Approved

NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Minutes of the Regular Session

of

Thursday, October 6, 2005

 

 

A regular session of the Board of Trustees of Northern Michigan University was held on Thursday, October 6, 2005, in the Cohodas Administrative Center, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan.  The meeting was convened in the Sixth Floor Conference Room, 604 Cohodas, at 8:05 a.m. by Chair Karl A. Weber.

 

Trustees present included:

 

      Karl A. Weber, Chair                                Jon G. LaSalle

      Samuel S. Benedict                                   Mary C. Lukens

      Brian D. Cloyd                                         Douglas B. Roberts

                                                                        Leslie e. Wong, ex officio

     

The Trustees absent were Alan T. Ackerman (morning session) and Larry C. Inman.

 

Senior staff and legal counsel present included:

 

      Michael J. Roy, V.P. for Finance and Administration and Treasurer of the Board;

      Pamalene R. Grundstrom, Executive Assistant to the President and Secretary of the Board;

      Alfred N. Joyal, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; and

      Kurt N. Sherwood, representing the legal firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone.

 

 

CLOSED SESSION AUTHORIZATION

 

President Wong presented the following recommendation:

 

It is recommended that the following resolution relative to holding a closed session of the Board of Trustees of Northern Michigan University be approved:

 

RESOLVED, that the Board shall meet in Closed Session at 8:05 a.m. on October 6, 2005, pursuant to Section 8 of the Open Meetings Act:

 

To consider matters connected with the strategy and/or negotiation of its collective bargaining agreements;

 

To consider the purchase or lease of real property on which the University does not hold an option;

 

To consult with the attorney for the University on matters relating to pending litigation, it being the opinion of the Board that consideration of such matters in an open meeting would have a detrimental financial effect on the litigation and/or settlement position of the University;

 

To consider material exempt from discussion or disclosure by state or federal statute.

 

      Ms. Lukens moved that the resolution be approved.  It was supported by Mr. LaSalle.  On a roll-call vote, the Board voted as follows:

 

                                         Aye                                    Nay

 

                                    Mr. Benedict

                                    Mr. Cloyd

                                    Mr. LaSalle

                                    Ms. Lukens

                                    Dr. Roberts

                                    Mr. Weber

                                                                        None

 

The resolution was thus approved unanimously.

 

 

RECESS

 

Chair Weber recessed the meeting at 8:08 a.m.

 

 

RECONVENE

 

Chair Weber reconvened the meeting at 1:35 p.m. in the Board of Trustees Meeting Room, 602 Cohodas.

 

Trustees present included:

 

      Karl W. Weber, Chair                               Jon G. La Salle

      Alan T. Ackerman                                     Mary C. Lukens

      Samuel S. Benedict                                   Douglas B. Roberts

      Brian D. Cloyd                                         Leslie E. Wong, ex officio

 

The Trustee absent was Larry C. Inman

     

Senior staff and legal counsel present included:

 

      Michael J. Roy, V.P. for Finance and Administration and Treasurer of the Board;

      Pamalene R. Grundstrom, Executive Assistant to the President and Secretary of the Board;

      Alfred N. Joyal, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; and

      Kurt N. Sherwood, representing the legal firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone.

 

 

MEMORIAL TO STUDENTS

 

Associate Provost for Student Services and Enrollment, Mr. Bill Bernard, presented memorials for four students and the Board of Trustees observed a moment of silence in their memory:

 

Edwin Olson was a nontraditional student from Manistique.  A carpenter by trade, he decided to return to college to become a social worker.  He was in his first semester at NMU and died of natural causes.

                                   

Andrew Stottlemyre died on August 14 in a motorcycle accident.  Andrew was from Waterford, Michigan.  He was a freshman who began his studies at Northern in January of 2005.

 

Toni Alysha Copeland drowned in Lake Superior on October 2.  She came to Northern from McDonough, New York to participate in the USOEC’s freestyle wrestling program.  She was a senior at Marquette High School and was the 2004 Junior National Champion and was 3rd at the 2005 U.S. Senior Nationals.

 

Cassiano Huckabee also drowned in Lake Superior on October 2.  Cass was a freshman from Chicago, studying Aviation Maintenance Technology.  His goal was to become a pilot.

 

 

INDIVIDUAL REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD

 

Ms. Grundstrom reported that there were no requests to address the Board. 

 

 

NMU FOUNDATION/ALUMNI UPDATE

 

Ms. Martha Van Der Kamp presented an update on the activities of the NMU Foundation and Alumni Operations (Addendum #1).  Discussion followed and Ms. Van Der Kamp responded to questions and comments from Trustees.

 

 

FOCUS DISCUSSION

 

Public Broadcasting

 

President Wong introduced the topic, noting that at the last Board meeting the Trustees requested a final recommendation related to the public broadcasting operation. 

 

Dr. Joyal and Mr. Eric Smith, Manager, Broadcast and Audio Visual Services, presented a WNMU-TV update (Addendum #2) and a recommendation to continue funding for WNMU-TV.  Discussion followed and Dr. Joyal and Mr. Smith responded to questions and comments from Trustees.  Trustees suggested that staff begin to pursue grant funding for the required conversion to digital technology.  Dr. Joyal and Mr. Smith were asked to report at the December Board meeting on a time line and costs for digitalization and matching fund sources.  Chair Weber asked that this recommendation be pulled from the Formal Recommendations and addressed as a Special Action Item and the Board took action as follows:

 

It was moved by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Mr. Cloyd, and passed unanimously by the Board that Northern Michigan University continues to provide on-going base budget support, currently at $200,000, for broadcasting services delivered by WNMU-TV and WNMU-DT.  An annual report will be provided to the Board of Trustees at the December Board meeting. 

 

Dr. Joyal and Mr. Smith thanked the Trustees and Public Broadcasting’s loyal staff and supporters.

 

Budget and Formula Model Discussion

 

President Wong, Dr. Roy, and Associate Vice President for Finance and Planning Mr. Gavin Leach made a presentation on budget and the proposed house version of a funding formula, the “WIN” Formula.  President Wong outlined a series of Focus Discussions that will be held today and at the next two Board meetings to complete this topic (Addendum #3).  Discussion followed and the presenters responded to questions and comments from Trustees. 

 

 

RECESS

 

Chair Weber recessed the meeting for a break at 3:00 p.m.

 

 

RECONVENE

 

Chair Weber reconvened the meeting at 3:15 p.m.

 

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 

President Wong presented his report, with a focus on enrollment (Addendum #4).  Discussion followed and President Wong responded to comments and questions from Trustees. 

 

 

ASNMU REPORT

 

Ms. Michelle Cox, ASNMU President, reported on the activities of the student government (Addendum #5).  Discussion followed and Ms. Cox responded to comments and questions from Trustees.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Academic Affairs

 

Ms. Lukens reported on the Academic Affairs Committee meeting held this morning (Addendum #6)

 

Finance

 

Dr. Roberts reported on the Finance Committee meeting held this morning (Addendum #7).  On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Board took the following action:

 

It was moved by Dr. Roberts, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, and passed unanimously by the Board that the University’s asset allocation policy be revised as follows:  Reduce the Large Capital Stocks target from 40% to 35%, add international emerging markets up to 2.5% and international small capital stocks up to 2.5%, lower the target for U.S. Bonds from 30% to 27.5%, and add real estate up to 2.5%.

 

Ad Hoc Nominating

 

Mr. Ackerman reported on the Ad Hoc Nominating Committee meeting held on August 5, 2005 (Addendum #8).  Following the recommendation of the Committee, the election of officers was held:

 

            It was moved by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Dr. Roberts, and passed, with one abstention from Mr. Weber, to re-elect Karl Weber as Chair and Larry Inman as Vice Chair of the NMU Board of Trustees for calendar year 2006. 

 

 

2006 NMU BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING SCHEDULE

 

Ms. Grundstrom said the revised proposed 2006 NMU Board of Trustees Meeting Schedule (below) is in the formals (Formal Recommendation F-6).  Changes have been proposed to resolve schedule conflicts for Trustees. 

 

NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

REVISED PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING DATES

Calendar Year 2006

 

Thursday-Friday, February 23-24, 2006

 

Thursday-Friday, May 4-5, 2006

(Commencement Saturday, May 6)

 

Thursday-Friday, August 10-11, 2006

Annual Retreat

 

Thursday-Friday, October 5-6, 2006

 

Thursday-Friday, December 14-15, 2006

(Commencement Saturday, December 16)

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CLOSED SESSION TO BE HELD IN CONNECTION WITH THE THURSDAY-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15-16, 2005, REGULAR SESSION OF THE BOARD

 

President Wong made this announcement for the public record. 

 

 

ACTION ON FORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS

 

The Board took the following action regarding the Formal Recommendations as amended:  (Backup)

 

            It was moved by Ms. Lukens, seconded by Mr. Benedict, and unanimously supported by the Board of Trustees to approve the Formal Recommendations as amended.

 

 

OTHER BUSINESS

 

There was no other business to come before the Board of Trustees at this time. 

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

Chair Weber adjourned the meeting at 3:55 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

___________________________________

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Pamalene R. Grundstrom

Secretary of the Board