The University of West Alabama
Board of Trustees
March 7, 2005, 10:30 a.m.
Bell Conference Center

I. CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Alex Saad, Chairman pro tem, called the meeting to order and requested that Dr. Joe Wilkins give the invocation.
II. ROLL CALL
Ms. Earlene Lindsey, Assistant Secretary, called the roll and ten (10) trustees were in attendance. A quorum was present. [Note: Members attending were: Mr. Thomas Ballow, Jr., Mr. Terry Bunn, Mrs. Lena Hardaway, Mrs. Margaret Lovett, Dr. Louise Nolen, Mr. John Northcutt, Dr. Doris Oliveira, Mr. Alex Saad, Mr. Thed Spree, and Dr. Thomas Umphrey. Trustees not attending were: Mr. Robert D. Keahey, Mr. Preston C. Minus, and Mr. John Smith.]
Mr. Saad extended birthday wishes to Dr. Nolen and Mr. Bunn.
III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Mr. Saad asked for a motion to approve today's Agenda. Mrs. Lovett moved to amend the Agenda by adding another item for the Board to consider extending the President's contract. Dr. Umphrey seconded the motion and the motion passed.
IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM DECEMBER 13, 2004, MEETING
Mr. Saad asked if there were any changes to the minutes from the last meeting. Dr. Tom Umphrey made a motion to approve the minutes from the Board meeting held on December 13, 2004; Mrs. Lovett seconded the motion; and the motion passed.
V. REPORT OF THE CHAIR
Mr. Saad said the Committee to Revise the Bylaws and Charter met twice since the last Board meeting. He said several other Committees of the Board also have met.
VI. REPORT OF BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
Dr. Umphrey reported that this Committee met earlier this morning, had received a legislative report from Mr. Spruiell and a budget report from Mr. Noland. He said the Committee would be meeting again sometime in April to review the current budget, to look at the budget request for next year, and prepare a budget to present at the Board Meeting in June 2005.
VII. REPORT OF THE LAND USE AND FACILITIES COMMITTEE
Mr. Saad said this Committee met earlier this morning and reviewed all of the current projects on campus. Several projects mentioned were the Greenways, the Cafeteria renovation to be completed by July, the new tennis courts that are supposed to be completed by August, and the parking lot across the street from Brock that is supposed to be completed by July. He said this parking lot would be large enough for about 102 vehicles and would provide more parking spaces when large meetings are held at the Bell Conference Center. Mr. Saad also announced that a lower bid had been received for the lighting at Tiger Stadium and this project should be completed by August. The Booster Club would obtain the funds for the lighting costs.
Mr. Saad reported that the Rodeo Coach requested a site on which he could purchase and set up a larger mobile home for his family. The Land Use and Facilities Committee recommended that the University lease him a site for him to purchase a larger mobile home at the cost of $1.00 per year, the site to be determined by University officials. The lease would continue based on the Coach's employment at the University, and at such time he would not be employed at the University, he would be responsible for the cost to remove his mobile home from the campus. Dr. Umphrey seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
VIII. REPORT OF THE ATHLETIC COMMITTEE
Mr. Ballow, Chair, reported that this Committee met at 9:30 this morning. He said Dee Outlaw, Athletic Director, gave a brief report on all athletic programs and that the new lighting could possibly be ready for the Football season in the Fall.
IX. REPORT OF THE HONORARY DEGREE COMMITTEE
Mr. Saad presented this report for Dr. Nolen. He said two candidates for honorary degrees have been recommended by this Committee. They are Mary Allen Jolley and Kathryn Tucker Windham. Dr. Umphrey provided a second to this recommendation and the motion passed. Mr. Saad said this Committee has been working on a new policy for Honorary Degrees. Essentially, the same people will recommend someone for a degree. A faculty committee will review any nominations and offer their recommendation(s) to the Board for approval. The proposed policy does address the contributions made by nominees to the State and also will provide a calendar to follow in the process. Mr. Northcutt seconded, and the policy was approved. Mr. Saad said another honorary degree was discussed in the Committee meeting and this was addressed.
X. REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE TO REVIEW AND REVISE UWA BYLAWS AND CHARTER
A. Proposed Bylaws - Mr. Saad said this Committee began working after the Board meeting in December 2004 to revise the Board's Bylaws. A copy of the Bylaws, with revisions noted in RED, was distributed to the Trustees prior to today's meeting. He said the Committee met twice via teleconference call and recommends that the Board adopt the Bylaws, as presented. Dr. Umphrey seconded this action. A noted change on page 6 calls for the elected officers of the Board to serve as the Executive Committee of the Board. Mrs. Lovett also noted there was a change from “Chairman” to “Chair” in the draft. The motion passed.
B. Draft of Revised University Charter – Mr. Saad said the current charter is "out of sync" with what is happening at the University, so the Committee decided to use the old charter as a base from which to start. The name was changed from “Livingston University” to the “University of West Alabama”. He noted on page 2, in dealing with change orders, the Charter stated change orders in excess of $5,000 would have to go before the Board for approval. This part was deleted, and Mr. Saad stated that the Board does not need to be involved with such changes after a budget for the project has already been approved by the full Board.
Mr. Saad said a resolution was passed a couple of years ago to seek passage of legislation to limit a trustee's term to six years. Mr. Northcutt asked if this was relating to current trustees or future appointments. Mr. Saad said this change would only affect the trustees whose terms expire in 2007, 2011, and 2013 and would prohibit anyone from serving on the Board for more than two terms. The recommendation was approved. Mr. Saad said this would have to go before the Legislature and indicated to Mr. Spruiell that a copy would be provided for him so that he could work on this immediately in Montgomery.
C. Proposed Policy on Code of Ethics – This is a policy that SACS has required for accreditation and Code of Ethics statement would have to be signed annually by each Trustee. When the Bylaws Revision Committee met recently, Mr. Saad said it approved the proposed policy and recommends its adoption by the full Board. Dr. Umphrey provided a second to this recommendation. Mr. Saad said this same policy was already being used by other boards in the State.
Mr. Bunn asked if the University attorney had reviewed this proposed policy, and Mr. Saad replied that, to his knowledge, no attorney had reviewed the document. Mr. Bunn said he endorses the fact that a policy is needed, but feels an attorney should review it for proper language.
Dr. Umphrey moved to table the matter, have an attorney review the proposed policy, and present it again at the annual Board meeting in June. Mrs. Lovett seconded the motion, and it passed.
XI. REPORT FROM FACULTY SENATE
Dr. Richard Schellhammer reported that the Faculty Senate is working with the Staff Senate to get a paid maternity leave policy for the University employees. After the Senate approves a final version of the policy, it will be presented to the Deans' Council for approval, he said.
XII. REPORT FROM STAFF SENATE
At the last meeting of the Staff Senate, Mr. Spencer said they were informed that the Upward Bound program might not be funded under this year’s proposed Federal budget. Mr. Spencer thanked Dr. Vicki Spruiell, Director of the Upward Bound program, for her Department’s efforts in recruiting students to this program. He also thanked the students, faculty and staff who attended the public meeting recently held on campus by Senator Jeff Sessions.
Mr. Spencer said he would also like to recognize eight ladies from the Housekeeping Department who have been working on quilts during their lunch break and donating the quilts to nursing home residents. The staff members who have been involved in this project are: Susie Jones, Willie Raymond, Etheline Johnson, Mary Mack, Armethia Sanders, Carrie Bell, Mattie Richardson, and Modine Gee. Mr. Spencer said sixty-eight people have been recipients of these quilts. He said these ladies do all of this work by hand.
XIII. REPORT FROM SGA
Mr. Danny Hyche, outgoing SGA President, said he was grateful for the Board allowing him to report on SGA activities. He said four SGA members recently participated in Collegiate Legislature in Montgomery. One of these students, Jamie Parker, was elected as Speaker of the House. Mr. Hyche said UWA had more students to participate in the Collegiate Legislature than Auburn or Alabama.
He introduced the new SGA officers – Mr. Kaylan McDuff, President, and Ms. Dannielle Buckalew, Vice President. He said he is confident they will do a great job and asked Mr. McDuff to come to the platform and provide a brief outline of what he hopes to do in the coming year.
Mr. McDuff said the students are very happy about all of the renovation work on campus. He also thanked the administration for resolving the students’ issues during the past year and thanked Mr. Hyche for his service. Mr. McDuff said he plans to look into providing better healthcare for the students, work with the students on safety in the dormitories, parking lots and walkways.
Mr. Saad thanked Mr. Hyche for the good job he did as President of the SGA, and indicated to Mr. McDuff that the Board looks forward to working with the new Student Government any way they can in the coming year.
XIV. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
A. Strategic Plan and Objective Scorecard - Dr. Holland said he had two items to mention, but most of the items were already sent to the Board in their information packets. He said he wanted to address the Score Card on the University’s Strategic plan, a copy of which was already distributed to the Trustees. Dr. Holland said that at the time the Board approved the Strategic Plan, specific goals were provided with the Plan to measure its success. Actual statistics from the Fall 2003 and the goals for 2004 have been compared. The enrollment goals for Fall 2004 were not met, falling short about 160.
There was a competitive grant category and a goal for faculty and staff to bring in $400,000 for the year in grant monies. Dr. Holland said this goal has been exceeded by some $635,000, because the faculty and staff obtained grants for over $1.3 million. He said that Dr. Becky Havard, a grant consultant, has also been hired and is currently working with eighteen members of the faculty and staff to write applications for grants. Each faculty or staff member is supposed to be able to write a grant for his/her particular area when the workshop is over.
Another goal set was for 322 first-time freshmen, and only 264 came to UWA. The retention goal was set at 57%; and actually 69% was retained for the year. A goal of 148 Trustees’ Scholarships was set, over 245 were offered, 175 accepted, but only 121 recipients enrolled. A goal of 70 alumni scholarships was set, and 52 were offered, and these recipients enrolled. The graduation rate was set at 33%, and preliminary figures indicate this will be exceeded at the rate of 36%. A goal of 68% was set for faculty with terminal degrees, and actual figures show that 74% of the faculty have terminal degrees. Since then, two faculty members in the College of Business have completed their doctorates, so that figure would now be higher. The average ACT score for incoming freshmen was set at 19.3, and the average ACT for the Fall 2004 was 18.9. Dr. Holland noted, however, that the ACT average to date for Fall 2005 applicants is at 20.3. The goal for transfer students for Fall 2004 was set at 209, and 193 enrolled. A goal for hiring minority faculty was set at 9 for Fall 2004, and this goal was met. A goal for hiring minority professional staff was set at 7; this goal was actually achieved, but mid-way into the Fall term, one accepted a job in Kansas.
B. Enrollment Report – Dr. Holland said applications received through February, 2005, look much better for the coming Fall Semester than last year. The Strategic Plan's goal calls for 340 Freshman students for Fall 2005, and the Admissions staff feel they will exceed that goal. Dr. Holland said the freshman applications received for this Fall is up by 27% and transfer applications are up by 5%. He thanked the faculty, staff and especially Mr. Buckalew’s staff for their work in recruiting.
XV. CONSIDERATION OF EXTENDING THE PRESIDENT'S CONTRACT
Mr. Saad said the Agenda for this meeting was amended to consider extending the President’s contract, and he called the Board into Executive Session at 11:25 a.m. He also asked Dr. Holland to join them.
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Mr. Saad reconvened the meeting at 12:21 p.m. and asked Mrs. Lovett to present a report from the Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the President. She said the Committee met on Sunday afternoon and recommends that Dr. Richard Holland’s contract as President be extended for a period of three years with the details to be worked out. Dr. Umphrey seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Saad said for the benefit of the University, there had been an extraordinary conversation between the President and the Trustees in the Executive Session.
XVI. ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Terry Bunn moved to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Spree seconded the motion; and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 12:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,

Lena Hardaway
Secretary

Earlene Lindsey
Assistant Secretary