in advance of this meeting. After a short discussion among the members of the Board, motion to approve the 2013-2014 Fee Schedule with the new page 11 was made by Mr. Hoven and seconded by Mr. Elliott.
Motion passed 7-0.
4. Update of Key Performance Indicators --- Dr. Frank Einhellig, Provost, provided a brief update on the Springfield campus’s 15 Key Performance Indicators which are included on the Long-Range Plan’s website. He also showed how the Springfield campus met the five Performance-Funding Measures adopted by the State of Missouri.
Dr. Drew Bennett, Chancellor of MSU-West Plains, next reported that the West Plains campus’s long-range plan is about one year behind the Springfield campus’s plan and its 12 Key Performance Indicators are not yet on their website. He briefly reviewed the progress of ten of the twelve indicators. He also reported that the West Plains Campus met its five State designated Performance-Funding Measures.
5. Status Report on Ten Action Items for 2012-2013: Mr. Smart next led the discussion on the status of some (not all) of the ten action items which were developed last summer: a) Enrollment; b) Funding; c) Public Affairs; d) Diversity; e) Student Access and Learning; f) Graduate Programs; g) Profile; h) Facilities (a separate agenda item to follow); i) IDEA Commons/JVIC; and j) Marketing.
Enrollment
Mr. Smart began this discussion by saying that it is projected that 2/3 of all new jobs will require a bachelor’s degree, showing the importance of a four-year degree. Our total enrollment has grown but the mix of our student body has changed. With fewer high school students graduating over the next several years and with every high school in Missouri soon to be designated an A+ school, we will need to focus differently to grow our enrollment. We will need to focus more on transfer students, international students, underrepresented students, dual-credit students, non-traditional students, and out-of-state students. We are working closely with Ozarks Technical Community College and Crowder College to meet the needs of their students, as well as having recent discussions with St. Louis and St. Charles County Community Colleges.
Funding
Mr. Smart reported that from FY2009 to estimated FY2013, Operating Fund Student Tuition revenue has increased from $99 million to $117 million, while State Appropriation revenue has decreased from $87 million to $77 million. Students are paying a much bigger share of their cost of education. He indicated that the legislature’s Joint Committee on Higher Education that is working on a new performance funding formula to be used in FY2015 has data that shows, when compared to other four-year institutions, that we are the least-funded institution, when compared to what we should be receiving.
Mr. Smart next reported that with our present funding, employees have received across-the-board pay raises of about 2% in 2012 and 2% in 2013, the first such raises since 2008. During this time, CPI increased a total of 7.4%. We are paying lower salaries than our peer institutions. Mr. Kimbrough indicated that we need to consider some long-range financial planning with plans for investments in our employees. With not knowing what State appropriations are going to do, we will need to look to our students for additional funding. It was mentioned that if State appropriations stay level or drop, we will need to consider asking for waivers permitting us to have tuition increases greater than CPI. This leads to elasticity of demand – how much can you increase tuition without hurting our enrollment numbers. Mr. Smart did add that, although we have not done much with salaries, we did improve key benefits during this period: 1) there have not been increases in payroll deductions for health insurance; 2) in calendar year 2011 and going forward, deductibles were waived for services provided at the on-campus Taylor Health Center; and 3) we began a policy of filling prescriptions at the Taylor Pharmacy at a 10% lower coinsurance amount. Considerable discussion was held by the Board on the importance of competitive salaries and enrollment numbers.
Public Affairs
Mr. Smart began by explaining that we are putting some structure behind our Public Affairs mission. A major initiative, the new Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame, will be unveiled at the 2013 Public Affairs Conference. The guest speaker at the New Student Convocation in August 2013, will be our alum actor, John Goodman. The guest speaker at our Public Affairs Convocation in October 2013, will be Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes and author of the 2013 common reader, Start Something That Matters.
Profile
Mr. Smart emphasized that we are raising our profile around the State and we have focused on St. Louis this year. St. Louis events include: a) the just-held reception for education alumni and dual credit instructors; b) a June 1 Missouri State night at Busch Stadium with a potential donor dinner the night before; c) a September 13 Salute to Excellence in Education event sponsored by St. Louis American, with potential scholarship announcements; and d) a November 2 Signature Event: MarooNation Ball at the Palladium at 1400 Park Place. Mr. Kimbrough added that there has also been discussion about holding a Procurement Contracting Seminar for minority-owned businesses in the St. Louis area. He also indicated that it is important that we follow up with the two St. Louis area community colleges mentioned earlier to help our profile and our student transfer numbers.
Mr. Smart indicated that we will focus on Kansas City next year.
Diversity
Mr. Smart first commented that we have reduced the value of the Multi-Cultural Scholarship from $6,500 to $5,000 so we can award more individual scholarships. We have done well with our student numbers – underrepresented students totaled 2,241 in the Fall of 2012. Underrepresented faculty/staff numbers have grown from 196 to 205. Dr. Ken Coopwood, Vice President for Diversity, reported that we may have our first candidate for the Faculty Diversity Composition Initiative (or the Grow Your Own Initiative) with a Hispanic student in the College of Arts and Letters. This is where the student may elect to engage in either a forgivable loan or a loan reimbursement contract as means to achieving a terminal degree and returning to MSU as a faculty member after degree completion. He added that our first annual statewide collaborative diversity conference is set for April 18-19, 2013. Proposals have been solicited and are under review for comprehensive campus and community climate studies to begin in April 2013. Mr. Smart added that we have had meetings with Kauffman Foundation, Wyman, and College Bound, and are about to finalize agreements with each of them to improve our underrepresented student enrollment. The Board discussed the improvement in our student diversity numbers and the need to continue focusing on this goal. It was indicated that underrepresented faculty members are in great demand and are commanding high salaries that we have had trouble matching. Mr. Kimbrough remarked that it is important that we be more intentional in our goal of hiring more underrepresented employees.
Student Access and Learning
Mr. Smart first remarked that to increase access opportunities, online student headcount and credit hours have increased over the last three years, showing a 16% increase from FY12 to FY13. We have also significantly expanded blended course offerings. He gave an example of the reinvention of Psychology 121. It used to be a lecture class with one faculty member and 200 students. It is now a blended course broken out into small groups of 40 students. A significant increase in student learning has been shown based on pre- and post-testing – student knowledge increased 80% under the blended structure compared to only 30% under the older, lecture-only structure.
Graduate Programs
Dr. Frank Einhellig, Provost, indicated that the continued growth in graduate-student enrollment is the result of long-term planning from back in the 1990s when we began to focus on health-related fields – a very high-demand field today. This high demand has led to one problem – it is difficult to hire teachers in this field when there is such a demand in the workforce.
6. New/Renovated Facilities Discussion--- Mr. Smart began this discussion by summarizing the many building projects completed this year, still under construction, or in design. He next mentioned that one of the factors that students consider when they choose a university to attend is the quality of its facilities. The Bill R. Foster and Family Recreation Center has helped with our Freshmen application numbers. For the Board’s information, he next indicated which new projects are being considered:
Academic Facilities
The Ozarks Health & Life Science Center (Springfield) and Hass-Hoover Hall (West Plains) are our top requested projects in the State Bond Issue which is being proposed in Jefferson City this session.
The College of Business’s Student Success Center is in the design stage. Dr. Stephanie Bryant, Dean of the College of Business, explained that this expansion will raise the image of the college. It will include a dedicated placement office, a new space for student advisors, a separate space for companies interviewing our students, and an auditorium for guest speakers. This should transform our College of Business.
There has been recent discussion that the State Bonding might be for renovations only and not new construction. If that were the case, we could easily use state bonding for needed renovations to some of our older buildings such as Pummill Hall, Ellis Hall, and McDonald Arena.
Athletic Facilities Improvements & Student Recreation Fields
Needed improvements include: a) new student bleachers at Plaster Sports Complex; b) a new running track and field so our Women’s Track Program can host competitive collegiate track meets and our Soccer teams can have a proper field for competition; c) new artificial turf at Plaster Sport Complex; and d) a separate Field Hockey field which requires a different type of turf, as well as additional recreation fields for intramurals and student recreation.
Mr. Smart mentioned that a student focus group was so excited with these improvements that they are looking at introducing a special student fee, similar to the Student Recreation Building Fee, for a Fall 2013 Student Body vote that could assist with the funding.
Residence Life Facilities
Mr. Smart indicated that we have plenty of traditional residence halls. The demand is for apartment-style housing. Our options could be to renovate Sunvilla, look to purchase an existing structure, or to build a new structure.
After a short discussion, the Board agreed that we should request proposals from businesses interested in upgrading Sunvilla to see what might be done and how much it might cost.
Other
With the recent completion of the new campus entrance at Monroe and National, a Welcome Center is needed at that location to serve as the first building that many university guests will see. This would be very convenient for visiting students and parents who are scheduled for campus tours who now have to congregate in a Carrington Hall hallway. All campus tours could start and end in this building. This could also be the perfect location for the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame.
An additional multi-level parking garage is also being considered as there will be many parking spaces lost with some of these new facilities being placed on existing parking lots.
It is planned to have 3-4 mini-campaigns to help with the funding for some of these new facilities. With interest rates so low, it was also brought up that the University could issue bonds to help with some of these projects, not included in a statewide bond issue.
After a brief discussion, Board members expressed their appreciation for the facility-needs update and some members indicated it would be helpful to tour some of these facilities. Mr. Smart responded that we will try to schedule this at an upcoming meeting in Springfield.
7. Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Accreditation Briefing --- Mr. Smart next asked Dr. Tammy Jahnke, Dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences and Chair of the HLC Steering Committee, to provide a brief report on the accreditation process. Dr. Jahnke mentioned that the West Plains and Springfield campuses are separately accredited. The West Plains Campus will have their site visit in 2014 and the Springfield campus will be visited in 2015. HLC has accepted the Missouri State proposal to be in the Open Pathway plan for reaccreditation. They also accepted the Missouri State Quality Initiative Proposal which is to develop and operationalize a plan to evaluate student outcomes from the public affairs emphasis in our mission.
Mr. Kimbrough recessed the meeting at 4:55 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2013. The meeting was reconvened at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, March 8, 2013.
8. 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. Kimbrough 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 March 7-8, 2013, 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…”
- R.S.Mo. 610.021(3). “Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting of particular employees by a public governmental body…”
- R.S.Mo. 610.021 (11) and (12). “Specifications for competitive bidding…;” and “Sealed bids and related documents…,”
- R.S.Mo. 610.021(13). “Individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings or records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment,…”
- R.S. Mo. 610.021(17). “Confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body and its auditor,…;”
Mr. Hofherr moved the approval of the resolution and Mr. Bough seconded the motion.
A roll call vote on the resolution was as follows: those voting in favor – Governors Bough, Carmichael, Carroll, Elliott, Hofherr, Hoven, Kimbrough, Miller, and Smith; those voting against – none.
Mr. Kimbrough declared the resolution passed unanimously.
The open meeting was recessed at 8:05 a.m. The meeting was reconvened at 9:10 a.m
9. Board of Governors’ Procedural Matters: Mr. Kimbrough stated that, before we begin discussion on this agenda item, Mr. Hofherr had an announcement to make. Mr. Hofherr then informed those in attendance at the meeting that the Board, in closed session, had just voted to award the Missouri State University Leadership Chair to Dr. Jim Baker.
The following items were then discussed:
a. Sustainability update --- Mr. Ken McClure, Vice President for Administrative and Information Services, and Dr. Tammy Jahnke, Dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, gave a joint report on actions since the Board’s major discussion on Sustainability at the December 2012 Board meeting. A new Sustainability Advisory Committee has been established with Mr. McClure and Dr. Jahnke as Co-Chairs. This committee includes four of the students who spoke at the December meeting as well as community members representing City Utilities and the City of Springfield’s Department of Environmental Services. A revolving fund for sustainability initiatives has been established with $200,000 in seed money and will be funded by future energy savings. Also, we are about to award a contract for the chilled water loop expansion to Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts and the Wehr Band Hall.
b. Topics for future Board discussions --- Mr. Smart asked the Board members what topics they would like to discuss at future meetings. Items offered for considerations included: 1) Student diversity; 2) Retention rates for first generation college students; 3) On-line courses; 4) International programs; and 5) Broadcast Services – our public television and public radio stations.
c. Election of Board officers --- A discussion was held on the annual election of officers and the role of the Vice Chair. It was decided that there needed to be formality to the election and board officer succession plan. Mr. Smart commented that he will work with Ms. Penni Groves, General Counsel, to look at a Bylaw revision that will address: 1) the presumption that the Vice Chair is to move up as Chair to provide a clear succession; and 2) providing for an annual board meeting discussion on possible board officers for the upcoming year.
d. Number of Board committees --- A discussion was held on possibly combining the Student Affairs and Academic Affairs committees since they are so interrelated. Having only two committees instead of three (the Finance committee being the third) would more easily allow all board members to attend all committee meetings. It was countered that only having two committees could compromise the depth of agenda items at the meetings. Mr. Kimbrough remarked that we should table this discussion – he will visit with Mr. Smart and other board members on this subject.
e. Electronic vs paper agendas --- After a short discussion, it was decided that the Board members will be emailed the meeting agendas for each meeting.
f. Future joint meetings --- Mr. Smart announced that the Board will have a joint meeting with the Springfield City Council on Thursday evening, May 16, 2013. Having a joint meeting with the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri was proposed. It was decided to discuss possible agenda items for such a joint meeting at the Board’s August 1, 2013 retreat.
g. Board of Governors’ 2014 meeting schedule --- This will be discussed at the August 1, 2013 retreat.
Mr. Smart left the meeting at this time.
h. Presidential assessment --- Mr. Kimbrough reported that the Board needs to discuss our presidential assessment process and that Mr. McAlear, Secretary of the Board, has received some current Association of Governing Board (AGB) information on presidential assessments. Mr. Kimbrough added that it is considered best practice to perform an annual presidential assessment and he has asked Mr. McAlear to use our past assessment tools and the current AGB literature to prepare an assessment tool for Mr. Smart’s annual review. It was decided to have Mr. McAlear send the draft document to the full Board for their review. Mr. McAlear summarized the proposed timeline: 1) agree on the final document by the May16, 2013, Board meeting; 2) have Mr. Smart present his self-assessment at the June 21, 2013, Board meeting; 3) the Board members will complete the online assessment tool by the middle of July; 4) Mr. Kimbrough will discuss the results with Mr. Smart soon after the results are posted; and 5) the entire board will visit with Mr. Smart on his assessment results at the August 1, 2013, Board retreat.
10. Date of Next Meeting --- The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting was set for Thursday, May 16, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. on the Springfield Campus.
11. Adjournment--- Mr. Kimbrough adjourned the meeting at 10:35 a.m. on the motion of Mr. Hoven, the second of Mr. Carmichael, and the unanimous vote of the Board.
John W. McAlear
Secretary