The University of West Alabama
Board of Trustees
June 6, 2005, 10:00 a.m.
Bell Conference Center

1. CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Alex Saad, Chairman pro tem, called the meeting to order and asked Dr. Joe Wilkins to give the invocation.
2. ROLL CALL
Ms. Earlene Lindsey, Assistant Secretary, called the roll and eleven (11) trustees were in attendance. A quorum was present. [Note: Members attending were: Mr. Thomas Ballow, Jr., Mr. Terry Bunn, Mrs. Lena Hardaway, Mr. Robert D. Keahey, 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. Preston C. Minus and Mr. John Smith.]
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Mr. Saad asked for a motion to approve today's Agenda. Dr. Umphrey moved to approve the Agenda; Mrs. Lovett seconded the motion; and the motion passed.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 7, 2005, MEETING
Mr. Saad asked if there were any changes to the minutes from the last meeting. Mr. Northcutt made a motion to approve the minutes from the Board meeting held on March 7, 2005; Mr. Ballow seconded the motion; and the motion passed.
5. REPORT OF THE CHAIR
Mr. Saad thanked everyone who compiled the material and sent it to the trustees early enough to allow them ample time for reviewing it before the Board meeting. He said he has been consulting with President Holland, and he has decided to schedule a strategic planning meeting for the Board of Trustees to perform a self-study on its performance sometime during this year. Mr. Saad also suggested that Dr. Mary Jolley would be a good choice for facilitator at this meeting. He also said he would like for this planning meeting to be in the Bell Conference Center, and added that he had requested Mr. Spree to assist him. He also asked anyone with any suggestions or comments to Email him or call him as soon as possible. Mr. Saad said the purpose of the strategic plan would be to outline what the Board would like to do within the next ten years. Mr. Saad said he will go ahead and come up with a few possible dates for the meeting and advise the Trustees and, hopefully, as many trustees as possible will attend.
Mr. Saad thanked Dr. Holland and Mr. Spruiell for working so hard in Washington and Montgomery to secure funding for the University.
Mr. Saad also thanked the faculty who have been involved in recruiting students to the University.
6. REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE
Dr. Umphrey indicated that all Trustees should have the recommended budget in their packets. He thanked the administration for the preparation of the proposed budget for FY 2005-2006, of which the Finance Committee is recommending today. He said the Committee had a conference call on May 23rd and the Legislature finished on May 16th. Dr. Umphrey thanked the other members of the Finance Committee for their work.
He announced that the University received an increase of a little more than 18% in State appropriation monies for the coming year, but added that a lot of this money was earmarked for certain items. After all earmarked amounts were deducted, according to Dr. Umphrey, the remaining percentage of funds will be about 7%. He also said there would be increases for promotions, longevity, enhanced credentials, staff equity, matching retirement costs, new positions, FICA matching costs, fixed costs and other items, as noted in the budget material that was distributed to the Board.
After much discussion of the proposed budget, Dr. Umphrey announced that a 4% across-the-board salary increase would be provided to the faculty and staff in this recommendation. Additionally, a 3% increase in tuition is recommended. He said the total budget increase for FY 2005-2006 that is being recommended amounts to $1,416,592.
Dr. Umphrey thanked Mr. Spruiell for his work in Montgomery to get the appropriation.
Mr. Saad asked if there was any discussion on the budget that has been recommended by the Finance Committee. If not, he asked for a second and Mrs. Lovett seconded. The budget was approved.
At 10:22 a.m., Mr. Saad asked the Board to go into Executive Session, and asked President Holland to join them.
**************************************At 10:55 a.m., Mr. Saad reconvened the Board into regular session.
7. REPORT OF THE FACILITIES COMMITTEE
Mr. Saad said this Committee met earlier this morning and reviewed all of the current projects on campus and one new proposed project. He said the Baseball Booster Club came to the Committee and asked for permission to build an in-house batting facility that would include a weight room. The Softball team would also be allowed to use the batting cages. The proposed site would be near the right field line, approximately 125 feet from the clubhouse. Mr. Saad recommended the installation of two restrooms for the public to use on one side of the proposed facility and also made a suggestion to charge each deck owner an annual fee of $400 to defray the costs of the restrooms. He said the Facilities Committee will ask the Baseball Booster Club to bring plans and specifications back to the Facilities Committee for further study. Mr. Saad said the University's maintenance department personnel would also have to thoroughly review the plans, particularly as they pertain to the water and sewage areas. He asked for a second on the Committee's recommendation to approve the Baseball Booster Club moving to the next step of bringing plans and specifications back to the Facilities Committee for further review. Dr. Umphrey seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
Mr. Saad commended Coach Gary Rundles, his staff and the baseball team for their great season in winning the Gulf South Conference Championship.
Regarding the second item relating to the Baseball Complex, Mr. Saad referred to an architectural drawing, and said the Booster Club would like to tear down the old chain link backstop and replace it with a 3-foot wall and netting, and also install some new bleachers.
8. REPORT OF THE STUDENT LIFE COMMITTEE
Mr. Saad reported that this Committee met on Sunday afternoon before this meeting and asked Dr. Holland to give this report.
Dr. Holland commended the efforts of the Admissions' staff, the faculty, alumni and others who have helped in recruiting. He said counselor workshops have been held in several areas, which have proved very beneficial to the recruitment efforts.
The dormitories also were discussed, i.e. the great need for more student apartments on campus. He said the old traditional dorms are very outdated, and suggestions were made in the meeting of the Student Affairs' Committee to seek private developers to construct apartments and allow the University to manage them. He said this could not be delayed as it is a very important factor in retaining students.
Also, students are concerned about security, according to Dr. Holland. He said plans are to seek funds through a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Agency (ADECA) to install video cameras and more street lights in the dormitories and parking areas. Dr. Holland indicated that funds are in the budget to hire a part-time security officer for the dorm area.
Dr. Holland also noted the administration's concerns for the Greek system on campus, i.e. some organizations are doing quite well, but there are real concerns about others. Plans will be put into place beginning this Summer to alleviate this problem. The Student Affairs' office is aggressively working on this problem.
Dr. Holland reported that a large scale project will be undertaken to address the alcohol and drug abuse concern on the campus and he will be appointing a task force right away to focus on this problem. He stressed that this is not a major problem at this time for UWA.
Mr. Saad asked for a second on the report from the Student Life Committee; Mr. Bunn seconded; and the motion passed.
9. PROVOST'S REPORT
Dr. David Taylor, Provost, said the Alabama Commission on Higher Education's accountability agenda for the implementation of The State Plan for Higher Education for 2003-2004 to 2008-2009 was discussed at the December meeting of the Board. ACHE articulated five goals for this plan, as follows: access, cooperation, quality, resources, and workforce development.
Dr. Taylor said that the plan calls for each institution to provide two reports: 1) a report from the Board of Trustees and 2) another from the institution on the progress made toward meeting the statewide goals. The annual Trustees' report was filed in May and was included in the packet for the meeting today, and the institutional report will require Dr. Holland to present a report to the Commission. He will be presenting this report in about two years due to heavy scheduling by the Commission. Dr. Taylor said the report was compiled by Mrs. Patricia Pratt, who sent a copy to Mr. Saad and all of the Board members. He said the report reveals how the University is trying to address all of the five goals set by ACHE and stated he would be glad to provide any further information, if requested by the Trustees.
Dr. Taylor also discussed the Teacher Education report card from the Alabama Department of Education. A grade is given to all institutions in Alabama who are engaged in teacher training and certification. There are 29 schools in teacher training, sixteen are public and thirteen are private institutions. The University of West Alabama received an "A" grade and has received A's for each of the five years the program has been in effect. Dr. Taylor distributed a copy of the Institution Summary Results which provides the names of the schools, number of students in the program, and the grade for the school. He said in the second report that was distributed, there is the actual report card entitled Teacher Preparation Program Performance Profile. This is called the PEPE program and 49 of UWA's students were evaluated by PEPE representatives.
Mr. Saad commended the University on this outstanding report.
10. PRESIDENT'S REPORT
A. University Charter – Dr. Holland indicated each trustee was provided a copy of the University's revised charter that was approved by the Board at its last meeting. He said the charter would be presented at the next session of the Legislature for adoption. Dr. Holland said the Board approved a resolution several years ago to change the length of term for a trustee, and this Charter should reflect that change.
B. Proposed Code of Ethics Policy – Dr. Holland said this was discussed in the last Board meeting, and Mr. Bunn had requested that the University's attorney review the document for any discrepancies. He said the attorney reviewed the policy and made one addition on Page 2. The following phrase was added to the sentence in Item No. 4, as follows: "that may have a detrimental or adverse impact on the University". At this time, Mr. Saad asked for a motion to adopt the Code of Ethics policy. Mr. Spree moved to adopt the Code of Ethics Policy; Mr. Ballow seconded the motion; and the motion was approved unanimously. Mr. Saad requested all Trustees to sign the Code of Ethics and leave the form with Mrs. Lindsey.
C. Enrollment – Dr. Holland said that two reports on enrollment had been provided to the Trustees and that the Summer enrollment figures are very preliminary at this time. There would be additional graduate students registering tonight, some second term students might register later, and the online students have not been included in these figures. Additionally, the students who are taking graduate courses at the Demopolis Center have not been included.
The second page of the enrollment report provides an indication of the status of Fall enrollment at this time. At the end of May 2005, Dr. Holland reported that 719 freshmen applications have been received vs. 604 for the prior year at the same time; 519 freshmen applications have been accepted as of May 2005 vs. 429 the prior year; 157 transfer applications have been received as of May 2005 vs. 142 the prior year; and 100 transfers have been accepted vs. 76 for the prior year.
11. OTHER
Mr. Saad said that Dr. Schellhammer, Chair of the Faculty Senate, requested to speak at this meeting. Dr. Schellhammer distributed a copy of an article in the March-April 2005 issue of the Academe, published by the American Association of University Professors, on faculty salaries. He said the salaries of the faculty at the University of West Alabama are in a dire state, indicating they are the lowest in the State. He said the faculty was not sure if the Board of Trustees was aware just how dire the situation has become. No faculty member at UWA expects to be paid at the national average, he said that would be absurd, but they would like to be paid at the state average. He said UWA faculty are the lowest paid of any State institution and even some church-related colleges.
Dr. Schellhammer said the faculty would like for the Board to consider their overall compensation; however, he added that most faculty are satisfied with the current benefit package. He compared the benefits to Huntingdon and Springhill Colleges and stated UWA's package is a good bit less.
For twelve years, since the presidency of Dr. Don Hines, Dr. Schellhammer said the University has continued with its policy of the so-called “Staff Equity Raises.” He said it is now time to address “Faculty Equity Raises.” He said that one policy that must not change is the Administration's dedication to across-the-board raises, but said the faculty is so far behind, as a body, that such schemes as merit pay can only hurt the faculty. Dr. Schellhammer said that votes taken in the Faculty Senate and by the faculty as a whole body, such plans are considered anathema to their general well being, and added that all available monies should be channeled to helping the faculty as a whole, not certain select individuals.
Dr. Schellhammer said he believed the low faculty salaries have reached a critical point. He said the College of Liberal Arts lost three faculty members and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics lost one, and added that a solid academic program could not be sustained if good faculty members continue to resign. He said that unless the Board of Trustees, working with the Administration and the faculty, addresses the issue of pay quickly, the University may become mired in a crisis from which it can never escape.
Mr. Saad said to Mr. Schellhammer that he needed to know totally that the Board is fully aware of the salaries of the University employees and the Board does not have a lack of opinion about the matter. He said the University does have a very high hill to climb in this regard and is working on this. Secondly, he said the merit pay idea is not a scheme, but a thought process, and he wanted Dr. Schellhammer to know he was offended by his use of the word, "scheme".
12. ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Saad asked if there was a motion to adjourn. Dr. Umphrey moved to adjourn; Mr. Bunn seconded the motion; and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,

Lena Hardaway
Secretary

Earlene Lindsey
Assistant Secretary