The Board of Trustees of Western Carolina University met in regular session on June 2, 1999, in Room 510, H.F. Robinson Building. The meeting was called to order at 2:15 p.m. by Chairman Moore.

The following members of the Board were present: Mr. Wiggins, Mr. Apodaca, Mr. Moore, Mr. Woody, Mr. Crocker, Mr. Rowe, Ms. Burda, and Mr. Jones.

The following members of the Board were absent: Ms. Key, Mrs. Davis, Mr. Bissette, Mr. Walker, Mrs. Blankenship.

Others present included: Chancellor Bardo; Vice Chancellors Collings, Carter, Eldridge, and Caruso; Dr. Dowell, Mr. Reed, and Dr. Dooley, Assistants to the Chancellor; Dr. Kinnear, Chair of the Faculty; Mr. Kucharski, Legal Counsel; Mr. Travis, Athletic Director; Mr. Rowell, Director of Public Information; Dr. Prochaska, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Mr. Messer, President of the Alumni Association; Mr. Tim Chapman, Chair of the Staff Forum; Ms. Rosalind Fuse-Hall, Secretary of the University of North Carolina; and Ms. Welch, Assistant Secretary to the Board.

Mr. Crocker moved that the minutes of the March 3, 1999 meeting be approved as mailed. Mr. Woody seconded the motion, and it was approved.

Mr. Moore welcomed two new board members, Mr. Jonathan Rowe and Ms. Genevieve Burda, and asked them each to say a few words about themselves. Mr. Rowe said he had been through a tough election and was very happy to win the office of President of the SGA. He is excited about serving the students by being on the Board. Ms. Burda said she comes from a long-standing tradition of service to the University and succeeds her father, E. J. Whitmire, on the Board.

Mr. Rowe and Ms. Burda were sworn in by Ms. Welch.

Mr. Moore also welcomed Mr. Chapman, chair of the newly formed Staff Forum

CLOSED SESSION   Open Meeting Act

Mr. Crocker moved that the Board go into closed session to consider the qualifications, competence, performance, condition of appointment of a public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee. Mr. Woody seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Dr. Bardo asked that Dr. Collings and Ms. Fuse-Hall stay for the closed session.

Mr. Jones moved that the Board return to Open Session. Mr. Wiggins seconded, and it was approved unanimously.

Mr. Moore introduced Ms. Rosalind Fuse-Hall, Secretary of the University.

Mr. Crocker moved that the actions as discussed in the closed session--four administrative appointments, four faculty appointments, three recommendations for adjunct faculty status, three recommendations for professor emeritus status, one recommendation for promotion, one request for leave of absence, and one request for staff title change--be approved. Mr. Woody seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously. Mr. Crocker also reported the actions of the Executive Committee, including the approval of two deans. He also reported on three faculty who were not promoted.

Mr. Woody asked Dr. Carter to report on the status of capital projects. We anticipate bidding of the site work for the Fine Arts Center to be this month. The Camp Lab renovation project will begin in the fall; the Taylor Building will begin in the fall; the University Center Phase II project will begin early next year.(ATTACHMENT ON FILE WITH MINUTES MATERIAL).

Mr. Crocker asked when dirt will be turned for the Fine Arts Center site work. Dr. Carter stated that dirt will be turned by fall. If total funding is received, we could move into actual construction in the fall.

Dr. Bardo reported that two years ago the legislature took action to provide equity funding for those campuses which were growing rapidly. The legislation was not keeping up with the campuses which were not growing rapidly. The legislature asked the Board of Governors to complete a study of adequacy and equity in capital funding at all of the campuses. The Board engaged Eva Klein as a consultant. Ms. Klein engaged a process to do this study which included touring all of the campuses to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. She has come back with recommendations on how to manage the problems identified. Part of the proposal concerns the nature of funding. The recommendation is a two-part approach where the State would authorize the issuing of two types of bonds.

Ms. Fuse-Hall explained that President Broad has met with the trustee chairs, legislators, and the Board of Governors giving this presentation. Ms. Fuse-Hall was on the team which toured all of the facilities. She handed out President Broad's presentation entitled "A Firm Foundation: A Plan for Building UNC's Future" (ON FILE WITH MINUTES MATERIAL).

This study asked to review all facilities no matter what their funding sources were. Ms. Klein suggested taking a wide swath to plan accordingly for projected enrollment. Collectively, the system looks good but individually it does not. Six of the campuses are at capacity; ten are underutilized in some way. Conditions of some buildings are so poor that they cannot be used as intended. Laboratory space is in short supply. Quality is a greater problem than capacity. The cost of meeting these quality standards throughout the system is $3 billion. Non-appropriated buildings are in much better shape. Major renovations have to become a priority for the University system, not new buildings.

Ms. Fuse-Hall further stated that the historically black campuses wanted the University to look at equity. There is no evidence of a pattern of under or over funding. The study did find that the leadership in the General Assembly had a huge impact on the building of capital projects at a particular time in history. We need to honor the past but commit to the future needs of all sixteen campuses. The total needs are $6.9 billion. The bulk of the needs are in rehabilitation, not new construction.

She stated that one strategy proposed by the State Treasurer is to offer two types of funding: Limited Obligation Bonds (the State would have a moral obligation to pay back the balance on these bonds); Special Obligation Bonds (each campus would develop a business plan for capital development).

A lengthy discussion of all of these issues followed.

Dr. Bardo asked Dr. Carter to give a presentation on what this issue means to Western. (COPY OF FULL PRESENTATION ON FILE WITH MINUTES MATERIALS). Lengthy discussion of this presentation followed.

Mr. Moore suggested that we talk about how trustees can help. He suggested that everyone discuss these issues with legislators, etc. There is a sample letter in the packet sent to the trustees. Discussion followed of who the key legislators are, etc. and of steps that trustees can take to help with this bond issue. Mr. Woody suggested that everyone start writing letters and calling legislators that you know. Mr. Moore suggested that anyone who makes a contact with GA to call into the Chancellor's Office and report that contact.

Mr. Moore reported that since time was running short that he would not ask this committee for a report since most of their agenda had been covered in the meeting thus far.

Mr. Moore asked Mr. Wiggins to act as chair in Ms. Key's absence. Mr. Wiggins asked Mr. Rowe to go through the SGA changes to the constitution that are recommended. Mr. Rowe explained the proposed changes to S.R. 1979, 1954, and 1955. (IN MINUTES MATERIALS). Mr. Wiggins moved that the proposed changes to the SGA Constitution indicated in S.R. 1979, S.R. 1954, and S.R. 2955 be approved. Ms. Burda seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.

Mr. Rowe explained S.R. 1978. (IN MINUTES MATERIAL). He stated that the current constitution states that any amendment to the Constitution be approved by the Board of Trustees. This makes it difficult to get amendments to the Constitution approved in a timely matter. S.R. 1978 calls for amendments to the Constitution to be ratified by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Mr. Rowe read a sentence amending S.R. 1978 that further states "A resolutions affecting amendments to the SGA Constitution are reported to the Board of Trustees at the next scheduled meeting." Mr. Wiggins moved that the proposed changes to the SGA Constitution indicated in S.R. 1978, with the addition of the aforementioned sentence, be approved. Ms. Burda seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.

Mr. Moore asked Mr. Travis to share some statistics on our athletes. Mr. Travis stated that out of 262 athletes, 100 made a 3.0 or better, 8 made a 4.0. Twenty-six percent had a 3.0 or better, 93% had 2.0 or better. The overall GPA was 2.62, and we graduated 32 student athletes.

Mr. Moore asked Dr. Caruso to say a few words. He mentioned the new summer reading program. The book this year is Into Thin Air, about the 1996 Mt. Everest tragedy. All freshmen must read this book. One of the climbers will be featured as convocation speaker and the book will be used in classes this fall.

Mr. Messer reported that this is his last time meeting with the Board since his term is expiring. His key objectives when he became president were to enhance the strength and diversity of the Alumni Board and to enhance the synergy between the two organizations that fall under the Advancement division (the Catamount Club and the Alumni Board.) The Alumni Board is as strong as it has ever been. The two organizations are working better together than they ever have. The Alumni Board will continue to be committed to support the University as much as it can. Mr. Duane Reid, the current President-Elect, will assume his new office. Ms. Laura Burke Leatherwood is the new President-Elect. Mr. Messer thanked the Board for its continued support. He also thanked the Chancellor for attending every single meeting of the Alumni Board and said that Dr. Bardo has been a true champion of the alumni.

Mr. Moore stated that today was an historical day and that it was an honor to welcome Mr. Chapman to the meeting. Mr. Chapman stated that WCU formed a staff forum in February. He thanked the development team for their efforts. There was a campus-wide election in January for representatives. There are twenty people on this representative body. The representation is based on federal job classifications. The goal of the forum is to improve the quality of life for all employees and students at WCU through mutual understanding and respect for the worth of the individual. The by-laws have been adopted; officers have been elected. Now, the real work has begun. The Forum will seek to enhance job satisfaction, strive for pay equity, and improve staff morale.

Dr. Kinnear stated that it has been a great year. We are anticipating the new liberal studies proposal. This is the most critical issue at this time.

Mr. Moore thanked Mr. Woody and Mrs. Blankenship for all of the work they have done. He also expressed his thanks to the Board for their support during his term as chair. He further thanked the Board of Governors and the Governor for placing him on the Board. He also thanked the Chancellor for his support.

Dr. Bardo stated that as of this week there are 3% pay raises in the budget. It looks like there will be no budget cuts. There are approximately ten million dollars in the budget to be allocated to institutions that are expected to grow rapidly.

We are seeking funding for the other side of stadium. The current stadium is not competitive. We have been going to private donors and corporate sponsors to try and obtain these funds.

Dr. Bardo reported on the admissions data. We are running ahead on applications. We are ahead on freshmen transfers and readmits but housing payments are down about 95. Registrations for returning students are up. If these trends continue, we will be up by 100-200 students. Our average SAT for students who have paid deposits is above 1000. It moved up 36 points. This will be the last year that we make a major change in our admission standard. We are adding class rank as a requirement for admission.

Dr. Bardo reported that we are close to hiring the Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management.

The Catamount Club Auction is this Saturday at the Charlotte speedway.

Dr. Bardo also reported that he gave a speech at the national conference on economic development. The Office of Public Information cut the speech down to an op-ed piece which the News and Observer published. We have gotten positive feedback on it.

Dr. Bardo reported on the General Administration alumni survey. This survey is done every two years. Ninety-seven percent of our alums were employed in the year after graduating; 90% of grads felt we prepared them well for employment; 85% of alums had jobs directly related to their major; 66% felt their work experience in college helped them. WCU was fourth in UNC system in perceived quality of instruction. For the question, "Would you choose to attend again?", we were third in the system.

Dr. Bardo thanked Mr. Woody and Mr. Moore for all they have done. He also recognized Dr. Dooley who is leaving his formal role as an assistant to the Chancellor.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Moore at 5:25 p.m.