Chair Fiorentino presented the official charge for the committee, which focuses on four core areas:

1. Facilities and Operations: Reviewing campus priorities including deferred maintenance, residence halls, and infrastructure projects.

2. Safety and Preparedness: Discussing emergency preparedness and public safety strategies.

3. Sustainability: Monitoring energy initiatives and alignment with the campus master plan.

4. Modernization: Identifying opportunities to enhance safety, accessibility, and modernization across campus.

President Hodge outlined the operational expectations for the committee and its subcommittees:

Scheduling: All subcommittee meetings will be scheduled by the Office of the President, prioritizing subcommittee chair availability.

Minutes: Minutes must be drafted by the Cabinet Liaison and submitted to the President’s Office within 48 hours.

Board Report: The committee's primary deliverable is to bring forward recommendations, questions, and suggested action items to the full Board for discussion on October 30.

Stakeholder Input: Subcommittees are encouraged to invite student, faculty, and staff perspectives into their discussions when appropriate.

Matt Lechter, AVP for Capital Planning and Maintenance provided the following Construction updates:

Conlon Hall & Fine Arts Renovations:

Window Replacement: The project, which started in May 2025, has been delayed into the fall semester due to material and external factors. Mitigation: Demolition for Conlon Fine Arts windows has been halted to avoid academic disruption and will restart after May 2026 commencement, aiming for completion by the end of that summer.

Internal Work: Completed work includes: Upgrading third-floor restrooms to meet ADA guidelines (necessary for the upcoming Comm Media project, which is in design). Creating a first-floor break room for faculty/staff (in former IT space). Modifying the IT suite to create private office spaces.

Funding: Project progress was made possible by DCAMM deferred maintenance funding.

Other Campus Initiatives

Recycling Program Enhancement:  

New receptacles have been added throughout academic buildings, residential areas, office spaces, and the campus quad to increase recycling options in high-traffic areas.

New recycling collection dumpsters have been added for use by the CPM team. The service is contracted with Republic Services. CPM will continue to look for ways to enhance sustainability efforts.

EV Charging Stations:   

Phase 1: Secured and planned for six new EV chargers through a partnership with DMH Electric. Infrastructure work is complete; the chargers are expected in the next three weeks.

Location: Four units will be in front of Mazzaferro Hall to create a central charging point.

Funding: Utilized local funds plus a $144,000 incentive/rebate from Unitil.

Phase 2: After Phase 1 is operational, existing Conlon Hall chargers will be upgraded to add two more spots (total of 8 ports on campus, up from 2).

New System: The Conlon Hall chargers will implement a ChargePoint system to restrict usage to Fitchburg State community members only.

Sustainability Committee:  President Hodge will convene the Sustainability Committee to continue exploring and planning for enhancements to campus sustainability projects and operations.

New Bookstore Launch: 

A new bookstore, Falcon Bookstore and Gear Shop, was successfully launched, aligning with transitions at several other state colleges and universities. The new vendors did not rely on the previous vendor for information or operation.

Merchandise & Apparel: New merchandise options are arriving weekly. The transition for apparel was smooth, with a focus on higher-end products.

Mobile sales have been added as an option and have been well-received. Overall sales are currently meeting expectations.

The Fall textbook adoption rate is 98%, meaning 98% of courses have submitted their required textbook information. This rate is approximately 35% higher than most institutions that have undergone a similar transition.

Transition Success:  Disruptions were limited compared to sister institutions. The new vendor obtained key operating information directly from FSU, as part of this process.

Michael Cloutier, Chief of Police and Executive in Charge of University Operations provided a Clery Compliance Update:

Chief Cloutier shared an update on the university’s Clery Compliance efforts and the 2025 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (ASR). 

He explained origins of Clery Act and its core mission to provide accurate information to students, parents, and employees for informed decision-making.

Compliance with the Clery Act is complex and involves three distinct operational areas: Data Collection and Publication, Communications, and  Policy Statements.

The Clery Act requires the publication of the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (ASR) by October 1st each year.  It includes data on specified crimes (including homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, VAWA offenses, and hate crimes) and fire statistics for the previous three calendar years. For 2024, the university’s reported Clery crimes increased in total from 7 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 (an increase of 10 reports). 

Chief Cloutier explained that an increase in reported crimes under the Clery Act and Title IX can actually be a positive indicator of an institution's health and safety culture, as a low number of reported crimes does not always mean a campus is safe; it often means that crimes are not being reported. 

This potential rise in reporting could mean that victims feel more informed, supported, and confident to come forward, which is a critical measure of success in fostering a safer, more transparent campus environment.

The university also reports referrals and arrests for liquor law, drug and weapons violations in the ASR. In 2024, the largest categories of disciplinary referrals were for liquor law violations (40 reports), followed by drug violations (4 reports) and no reports for weapons violations. The university received no reports of arrests for weapons, drug, or liquor law violations, and no reports of hate crimes.

Chief Cloutier also advised the Board members on a recent change to Clery compliance concerning the Stop Campus Hazing Act. 

Despite the current level of uncertainty regarding the Department of Education, the campus is fully committed to meeting the requirements of the Jeanne Clery Act. The university’s compliance efforts are central to its dedication to transparency while fostering a safe, informed, and healthy community.

Trustee Crowley-Stimpson asked whether marijuana was listed in the Clery report. Chief Cloutier replied in the affirmative.

Discussion continued about the potential impact of increased activity on campus with higher numbers of Clery offenses. Chief Cloutier said that was a possibility, but has not come to pass. He also noted that some of the reported offenses in this year’s report may stem from a single perpetrator and a single complainant. 

Trustee Barrieau asked about COVID levels this semester. President Hodge said data is anecdotal at this time, though planning with our community health provider is ongoing.

In addition, Stefan Dodd, CIO provided the following updates:

Personnel Changes and Recruitment:  The Technology Department has welcomed a 2025

graduate into a full-time EDP Systems Analyst role. Glenda Franco

IT is actively recruiting for two critical vacancies: a replacement for the retiring OneCard Systems Analyst and a new Systems Analyst for Telecom and low-voltage infrastructure.

Modernizing Learning Spaces:  Edgerly 203 Upgrade with NVIDIA GPUs for CUDA programming, a refresh of Ellis White Lecture Hall, podium upgrades, enhanced video conferencing, and new monitors in Game Design Labs.

Infrastructure: Advanced the multi-year residence hall cabling project, TH 5-7 and Mara 1 cabling have been replaced. Automated Account Provisioning System - Completely built from the ground up. Created a secure, segmented network for mobile payments for the BookStore.

Cybersecurity and Data Protection: Robust measures have been implemented to safeguard data and systems, including deploying Google Data Classification Labels (Restricted, Internal, and Public).  Core Services also strengthened data protection by encrypting the Ellucian Banner database and masking PII.

Digital Accessibility Compliance: Significant progress has been made in preparing for ADA Title II digital accessibility compliance, including: requiring VPATs from vendors, planning

campus-wide training, and Deploying accessibility tools like document remediation software and enhanced Google Workspace capabilities.