A. Clementi introduced and welcomed newest Trustee, Martha Nicholson.
 

MSCA Union Faculty members from various departments expressed their concerns regarding the contract. They compelled the board members to support the contract.

A. Krishnamurthy, MSCA  Chapter President, read a prepared statement urging the Board to work with the MSCA to fund the contract.


 

The October 4, 2018 Foundation minutes were approved unanimously by the Foundation Board.

The president introduced Suzanne Battit from the organization the Development Guild. S. Batitt's is serving in a consultant role for the university and assisting with the search for a permanent Vice President for Institutional Advancement. S. Battit thanked the board for the opportunity to meet with them and provide information regarding her work with the unit. She provided an update on the search. She indicated that her organization was in the process of phone screening a candidate pool of approximately125 individuals. She explained the process and the timing for the search. Next, she briefly presented on the Theater Block initiative. Currently the Development Guild is conducting a feasibility of higher perspective donors and testing various levels of giving in order to assess the potential to raise money. She explained the scope of the work. She stated all opportunities would be looked at including grant funding M. Connors expressed concern about timing with the City of Fitchburg Library campaign. There was a discussion.

K. Spinelli reviewed the 990 Tax Form. The president requested a motion to accept the 990 Tax Form.  The Foundation Board voted unanimously to approve the 990 Tax Form.

Personal actions were presented for informational purposes.

The Financial Statements were presented for informational purposes.

President Lapidus discussed the MSCA Collective Bargaining Agreement. He explained the bargaining process and the fact that the Office Employment Relations reviewed and rejected the agreement submitted as it exceeded the 2% specified by the Governor's Office. He emphasized that faculty are being paid, but not receiving the 2% increase. He reported that once negotiations are finalized, all raises would be retroactive. The president discussed a recent bargaining meeting that A. Krishnamurthy attended as well. He thought they had a productive conversation. He agrees that the current environment is not what we want on campus. He stated that the administration greatly values the faculty and the many contributions they make at the institution. He is hopeful that all both parties will come to a resolution at some point soon. He concluded by stating that the APA and AFSCME union contracts have been completed. There was a discussion.

The president informed the board that the Winter Commencement was well attended by graduates and faculty. He thanked the board members that participated. He reported that a good number of fully online students, who had not previously been on campus travelled to meet faculty in person and attend graduation.

The move in for the start of the semester went smoothly despite a winter storm during that time. The president expressed his concern with decline in student enrollment and indicated that it is consistent with what is being experienced on sister campuses. The university is down approximately 212 students from where it was in the fall. He indicated that a tightening of the budget was underway. The administration is also working more closely with Admissions to maximize the yields. He indicated that as enrollment declines, our residence hall occupancy has also declined. The university is looking at various strategies to increase the occupancy in the residence halls for fall. There was a discussion related to enrollment.

The president informed the board that when the Financial Audit was submitted, there was an error at the state level. The university will need to resubmit the audit however, there are no substantive changes.

The president informed the board that State Auditors are on campus reviewing ADA compliance. They continue to work on this and it is a new process for them. He anticipates the findings will show that the campus is doing a good job, but there could be some recommendations for improvement.

The university hosted the Urban Agenda Grant event at the ideaLab. Lt. Governor Karyn Polito recognized the recipients. Fitchburg State received a $60,000 grant in support of the ideaLab.

The AUAI program was approved by NECHE. Fitchburg State faculty will now have the opportunity to teach classes in China to students from other institutions all over the world. He explained the program and its many associated benefits.

The president explained the strategic process. Every five years the university must develop a new strategic plan. There is a new process mandated by the Department of Higher Education. There are no formal dates to complete the exercise, but there are touch points that guide the overall process.

The university will be celebrating its 125 Anniversary this coming academic year. There will be a committee structure that guides the planning process. He welcomed members of the Board of Trustees, Foundation Board and Alumni Board to participate. There was a discussion.

The news articles were presented for informational purposes.