October 10, 2008

1. Roll Call
Present- Ms. Elizabeth Bradbury, Governor
Mr. Ryan Childress, Student Governor
Mr. Michael Duggan, Chair of the Board
Mr. Gordon Elliott, Governor
Mr. Brian Hammons, Vice-Chair of the Board
Mr. Orvin Kimbrough, Governor
Ms. Mary Sheid, Governor
Ms. Cathy Smith, Governor
Ms. Phyllis Washington, Governor
Mr. John Winston, Governor

Also
Present- Michael Nietzel, President
Drew Bennett, Chancellor of the West Plains Campus
Earle Doman, Vice President for Student Affairs
Belinda McCarthy, Provost
Ken McClure, Interim Vice President for Administrative and Information Services
Nila Hayes, Chief Financial Officer
Brent Dunn, Vice President for University Advancement
Clifton Smart, General Counsel
John McAlear, Secretary of the Board

2. Presiding --- The presiding officer for the meeting was Mr. Michael Duggan, Chair of the Board of Governors. He called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. in the Traywick Parliamentary Room in the Plaster Student Union on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Mr. Duggan welcomed Mr. Orvin Kimbrough as a new board member representing the 1st Congressional District of the State of Missouri. He added that this is a historic day as this is the first meeting of the Board of Governors with a full board.

3. Approval of Minutes:
a. Board of Governors’ Meetings --- Mr. Duggan asked for a motion for the approval of the minutes for the open meeting of July 18, 2008 and the open and closed meetings of August 1, 2008. Ms. Sheid so moved, receiving the second of Ms. Bradbury.

Motion passed 8-0-1 (Mr. Kimbrough abstaining).

b. Executive Committee Meetings --- Mr. Duggan next asked for a motion for the approval of the minutes for the open Executive Committee meetings of August 13, 2008 and September 9, 2008. Mr. Elliott so moved, receiving the second of Mr. Hammons.

Motion passed 8-0-1 (Mr. Kimbrough abstaining).

4. Consent Agenda --- Mr. Duggan noted that the next item of business on the agenda was the approval of the Consent Agenda for this meeting. The items included in the Consent Agenda are:

August 13, 2008 Executive Committee Meeting
Furniture purchases for the JQH Arena (Purchasing Activity Report No. 320-08).

Approval to increase the project budget for the integrated scoring and video display systems for the JQH Arena and Plaster Sports Complex (Bids & Quotations No. 1279-08); this $800 increase brings the total project budget to $2,169,450.

Approval to increase the project budget for the asbestos abatement work at Siceluff Hall (Bids & Quotations No. 1280-08); this $28,000 increase brings the total project budget to $95,000.

Approval to enter into a license agreement to accept a gift of construction relating to new lighting for the KSMS tower located south of Branson, Missouri (Agreement No. 226-08); Branson Airport, L.L.C., desires to provide the required lighting system as determined by the FAA for the tower.

Approval to purchase five properties from the City of Springfield in conjunction with the IDEA Commons concept (Land Purchase No. 98-08); it is proposed to offer $450,000 for the following properties:

* Solid States, 600 Block of North Boonville
* Springfield Mortuary, 530 North Boonville
* Binve, Boonville and Tampa
* MFA, 524 North Boonville
* Willow Brook warehouse, 521 North Jefferson

September 9, 2008 Executive Committee Meeting
The construction of parking lots south of Monroe Street at Hammons Parkway (Bids & Quotations No. 1281-08); Hartman & Company, Inc., low bid of $476,500; total project budget established at $635,000.

Approval of a lease agreement with St. John’s Health System, Inc., for research laboratory and general office space in the Jordan Valley Innovation Center (Agreement No. 227-08); St. John’s is leasing 1,900 square feet effective August 1, 2008 at a cost of $16 per square foot for a period of one year.

West Plains Campus
Approval of the Activity Report dated September 23, 2008 (West Plains Campus Activity Report No. 72-08).

Approval of purchase of property located at 404 West Broadway, West Plains, Missouri (West Plains Land Purchase No. 28-08); at a cost of $132,000 which is the appraised value.

Approval of intent to participate in natural hazard mitigation and to work toward the West Plains Campus becoming a safer community (West Plains Administration No. 11-08).

Approval of actions concerning West Plains Campus academic employees (West Plains Campus Personnel No. 284-08).

Approval of actions concerning West Plains Campus non-academic employees (West Plains Campus Personnel No. 285-08).

Approval of FY09 Salary and Benefits Overview for Missouri State University-West Plains basketball coaches (West Plains Personnel No. 286-08).

Approval of revised firearms and weapons policy (West Plains Policies No. 16-08).

Springfield Campus Purchases/Contracts
Approval of Procurement Activity Report for the period August 1, 2008 through September 25, 2008 (Purchasing Activity Report No. 321-08).

Facilities and Equipment
Approval of Activity Report for the month of July 2008 (Activity Report No. 188-08).

Approval of Activity Report for the month of August 2008 (Activity Report No. 189-08).

Converting Temple Hall 449 to a research lab (Bids & Quotations No. 1282-08); DeWitt & Associates, Inc., low bid received of $396,600 for the base bid; total project budget established at $490,000.

Architectural and engineering services needed in conjunction with the relocation of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department from McDonald Arena to Hammons Student Center (Architects & Engineers No. 645-08); Hastings + Chivetta for a lump sum fee of $770,000 plus reimbursable expenses. Additional services of up to $70,000 as described in this agreement may be authorized and approved as necessary.

Approval to increase the project budget for the greenhouse sump tank vault at Temple Hall (Bids & Quotations No. 1283-08); this $700 increase brings the new project budget to $4,170.42.

Approval of the fourth renewal of the contract for Outside Plant Telecommunications Wiring (Bids & Quotations No. 1284-08); this renewal with A-1 Electric Service, Inc. is for the period of November 1, 2008 through October 31, 2009, and is at a ten percent increase over the original contract pricing as previously bid.

Human Resources Items
Actions concerning academic employees (Human Resources No. 1271-08).

Actions concerning non-academic employees (Human Resources No. 1272-08).

Ms. Sheid made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda receiving a second from Mr. Winston.

Motion passed 9-0.

5. President’s Office --- Dr. Michael Nietzel, President, first presented a resolution (Policies & Procedures No. 131-08) approving the enhancements to the Credit Course Fee Waiver Policy for employees. These enhancements include: a) increasing from 12 to 15 the number of credit hours a full-time regular employee may take in an academic year; b) allowing employees to assign the equivalent value of six undergraduate credit hours of the 15-hour benefit to their eligible dependent children who attend Greenwood Laboratory School toward payment of required student fees; and c) allowing Per Course Faculty who teach at Missouri State University’s West Plains Campus to qualify for this 15-hour benefit with some restrictions. Motion made by Ms. Sheid with the second by Ms. Smith.

Motion passed 9-0.

Dr. Nietzel then presented a resolution (Awards No. 26-08) awarding the 2008 Bronze Bear Award to the William V. Turner family for their long and extraordinary support of Missouri State University. Moved by Mr. Hammons. Seconded by Mr. Winston.

Motion passed 9-0.

He next presented a resolution (Policies & Procedures No. 132-08) adopting the Diversity Hiring and Recruitment Policy. This policy will allow special circumstance hiring.

Motion passed 9-0.

Dr. Nietzel then presented the annual report on the Public Scorecard. He reported that we set an all-time record for the average ACT score for the entering freshmen class. He indicated that the first-year, full-time freshmen retention rate measure has not improved over the last few years. The interventions to address this are just now being put into place so we do feel that next year’s retention rate will be a fair test of our actions. He also reported that we set another all-time record for grants and contracts awards – about $22.5 million in FY08. The minority student enrollment numbers for this fall is another all-time high – about 12%. Minority faculty/staff numbers have not had much movement. Annual giving numbers were an all-time record with more than $14 million received – twenty percent above the previous record.

6. Educational:
a. Faculty Senate Report --- Dr. Pauline Nugent, Chairperson for the Faculty Senate, reported that the Board will be receiving two different recommendations regarding the “Distinguished Professor” rank. The Faculty Handbook Revision Committee is recommending that the title be changed to “Distinguished Professor of Research” while the Faculty Senate voted to retain the original title “Distinguished Professor” since this is the form commonly used in academic circles.

a. Report from the Provost --- Dr. Belinda McCarthy, Provost, first introduced the faculty winners of the Foundation awards for teaching, research, and service; Teaching – Billie Follensbee and Pauline Nugent; Research – Carol Miller and Dennis Schmitt; Service – Paula Kemp and John Harms. She next introduced new Associate Provost for Student Development and Public Affairs – Dr. Rachelle Darabi. Mr. Hammons next reported on the Academic Affairs Committee meeting this morning. They received a nice overview of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences from Dean Tami Jahnke. Dr. McCarthy next reported that all phases of our China program are in place and working efficiently so they are withdrawing the request of the Higher Learning Commission to move the administration of the first two years of the program from the West Plains Campus to the Springfield Campus.

Dr. McCarthy next presented the following resolutions for the Board’s consideration:

Establishing the Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Development Completion Program in West Plains (Curriculum No. 320-08).

Adding two new options for the Bachelor of Science in Education – Categorical Science and Unified Science to the Earth Science Education Major (Curriculum No. 321-08).

Revising the Faculty Handbook Sections 3, 4, 5, and 9 (Faculty Policies No. 116-08).

Revising the Missouri State University course repeat policy (Faculty Policies No. 117-08).

Adding an option for the Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education Major – the Teaching Certification Credit Option (Curriculum No. 322-08).

Approving a name change for the Industrial Management Department to Department of Technology and Construction Management (Curriculum No. 323-08).

Moved by Ms. Sheid and seconded by Mr. Winston

Motion passed 9-0.

7. Research and Economic Development --- Mr. Allen Kunkel, Associate Vice President for Economic Development, presented the Sponsored Program Activity Report for the first two months of the fiscal year – sixty-eight proposals have been submitted and fifty awards have been received.

8. West Plains Campus --- Dr. Drew Bennett, Chancellor of the West Plains Campus, reported that they had increases of four percent in enrollment and eight percent in credit hour production this year on the West Plains Campus. He next presented a resolution (West Plains Faculty Policies No. 9-08) approving the Missouri State University’s Educational Assistance Program at the West Plains Campus. This will enable each full-time faculty member on the West Plains Campus to use up to $1,100 in professional development budget funds toward an advanced degree each year. Motion made by Ms. Bradbury with the second being provided by Ms. Washington.

Motion passed 9-0.

He then presented the following resolutions for the Board’s consideration:

Approval of purchase of real estate located at 717 Webster Avenue, West Plains, Missouri (West Plains Land Purchase No. 29-08). The property is being purchased at the appraised value of $53,000.

Approval of lease agreement for the property at 717 Webster Avenue, West Plains, Missouri (West Plains Agreement No. 25-08). This lease will allow the owner of the property being purchased to remain in possession of the property for up to sixty days following the closing of the subject property to find alternate living arrangements.

Moved by Ms. Sheid and seconded by Mr. Hammons.

Motion passed 9-0.

Ms. Sheid then mentioned that the ceremonial groundbreaking of both the Gohn-Wood and the Hass-Hoover structures will take place on November 20th and board members are invited to attend.

9. Student Affairs:
a. Report from Student Body President --- Mr. Orlando Hodges, President of the Student Body, reported that Student Government has registered 950 voters. He next mentioned that the Student Leaders Council is being reinstated after about five years of no meetings. It is made up of Presidents of all of the major student associations on campus.

b. Report from Vice President for Student Affairs --- Dr. Earle Doman, Vice President for Student Affairs, reported that last weekend’s Showcase, a major on-campus recruitment event, had a 22% increase in the number of participants.

He then presented a resolution (Awards No. 27-08) naming Casey Beckley, Amber Bowen, Sean Cain, Ashley Egan, Catherine Shoults, and Clay Webb as Citizen Scholars for 2008-09.

Moved by Ms. Sheid and seconded by Mr. Winston.

Motion passed 9-0.

Ms. Smith, Chair of the Student Affairs Committee, then introduced each of the six recipients of this outstanding award. They will be recognized more fully as individuals at future board meetings. Each of the six recipients received their certificates and were pictured along with their faculty/staff nominator. The crystal globe will be presented to the recipient when he/she returns at the future meeting.

10. Staff Senate --- Ms. Casey Comoroski, Chair of the Staff Senate, reported that the campus campaign has brought in more than $1,000 in pledges/contributions for the Staff Senate scholarship. They have been working toward a faculty/staff meal plan for any of the dining facilities on campus and this has recently been approved – a ten meal plan at $3.50 per meal.

11. Finance:
a. Development Report --- Mr. Brent Dunn, Vice President for University Advancement, presented the development report for the three-month period ending September 30, 2008. For the first quarter of the year, we are up about $1.6 million when compared to last year, which was a record year for the Foundation.

b. Financial Report --- Ms. Nila Hayes, Chief Financial Officer, presented the university’s financial statement for the year ending June 30, 2008. She next presented the following resolution for the Board’s consideration:

Approval of the Procurement Activity Report from September 26, 2008 through October 9, 2008 (Purchasing Activity Report No. 322-08).

Moved by Ms. Smith. Seconded by Ms. Sheid.

Motion passed 9-0.

12. Facilities and Equipment --- Mr. Ken McClure, Interim Vice President for Administrative and Information Services, presented a resolution (Agreement No. 228-08) for the approval of an Addendum to the Intergovernmental Agreement for Law Enforcement Services with the City of Springfield for an additional cost of $74,413 bringing the new contract total to $700,881. He explained that since the Board approved the original contract, the City Council of Springfield increased the employer’s pension contribution for members of the police department from 28.88% to 50.21%. This pension contribution change brought about this increase in this contract. He further explained that we could have gone with the original contract amount and reduced the number of officers on campus by one but it was decided not to take this option. Mr. Elliott commented that he plans to vote no on this proposal – the City had quoted an original amount to us and their pension fund problem is not of our making. Motion to approve this resolution was made by Ms. Sheid and seconded by Mr. Kimbrough.

Motion passed 8-1 (Mr. Elliott voting against).

Mr. McClure then presented a resolution (Agreement No. 229-08) for the approval of the First Amendment to Lease and Subordination, Assignment and Assumption of Lease with Brick City, L.P. He explained that this amendment includes three minor modifications that will enable the landlord to continuing receiving historic tax credits. Moved by Ms. Bradbury and seconded by Mr. Kimbrough.

Motion passed 9-0.

He next presented a resolution (Bids & Quotations No. 1285-08) for the roof replacement at Craig Hall. Guarantee Roofing, Inc., is the low bidder ($438,000) and the total project budget is established at $540,000. Moved by Ms. Bradbury and seconded by Mr. Hammons.

Motion passed 9-0.

13. Human Resources --- Mr. McClure next presented the following resolutions for the Board’s consideration:

Approval of modification to 403(b) Plan Document effective January 1, 2009 (Human Resources No. 1273-08).

Approval to continue allowing employees the option of declining health insurance coverage (Human Resources No. 1274-08).

Moved by Ms. Sheid. Seconded by Ms. Smith.

Motion passed 9-0.

14. 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. Duggan 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 immediately following this October 10, 2008 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(2). “Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate by a public governmental body…”

c. R.S.Mo. 610.021(3). “Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting of particular employees by a public governmental body…”

d. R.S.Mo. 610.021 (13). “Individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings or records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment,…”

Mr. Kimbrough moved the approval of the resolution and Ms. Smith seconded the motion.

A roll call vote on the resolution was as follows: those voting in favor – Governors Bradbury, Duggan, Elliott, Hammons, Kimbrough, Sheid, Smith, Washington, and Winston; those voting against – none.

Mr. Duggan declared the resolution passed unanimously.

15. Date of Next Meeting --- The date of the next scheduled meeting was set for Friday, December 19, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. on the Springfield Campus.

16. Adjournment --- Mr. Duggan adjourned the meeting at 12:15 p.m. on the motion of Mr. Kimbrough, the second of Ms. Washington, and the unanimous vote of the Board.


John W. McAlear
Secretary