Special Edition: Highlights from the fall Board of Trustees meeting, Oct. 16-17 and from President Adams’s forum for employees Oct. 30
CONTENTS:
1. CCWG REPORT ACCEPTED
2. BRO’S BRIEFING -- AUDIO ONLINE
3. BENEFITS DEADLINE: NOV. 20
4. CURRICULAR REVIEW; NEW DEAN SEARCH
5. TWO NEW BOARD COMMITTEES
6. COLBY KEEPS COPING
7. FACILITIES IN THE PIPELINE
8. CAMPAIGN ENTERS HOMESTRETCH
9. MOOSECELLANEOUS
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1. CCWG REPORT ACCEPTED
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After the Campus Culture Working Group presented its findings to trustees last month, the board voted to accept the report and charged the administration “to take steps towards facilitating the implementation of the report’s [10] principal recommendations.” The CCWG spent eight months in 2008-09 on proposals to change the culture of excessive drinking at Colby. Recommendations include extending the academic program throughout the week, restricting use of hard alcohol, and adopting a statement of community expectations. The CCWG report is online.
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2. BRO’S BRIEFING -- AUDIO ONLINE
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On Friday, Oct. 30, President Bro Adams shared with employees some of the topics that trustees discussed during their October meeting. At the same forum Vice President for Administration Doug Terp ’84 reviewed the College's financial situation and some of the budgetary challenges that lie ahead, and he announced changes in Colby’s health insurance benefits. A recording of Bro’s and Doug’s remarks at the forum is online.
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3. BENEFITS DEADLINE: NOV. 20
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Because Colby’s health insurance carrier will change from Anthem to CIGNA starting Jan. 1, all employees are required to choose among medical coverage options no later than Nov. 20. Details, including dates for informational sessions now through Nov. 11, explanations of pending changes, and online enrollment forms, are available on the Human Resources Web site.
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4. CURRICULAR REVIEW; NEW DEAN SEARCH
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The curricular review process currently being led by the Dean of Faculty's Office will include, during this academic year, a report from each academic department and program that includes a mission statement, explicit learning goals and expected outcomes in the major and the minor and in specific courses, methods used to evaluate student learning in relation to the Colby precepts, and the role of Jan Plans and co-curricular work (e.g. independent research and internships) in that department or program. President Bro Adams told the board's Educational Policy Committee that the search for a new vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty should be wrapped up with a new hire soon.
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5. TWO NEW BOARD COMMITTEES
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Trustees held inaugural meetings of two new committees in October: the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee and the Communications Committee. The former discussed, among other topics, the strategic goals related to racial and ethnic diversity and the recruitment of high-achieving students and international students. The Communications Committee discussed the need to highlight distinctive areas of programmatic importance in Colby’s marketing and communications. At the Oct. 30 forum President Bro Adams described those areas as including the visual arts, Green Colby (environmental practices and programs), international and global dimensions of Colby, public affairs and civic engagement, and academic engagement—the ways we engage students with faculty members and subject matter in and beyond the classroom.
6. COLBY KEEPS COPING
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The College continues to cope with fallout from the great recession—constraining spending in the current year and studying how to overcome projected shortfalls in 2010-11 and beyond. Trustees will consider options for dialing back planned spending to avoid deficits as it builds next year’s budget and plans for future years. Doug Terp gave a thorough briefing at the Oct. 30 forum. Some of the reduction in revenues resulted from the drop in endowment value from $600 million June 30, 2008, to $453 million June 30, 2009. Those are official year-end numbers; the endowment rebounded to an estimated $478 million by Sept. 30 this year, Doug said.
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7. FACILITIES IN THE PIPELINE
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Even as the College manages spending to get through the current economic retrenchment, planning for new buildings and major renovations continues so Colby will be poised to launch projects when the budget permits, President Bro Adams said at the forum. Plans for an expansion of the museum of art to accommodate the Lunder Collection are progressing with an eye towards opening that facility in 2013. Planning for a new mathematics, computer science, and psychology building on the Colby Green has been put on hold temporarily. A biomass boiler to heat campus buildings with renewable energy is also on the drawing boards for the day when capital is available.
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8. CAMPAIGN ENTERS HOMESTRETCH
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The Reaching the World capital campaign wraps up June 30, 2010, with $35 million to raise over the final eight months. Campaign chairs Larry Pugh ’56 and Michael Gordon ’66, both trustees, expressed cautious optimism at the board meeting that the $370-million goal will be achieved. President Bro Adams noted at the forum that, though benefactors are still eager, “This is a very, very tough fundraising environment.” At the same time it is wrapping up the capital campaign, the Development Committee also is studying post-campaign fundraising priorities, Bro said.
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9. MOOSECELLANEOUS
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Colby trustees had U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe and her husband, former Maine Governor John McKernan, as special guests at their dinner Friday, Oct. 16. Senator Snowe talked about the critical importance of bipartisanship to good governance. ... The fall 2009 Board of Trustees meeting was the first with Bob Diamond ’73 as chair. Changes at the full board meeting included fewer oral reports from committees and voting on a consent agenda of non-controversial motions to free up time for more pressing issues.