March Board Briefing

President Andreasen reports

by Becky St. Clair

Late Tuesday afternoon, March 3, President Andreasen gave an overview of board actions from the March board meeting and subcommittees, held March 2 and 3, 2015.

First he reviewed the following new appointments and change of roles:

New staff appointments:
Aimee Vitangcol Regoso, registrar
David Stratton, STEM enrollment coordinator

New/reappointed department chairs:
Hyun Kwon, Department of Engineering & Computer Science (new)
Pedro Navia, Department of International Language Studies (reappointment)
David Nowack, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry (reappointment)
Karen Reiner, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences (new)
Curt VanderWaal, Department of Social Work (reappointment)
Carole Woolford-Hunt, Department of Graduate Counseling & Psychology (new)
Allan Walshe, Department of Discipleship & Religious Education (reappointment)

Emeriti:
Stan Beikmann, assistant professor emeritus
Emilio Garcia Marenko, registrar emeritus
Jim Jeffery, dean emeritus
Miroslav Kiš, professor emeritus

During each board meeting a few minutes are devoted to educating the board members on a topic that is of great importance to the University. This time Deborah Weithers, associate dean for Student Life, presented on Title IX, a federal mandate that requires all colleges and universities to treat all students equally regardless of gender.

“Though Title IX began with concerns about sports,” explained Andreasen, “it has become more about sexual violence on university campuses, and comes to the forefront whenever there is an issue of sexual misconduct at a school.” Provost Andrea Luxton is the Title IX Coordinator for Andrews University. The deputy coordinator for student complaints regarding students is Deborah Weithers and the deputy coordinator for student reports regarding faculty and staff is Dennis Waite, assistant professor of counselor education and counseling psychology.

Andreasen then shared important numbers from the Finance and Operations Committee.

“Fall semester saw us nearly a million dollars behind budget,” he said. “That is mostly due to a drop in enrollment and therefore shortfalls of tuition income. At this point in spring semester we are behind budget by around $500,000—making an estimate of about $2.5 million behind budget at the end of the school year.”
Despite this challenging report, Andrews had budgeted for a deficit of $2.8 million, so if the projection holds, said Andreasen, there will be a small gain.

The board adjusted the percentage of this year’s income on which next year’s budget is based. Typically at 98 percent, the budget for fiscal year 2016 will instead be based on 95 percent of undergraduate enrollment income.

It was also voted to increase the amount scheduled for refinancing on the current loan for Buller and Damazo Halls. This will be used to repair the aging electrical infrastructure that caused a campus blackout last fall.
An additional proposal was to begin adding the standard processing fee for individuals using credit cards to pay for tuition fees. This will add approximately $350,000 of income.

Andreasen also shared that Good News TV, a low-power television station owned by a local individual who recently died, was left to the University. The television and broadcast equipment will be utilized by the Department of Communication.

The Advancement report included two things of particular note, Andreasen said.

“First, total endowments for student scholarships and professorships are calculated to stand at $75 million,” he reported. “Secondly, the funding currently dedicated for the Health & Wellness Center initiative is now at $15.5 million. This is not quite enough for us to break ground yet, but we are assured by our University Advancement team that there are several ‘asks’ on the table to pull together the final dollars to start this important initiative.”

The Governance Committee presented that the next constituency meeting, which takes place every five years during board meeting, will be in March 2016. Board positions based on GC office held, including that of chair, could change in July 2015 during the General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, and additional changes could occur due to the constituency meeting in March 2016.

The committee also reported that three new members had been appointed to the Governance Committee—Dana Wales, Clifford Jones and Sandra Johnson—to replace members rotating out.

At this time, Andreasen proposed to the Governance Committee that, in memory of the University’s late board member Dolores Slikkers, who served nearly 30 years, her husband Leon Slikkers be invited to complete her term.

“We put a bouquet of flowers on her desk where her nameplate was, said a few words about Dolores and voted to extend the invitation to Leon,” says Andreasen. “He was very happy to do it, and will be present at our next board meeting.”

Finally, the executive session of the board meeting discussed ways to better understand and adjust financially to the shift in enrollment. Though the freshman population has continued to shrink, continuing students are holding steady. Graduate students have shown a slight decline in number and the School of Distance Education is still growing.

“We know that now and for the next few years the number of high school and academy graduates is going down until about 2020,” said Andreasen. “Then it should start increasing again—not terribly high, but it will go up again. So we’re in a tough market right now, and the executive committee is concerned about coping with this fact financially. It’s an institution-wide issue that we ought to deal with together, and we will.”