Western Board of Trustees >Trustee Minutes

 

REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

BOARD ROOM, UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
May 7, 1981

 

The Board of Trustees of Western Carolina University met in regular session on May 7, 1981, at 10:00 a.m. in the Board Room of the University Administration Building. Chairman Glenn presided.

ATTENDANCE

The following members of the Board were present:
Mr. Jack Abbott, Mr. Jack Hennessee, Mr. Paul Cowan, Mr. Gary Long, Mr. Robert Edwards, Mr. Bob McGinn, Mr. James Glenn, Mr. Roy Patterson, Mr. John Gloyne, and Mr. Frank Watson.

The following members were absent:
Mrs. Phillips Mr. Wood (who was in court) and Mr. Wynne (attending a meeting called by Governor Hunt)

Others present included Chancellor Robinson; Vice Chancellors Carter, Dooley, Stillion, and Stoltz; Mrs. Jakes, Assistant to the Chancellor; Dr. Dowell, Faculty Representative to the Board; Mr. Ramsey, Assistant to the Chancellor for WCU Programs in Asheville; Mr. Reed, Director of Public Information; Mr. Scott, Legal Counsel; Mr. Wood, Director of Institutional Studies and Planning; Mr. Williams, Out-going President of the Student Government Association; and Mrs. Shuler, Administrative Assistant to the Chancellor.

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Glenn called the meeting to order and took notice of the opening of the new highway. He expressed appreciation for the assistance given by Trustees on getting this highway completed.

MINUTES

On motion of Mr. McGinn, seconded by Mr. Watson, the minutes of the meeting of March 5, 1981, were approved as distributed.

INTRODUCTION OF NEW TRUSTEE

Mr. Williams expressed his pleasure at having been a member of the Board for the past year and introduced Mr. Gary Long, newly-elected President of the Student Body and ex officio Trustee. Mr. Long, a native of Cullowhee, has served as Mr. Williams' assistant during the 1980-81 academic year.

APPROVAL OF EPA PERSONNEL POLICY

Mrs. Jakes presented the EPA Personnel Policy which was developed in accordance with guidelines from General Administration. Following discussion and upon motion by Mr. Abbott, seconded by Mr. Cowan, the policy was adopted. (A copy of policy is on file with minutes material.)

PLACEMENT OF PROPERTY INTO ENDOWMENT FUND

Vice Chancellor Carter explained that the old post office building, which the Board had earlier authorized to be leased to Wachovia Bank and Trust Company, was bought with funds from the Student Loan Fund many years ago. At that time the Student Loan Fund received the profits from the electric resale system and, by a statute passed in 1925, resale profits were limited to endowment activities. In accordance with that law, the Trustees were asked to transfer title of the old post office building from the State of North Carolina to the Endowment Fund of Western Carolina University.

Following discussion, Mr. Abbott moved that the transfer be made, and the motion was seconded by Mr. McGinn. The motion carried, and the notice of this action will be sent to the Board of Governors and the Council of State for further action.

APPROVAL OF GRADUATION LIST

Vice Chancellor Stoltz presented the list of graduates for Spring Commencement 1981, noting that the School of Business is now graduating as many as the School of Education and Psychology. Upon proper motion by Mr. McGinn, seconded by Mr. Cowan, the list was approved. (Copy of list on file with minutes material.)

Vice Chancellor Stoltz then asked for authorization to award degrees at the Summer Commencement to those students who met the stated requirements, with the list of graduates to be approved at the next meeting of the Board. Upon motion by Mr. Cowan, seconded by Mr. McGinn, the authorization was given.

INFORMATION REPORTS

1. Legislative actions

Chancellor Robinson discussed with the Trustees the efforts underway on the base and expansion budgets, summarizing the possible budget cuts and citing the possibility of a tuition increase to offset some of these cuts. Western has lost seven non-faculty positions in the mandatory cut-back and may lose four or five more. The legislature will convene again in October and at that time will know more about the Federal budget cuts and how much the state will have to pick up. Salary increases for employees will be decided at the October session.

Included in the budget to be acted upon during this session are enrollment change funds which are extremely important to Western. Also, capital improvement funds of $48 million are included for the second year of the biennium, and Western's Regional Activities Center at a cost of $16 million is in this category.

2. State Aid to Private Institutions

State aid is now up to $750 per student per year at private schools. A recommendation to increase this amount of $50 per student per year is included in the Governor's budget recommendation to the legislature. The private institutions have asked for 50 percent funding (a cost of $40 million per year).

3. Nepal Work

Vice Chancellor Dooley brought the Trustees up to date on the work in Nepal through the U. S. Agency for International Development. Mr. Freeman, who is Co-Director of the project, visited Western recently.

4. Western North Carolina Tomorrow

Vice Chancellor Dooley also reported that the work of Western North Carolina Tomorrow is moving along well, and they are working to get some help on a regional basis.

5. General Education

Vice Chancellor Stoltz reported that work on the General Education program continues to move along well. A three-phase program was adopted in November and the development of policies this spring was extremely important and took a lot of time. The committee reviewed some 80 general education courses, next year new general education courses can be proposed, and in the fall of 1983 changes in courses will be considered.

6. PVO/University Center for Rural Development

The Board of Directors of the PVO/University Center met on campus recently. This organization was proposed two years ago to bring together the private voluntary organizations and four institutions who have some common interests (the University of Georgia, Appalachian State University, North Carolina A & T University, and Western). Chancellor Robinson has served as Chairman of the group for the past two years, and he and Dr. Paul McCleary will be Co-chairmen for the next two years. A number of projects are being investigated that look very promising at this time.

7. Status of Construction Projects

Mr. Wood reported that the library addition is progressing very well with half of the building now under roof. The mechanical people are getting ready to change over the air-conditioning system. It is hoped that the library can move into the addition in December if not before.

8. Computer Acquisition

Mr. Wood also brought the Trustees up to date on the progress of the new computer acquisition. Requests for proposals have been sent out, and we hope to get bids from six or seven vendors.

9. Regional Activities Center

The committee is working to develop a program for the building. This committee, chaired by Bob Waters, recently visited Middle Tennessee State University to tour the center there.

10. Activities of the Faculty

Dr. Dowell reported that 1980-81 has been an excellent year for the faculty. General education has been the major activity this year of the Faculty Senate. Chancellor Robinson commented that the governance structure is most important, and he reviewed some major activities that have taken place during the past seven years with the faculty--semester conversion, general education review-that can't be done at most universities.

11. Campus and Building Improvements

Vice Chancellor Carter told the Trustees that the old sewage plant has been demolished and the area is now being landscaped. The heating system in the Administration Building has been determined not to be adequate and is being reworked, at the expense of the architect, to be completed in October.

COMPLETION OF TRUSTEE TERMS

This meeting will complete the terms of office for several Trustees, and Mr. Glenn, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Hennessee expressed their pleasure in serving on the Board for the past eight years. Chancellor Robinson responded by saying that he had never found a finer group of Trustees to work with than this Board.

EXECUTIVE SESSION   Open Meeting Act

Mr. Cowan moved that the Board go into Executive Session to consider four items of personnel and other such matters as may come before the group. Mr. McGinn seconded and the motion carried unanimously.