WASHBURN UNIVERSITY OF TOPEKA BOARD OF REGENTS MINUTES April 15, 1998 __________________________________________________ I. Chairperson Parks called the meeting of the Board of Regents to order at 7:07 p.m. in the Kansas Room of the Memorial Union. II. Present were: *Mr. Dick, Mr. Engel, Mr. Ferrell, Mrs. Parks, *Mr. Roth and Dr. Ybarra. * Regents participated via telephone conference call. III. It was moved and seconded to approve the Minutes of the March 18, 1998 meeting as circulated. Motion passed unanimously. IV. President's Report President Farley announced that the University's public television station, KTWU-TV, has a proposal for a series of programs tentatively labeled "Diamonds of Kansas History." These will be a series of thirty 30-minute history programs. He said the University and station will be calling upon citizens from across the state of Kansas to participate in development of the programs. He anticipates these programs will begin airing in the year 2000 on TV. Dr. Farley announced that on April 25 the University will serve as a site for the 25th Kansas African American Legislative Caucus and that Chairperson Parks will be participating in the program. He noted also that the Kansas African American Legislative Caucus has two scholarships for students to attend the University of Kansas, suggesting that perhaps it might be possible for the institution to suggest that they award scholarships to students attending Washburn. Dr. Farley announced that two Law School junior students placed first and second respectively (Eric Kraft and Scott Liljegren) in a national moot court competition recently held in Boston. He said this reflects very positively on the quality of students that Washburn is able to attract. President Farley said that, as many had noted in the newspaper and other media, the Kansas Senate did not take up the higher education reorganization bill passed by the House. He said the University has attempted to keep all the University community informed including putting information on the University's home page of testimony provided to the Legislature. Dr. Farley said that, while unsuccessful, it was an excellent process although the outcome is not what we had expected. He said the work done effectively portrays the issues to be addressed in the future. He said in his opinion the key issue is about coordination between the community colleges and the four-year public institutions. With coordination, he said "we could present a consolidated, integrated and comprehensive budget for higher education in all of Kansas." Dr. Farley also noted the support of the staff and editorial staff at the Topeka Capital Journal urging that the Legislature address the issue of higher education reorganization. Dr. Farley reported that he has been holding round table discussions at the President's residence with students who are invited randomly to participate. He said the topic most recently was crime, the juvenile system and the death penalty. He said there were some thirty students in attendance at this round table discussion. He said Chairperson Parks had participated in it and asked for her impressions. Mrs. Parks said she was really impressed with the caliber of the students and with the quality of the discussion on the issues. President Farley reported that he, Mayor Wagnon and members of the Chamber of Commerce have been visiting about an economic development plan for the city of Topeka. He said the Chamber of Commerce does a marvelous job of providing information to prospective businesses moving to Topeka but that information is provided only on request. There isn't presently any formal economic development plan. He said he hosted a luncheon with community leaders about a week and a half ago with plans to have another meeting in the very near future to follow up to begin development and creation of an economic development plan. He said he's been involved in this in the most recent years and believes that this is a very important thing to do. Dr. Farley announced that on May 6 and 7, Regent Chuck Engel and WEA President, Jerry Clevenger, will be making a national presentation at the Hyatt Convention Center in Sarasota, Florida. The subject will be the change in the Washburn Endowment Association structure and mission. He also reported that the WEA will soon be making announcements with respect to the recipients of its two awards it makes annually the President's Award and the Service Award. He said nominated for these awards were Jim Vansickle for the President's Award and for the Service Award, Ben Blair and Dort Johnson. Dr. Farley said that, as everyone already knows, this is Celebrate Washburn week. He said the big event of the day today (April 15, 1998) was the 'Bod Bash hosted by the Washburn Alumni Association and the Student Alumni Association. He said there were approximately 400 persons participating. He also announced that at the all alumni luncheon to be held in the Memorial Union on Saturday, there will be over 300 attendees. He congratulated WAA Director Chuck Cordt for his efforts in developing these two events. Blanche Parks congratulated Regent Engel for his upcoming appearance at the CASE Conference. V. New Business A. Action Items 1. Proposed Room, Board and Family Housing Rates for FY 1998-99 It was moved and seconded to approve the proposed room, board and family housing rates as set forth in agenda item V.A.1. Motion passed unanimously. As approved by the Board of Regents, the new rates for fiscal year 1999 are as follows: Carruth - Double $3,155; Carruth - Single $3,920; Kuehne and West Halls - $3,260; family housing - $190 per month. 2. Personnel a. Theodore Heim for Assistant Professor Emeritus It was moved and seconded to approve the award of Assistant Professor Emeritus status to Theodore Heim. Motion passed unanimously. b. Leave of Absence - Julie Kunce Field It was moved and seconded to award Julie Kunce Field a leave of absence without pay effective June 1, 1998 for the remainder of fiscal year 1998 and for all of fiscal year 1998-99. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Policies a. Proposed Refund/Repayment Policy It was moved and seconded to approve the proposed Refund/Repayment Policy set forth in agenda item V.A.3.a. Motion passed unanimously. Refund Policy as approved by the Board of Regents by this action is attached. ** 4. Neighborhood Revitalization Act President Farley noted that the University recently received a proposed amendment to the Interlocal Agreement with the City of Topeka for continuing participation in a neighborhood revitalization program. The new Interlocal Agreement incorporates amendments to the Neighborhood Revitalization Program which add as new revitalization areas the Topeka State Hospital grounds and a portion of the "College Hill" area bounded on the north and south by 12th and 17th streets respectively and on the east and west by Washburn and Mulvane Streets respectively. It was moved and seconded to approve the revised Interlocal Ageeement with the City of Topeka. Motion passed unanimously. ** Item(s) added at the meeting with the consent of the Board. B. Consent Agenda It was moved and seconded to approve the 1. Depository Security Transactions and 2. Liquidated Claims - March 1998 as set forth in IV.B.1. and 2. Motion passed unanimously. C. Information Items 1. Marketing Plan 1998-2003 President Farley introduced the Executive Director of Governmental Relations, David Monical, who made a presentation on the Washburn University marketing plan concepts. The PowerPoint slides utilized in the presentation of the marketing plan concepts are an attachment to the agenda item. Mr. Monical introduced Dana Frye of the FryeAllen Agency. Ms. Frye made a video presentation of four television advertisements for the University. One is the "ladder" commercial which is the stick figure climbing a ladder. She said this one has been updated to focus on the University's Master's Degree programs. The second is the so-called "cube" commercial which has been used successfully for the past couple of years. Then, the first new one "In One Ear" is one which focuses on small classes, convenient hours, great faculty, while the second new one "Pass You By" is a message of a school full of interesting things, majors, a variety of courses and the focus here is having the Washburn name being prominently displayed in the commercial visually and aurally. 2. North Central Accreditation This information was presented by Dr. Wasserstein at the pre-meeting dinner to permit his participation due to conflict. Dr. Wasserstein noted the assessment team would be visiting campus in early May and cited sections of the University's self-study, which had been circulated at the March Board meeting, with which members of the Board should become familiar so they might converse more easily with the NCA team members on issues affecting the University from their perspective as Board members. Dr. Wasserstein said the Board members would be invited to a lunch with the team to become acquainted and participate in the re-accreditation/assessment process. 3. Washburn's Vision President Farley circulated to members of the Board of Regents a handout of what he called a very rough draft of a Washburn vision. He said we need to think in terms of what we want people to say about Washburn five, ten or fifteen years from now. He said he would like to focus first on what we'd like for them to say about us in five years. He said he's looking at this in terms of "back to the future," returning to the basic concepts and traditions of Washburn University. He said there has been a drift in the institution from where we were several years ago. First, he would like to begin to recreate an exciting campus life. Second, he would like to build on the tradition of academic excellence, building on the "classic look" of arts and science courses. He said there would be a heavy leadership component, which leadership would be interwoven in almost every class on campus, and a heavy emphasis also on ethics within each class. Third, there would be a continuing focus on student success including such things as integrated technology, faculty as mentors and getting the right kind of students in the right classes in addition to our current program in the Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS). Fourth, there would be a focus on creating a positive attitude on the campus where there is a good deal of enthusiasm, people are positive and consequently feel good about the institution and generally are upbeat. He said he didn't want to be thought of as pollyanna- ish, but developing a positive attitude brings about positive results. There would be a mention of Washburn University's relationship with the state in the future and there is a need to be integrated totally in the community, citing in this context the work of volunteers in the community and cultural events that the University has to offer. It was moved and seconded to recess to Executive Session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter following a brief recess for a period not to exceed 15 minutes and to reconvene in open session in the Kansas Room of the Memorial Union not later than 9:10 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. The Board of Regents recessed to Executive Session at 8:55 p.m. At 9:10 p.m. the Board of Regents reconvened in open session in the Kansas Room of the Memorial Union. It was moved and seconded to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. ______________________ Kenneth P. Hackler Secretary, Board of Regents