September 10-12, 2009
President's Summary
Board of Trustees Fall Retreat

Committee on Trusteeship
Committee on Academic Affairs
Subcommittee on Honorary Degrees
Committee on Finance
Committee on Development and Alumni Relations
Committee on Student Affairs
Athletics Subcommittee of the Committee on Student Affairs
Special Subcommittee on Athletics and Recreation
Committee on Human Resources
Committee on Buildings and Grounds
Committee on Audit and Risk Management
Committee on Ad Hoc Community Relations
Committee on Long-Range Planning

Committee on Trusteeship

This new committee, which marks the Board’s repurposing of the previous Committee on Nominations to extend its focus on improved governance, is chaired by Scott Nichols ’70, P’03. At this meeting the committee elected Joe Ciffolillo’61, P’84 to serve as vice chair.

Since this is the first year of this committee’s work, it decided to focus on organizing its roles and agenda consistent with its responsibilities for trustee nominations, Board governance, and trustee and officer reviews. The committee underscored its responsibility to help fulfill the University’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, including in Board membership.

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Committee on Academic Affairs

David Scadden ’75, P’11 is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Linda Greenberg ’63 to serve as vice chair.

The committee extended its welcome to our new Director of Sponsored Research, Joanne Romagni-Colvin, and new Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, David Foreman.

Provost Mick Smyer provided an overview of the recommendation from the recent Middle States report that more attention be given to integrating academic affairs and student affairs, and updated the committee on implementation efforts that have been underway. As an example, the committee discussed the upcoming external review of the Residential College Program, which will follow the model established last year with external reviews of intellectual property rights and technology transfer, graduate studies, and institutional research.

Following a discussion of numerous areas of assessment and review underway, the committee decided that it would focus this year on the following issues:

• Student engagement. Bucknell participates in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) of first-year and senior students. These data not only provide an overview of our students’ experience, but also allow us to benchmark Bucknell against our peers and other institutions. We plan to hold a campus forum on this subject.
• The potential conversion from course credits to credit hours. This complex policy matter, which relates to student engagement and to provisions of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, will be reviewed by the appropriate governance committees, including a special task force that will report to the Committee on Instruction. We will also hold a relevant campus forum.
• Assessment of educational outcomes, as well as the on-going assessments of academic departments. The recent Middle States report requested that we begin to move our assessment efforts forward, particularly in our use of our assessment plans, and we agree on the importance of doing so.
• Diversity, as Bucknell continues its efforts to create a more inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff.
• International Education, notably with the hiring of our new Director of International Education, Stephen Appiah-Padi. While we enroll students from more than 60 countries, we want to ensure that we enhance our study abroad options in such areas of the world as Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America.
• Graduate studies, including receiving an update on the reorganization of graduate studies as a result of last year’s external review. Bucknell will continue to provide graduate opportunities in select areas, and aims to integrate these programs more effectively with undergraduate efforts as well as to market them more intentionally.

The committee also welcomed a report from the provost on the creation of the Bucknell Institute for Lifelong Learning, the recently announced cooperative venture among Bucknell, retired faculty and staff, and community members.

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Subcommittee on Honorary Degrees

The new chair of this committee is Glenn Steele, and at this meeting the committee elected Juanita Brown to serve as vice chair.

The committee accepted the submission of a considerable range of candidates for honorary degrees put forward by the University community by the deadline of September 1. The committee affirmed its interest in expanding efforts in the future to encourage nominations from faculty, students, staff, trustees, parents, and others of candidates for honorary degrees. You can learn more about how to do so in the future here.

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Committee on Finance

Ellen Bush ’79 is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Sue Baird ’72, P’11 to serve as vice chair.

The committee discussed the University’s budget status with Vice President for Finance and Administration Dave Surgala, and decided that this year it would prioritize the following:

• Focusing on a strategic financial plan so that it can devote appropriate attention to long-term modeling and preparations.
• Reviewing a pilot of the newly introduced integrated financial model at the November meeting to assess the impacts of various financial scenarios to our strategic planning.
• Drafting a debt policy that will be part of the capital structure policy of the strategic financial plan and guide at what levels Bucknell should assume debt to achieve institutional priorities, and how debt can factor into the University’s operations and capital budgets to meet the strategic goals identified in The Plan for Bucknell.
• Discussing financial metrics in higher education to examine Bucknell’s relative standing, including assessing metrics used by Moody’s Investors Service in rating the financial standing of colleges and universities. Bucknell has a stellar Aa2 bond rating.

As we did last year, we will be holding an open campus forum this year on the University’s financial situation and budgetary matters.

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Committee on Development and Alumni Relations

Martie Samek ’60, P’86, P’88, P’91 is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Robert Gamgort ’84 to serve as vice chair.

The committee recognized that the global economic climate and its impact make fundraising difficult, as well as affecting the job opportunities available to students and alumni. Vice President Sam Lundquist reported, though, that alumni interest in engaging with Bucknell remains high. The committee re-committed itself to helping the University maintain the momentum that it has enjoyed since the launch of the private phase of the campaign in July 2007.

The committee agreed to focus on the following priorities this year:

• Achieving this year’s fundraising goal, which is expressed as a range between $50 million and $75 million in new gifts and commitments.
  
• Strengthening and expanding the Bucknell Affinity Programs, which are building networks for alumni, students, faculty and parents in academic, extracurricular and professional areas, and opening up new opportunities for achieving the University’s goals of inclusion and diversity.
  
• Expanding the University’s online presence through its B-Link alumni online community.
  
• Creating new alumni club programs and city guides to support alumni who are newly located in those areas.

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Committee on Student Affairs

Marlene Hurd ’79, P’10 is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Jane Elfers ’83 to serve as vice chair.

The committee heard an update on related issues from Provost Smyer and Dean of Students Susan Hopp, and agreed to focus on the following priorities this year:

• Implementing a four-year plan for student engagement.
  
• Assessing residential hall staffing and programmatic needs and goals.
  
• Developing a divisional assessment plan, including a focus on supporting the achievement of student learning goals.
  
• Furthering planning for meeting residential housing needs resulting from the Board’s previous decision that by 2013 no more than 250 students would live off campus.
  
• Supporting the efforts underway to ensure an effective integration of student life with academic affairs.

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Athletics Subcommittee of the Committee on Student Affairs

Ben Elliott ’66, P’00 is the chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Jane Elfers ’83 to serve as vice chair.

The committee agreed to focus on the following priorities this year:

• Reviewing a new comprehensive multi-year long-range plan for athletics and recreation that it has charged the administration with developing.
  
• Discussing updates on the continuing work to coordinate athletic recruitment with enrollment management goals, notably the impact of any potential merit-based financial aid program for athletics.
  
• Reviewing the continuing performance of the Bison Club plan for development and fundraising.
  
• Supporting the continued efforts to address three previously identified campus master plan targets of opportunity for athletics and recreation, specifically phase IV of the West Fields project (softball and baseball facilities), instructional golf center, and renovation and improvements for Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
  
• Supporting the continuing efforts of the Office of Athletics and Recreation to help achieve the University’s diversity goals.

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Special Subcommittee on Athletics and Recreation

The chair of this committee is Ron Benjamin ’67, P’94, P’98. Its members include trustees, administrators and faculty, and its work will be coordinated with the University governance structure. The Board established this temporary subcommittee this year to examine the impact of any potential merit-based financial aid program for athletics. Issues the subcommittee will assess include the impact such a program could have on the larger financial aid strategy of the University, emerging competitive challenges in the Patriot League that are affecting members’ views of financial aid in athletics, and how any changes in our approach might impact the student learning environment at Bucknell as a whole. The subcommittee will put forward recommendations that ultimately will be considered by the appropriate University-wide governance committees before being examined by the full Board.

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Committee on Human Resources

Larry Klock ’69 is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Sue Baird ’72, P’11 to serve as vice chair.

The committee received an update on compensation and benefits issues from Vice President Surgala and Executive Director of Human Resources Marcia Hoffman, and decided that it would focus this year on the following issues:

• Examining ways that the Board might fulfill its continued commitment to offering competitive compensation and benefits.
• Assessing Bucknell’s position relative to peer school and higher education compensation data.
• Reviewing a status report on compensation and benefits and related programming that the administration is developing.

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Committee on Buildings and Grounds

John Mathias ’69, M’72 chairs this committee, which at this meeting elected Chuck Berger ’75, P’04, P’05 to serve as vice chair.

The committee received an update from Associate Vice President for Facilities Dennis Hawley on work to implement the campus master plan priorities announced in April, and decided that it would focus this year on the following issues:

• Finalizing the hiring of architects and the creation of schematic designs for the following buildings:
  • Academic West as the first step in the Academic Quad
  • Student Housing
  • Arts Building
• Completing negotiations for the Administrative Office Building in the U.S. Post Office Building on Market Street in Lewisburg, final plans for which require review and approval through the Board governance process.
• Supporting efforts to achieve targets of opportunity for athletics and recreation, such as phase IV of the West Fields project (softball and baseball facilities).
  

As we did last year, we will be holding an open campus forum on latest developments associated with the campus master plan.

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Committee on Audit and Risk Management

This committee, newly formed by the merger of the Audit and Risk Management Committees, is co-chaired by Stu Berelson ’59, P’85, P’91 and James DeGraffenreidt P’05.

The committee decided that it would focus this year on the following issues:

• Continued careful review of financial and internal audits of the University.
• Establishing a non-financial enterprise risk management questionnaire for committee members that would help create a matrix of risk topics the committee will ensure are being appropriately addressed.

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Committee on Ad Hoc Community Relations

David Maurasse is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Laura Kinney ’81 to serve as vice chair.

Following discussion with Chief of Staff Dave Myers and General Counsel Wayne Bromfield, who have been coordinating the University’s close work with the Lewisburg community and surrounding areas, the committee decided that this year’s agenda would address the following issues:

• Examining the relationship between the University and the region and pursuing new initiatives as appropriate to strengthen it. We will be holding a campus forum on this issue.
  
• Advising the University on such core community initiatives as the development of the new downtown bookstore, campus theatre and downtown arts projects, the rails-to-trails project, effluent and stream restoration, and such economic development efforts as the KIZ incubator and entrepreneurship and innovation initiative.
  
• Analyzing Bucknell’s impact on the community and the region, since it has been several years since the University prepared a comprehensive report on its economic impact on the region and engagement with the community.
  
• Moving the committee from temporary status to a permanent standing committee of the Board, with the possibility of expanding its focus to include all University external relations.

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Committee on Long-Range Planning

Alan Walker ’66, P’97, P’00 is the new chair of this committee, which at this meeting elected Juanita Brown to serve as vice chair.

Following a review of related matters by Vice President for Enrollment Management Kurt Thiede, the committee decided that it would focus this year on the following issues:

• Assessing Bucknell’s progress on the strategic metrics established by the Board.
• Evaluating the size of Bucknell’s undergraduate enrollment.
• Evaluating financial aid to determine what programs might be undertaken to strengthen its impact further during this difficult economy and beyond.
• Assessing means of furthering the University’s success enrolling outstanding students from all socio-economic backgrounds.
• Reviewing the newly introduced integrated financial model that Bucknell has established to assess the impacts of various financial scenarios to our strategic planning.

The committee also noted the importance of its contributing to the work of the special task force that the Board has established on the role of athletics and recreation at the University, which is described above.

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