Sherry Horeanopoulos, APA President, introduced herself and read a prepared statement. The statement was in regards to a former employee, Ms. Jessica Augat, who resigned abruptly in December 2018. Ms. Augat believes management treated her unfairly.
S. Horeanopoulos provided the union's perspective on the situation. She also stated that she failed Jessica by not advocating more strongly for her. She then stated, given that there was no remedy for this matter, APA has elected to drop arbitration.

K. Lundgren, Human Resources Department and Advisor for Alternative Spring Break, Habitat for Humanity introduced herself. She stated seven years ago she became the advisor and has been active with the program ever since. She explained the process that students undergo to become part of the group. She said, that many become lifelong friends. She next introduced Connor Briggs, student co-leader of this year’s group.

C. Briggs explained in detail how students apply, and are vetted to become part of the group. He discussed the actual work they do at the job site including demolition, shingling and painting. The homeowners need to work 500 hours of sweat equity as well. All the homeowners know each other and help each other out. He explained the various fundraisers held throughout the year and presented a video from this year’s activities. There was a brief discussion.

The President next presented the candidates for tenure. He described the process of checks and balances that starts with recommendations from the department faculty, the dean, the provost and finally a decision by himself. Faculty being evaluated have the opportunity to rebut, and if necessary grieve each recommendation along the way. The belief is that the process ensures results that are fair and equitable.

A. Cardelle explained that tenure occurs in the faculty members 6th year. It is a long process and designed to take a holistic view of the candidate's performance. There were seven faculty candidates recommended today. Seven for tenure with promotion and one for tenure only.

The personnel actions were presented for informational purposes.

President stated that tenure and promotion are two separate entities and explained the promotion process. Of the faculty that applied for promotion, one faculty was unsuccessful. It was recommended that he continue to add to his portfolio of accomplishments and reapply when ready.

The financials were presented for informational purposes. There was a discussion on the financial expense and revenue reporting changes.

The president explained the delegation of authority requested. He stated that the delegation would apply to faculty non-renewals. He further stated that the request would not apply to tenure decisions. He questioned whether the board wanted to be involved in academic performance issues of faculty. He also express concern with having personnel actions presented in a public forum. He went on to state that the annual evaluation process is a multi-step process with checks and balances to ensure fair results. D. Irving supported the president’s recommendation. There was discussion.

The president stated it was the recommendation of the auditors to resubmit the audit restatement to the board. changes to the audit were considered to be immaterial. information provided by the state initially were inaccurate. J. Bry said the concern was related to GASB 75. This was the first year the information was used in its current form. Performance ratios were presented in the new financials for comparison to prior financials. J.Bry explained that all state institutions were affected and that the state is bearing the cost of the restatement.

The president thanked student Trustee Alex Ramos for the recent program on the CHERISH Act held on campus and also recognized MSCA Chapter President Aruna Krishnamurthy for her role in its organization as well. There is considerable concern with regard to the rising cost of education for students. A. Ramos presented a power point that provided history of fees and tuition in the state. He noted the decrease in state support for students including Financial Aid. A. Ramos asked for BOT support of the resolution, but concern was raised with regard to language in the proposed legislation regarding the freezing of fees if the state provided additional funding. After lively discussion, the consensus was to table the vote for future consideration.
 

The president stated that a number of board members attended the Trustee Conference. Trustees Phillips, O'Donnell and Barrieau attended and all thought it was worthwhile and educational event. D. Phillips presented the Fitchburg State BOT dashboard. There was a discussion.

The president indicated that the first half of the conference focused on the next few years of activities with an emphasis on the Commissioner's main goal being the Equity Agenda. The Equity Agenda addresses the changing demographics of the state and the need to direct purposeful attention on underserved populations.

The president stated that he is pleased to report that the MSCA and management reached agreement on the terms of the outstanding contract. He thanked Provost Cardelle and MSCA Union Chapter President Krishnamurthy for their hard work in the final days of negotiations. At the end of last week, the union membership ratified the agreement and it is now in the hands of Commissioner Santiago to expedite that process. The president is hoping that retro pay along with increases due will begin to be released to faculty as early as the beginning of summer. He also indicated that central administration had not receive any salary increases and would not until all union faculty members were assured increases.

The president informed the board that the Bachelor of Science in Educational Studies and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Public Health were both approved by the Board of Higher Education. He thanked all of those involved.

The president informed the board of two properties that were purchased by the Foundation. The Historical Society parking lot and 15 Central Street were purchased to be used by the university and community patrons of the Theater Block project.

The president said the university was beginning its Strategic Planning process in the fall and welcomed interested trustees to participate. Committees need to be formed and a formal structure for the process developed. The president indicated that the overall process is a little different this time with the Board of Higher Education more involved. The BHE wants its goals more formalized this time around along with more regionalized thinking. The Board of Higher Education and the Secretary of Education will ultimately approve the plan once recommended by the BOT.

 

The president informed the board about the university's upcoming 125th Anniversary. A steering committee has been established which Chairman Irving is a member. The president will keep the board posted on future activities surrounding the anniversary. Again, trustees interested were encouraged to participate in planning.

 

The president informed the board that Future Falcon Day was to be held on Saturday, April 6. The attendance at this event looks favorable. Participants will be accepted students and their parents. Overall, university enrollment numbers are on par, if not slightly ahead of last year at the same time. While applications and admits are down, it is now all about yield. There was discussion regarding enrollment and enrollment trends.
 

The president stated the Undergraduate Commencement speaker would be Steven Borges. Mr. Borges is an alumni and an executive at Jabil. Jabil owns the local organization Nypro.

The academic calendar was presented for planning purposes.

Chief Michael Cloutier submitted a poem to an online magazine. The story went viral and CNN picked it up. The CNN team came to Fitchburg State and interviewed the Chief. The board viewed the CNN video. The president commended the Chief and expressed his appreciation to our Campus Police for all that they do to keep us all safe and their emphasis on community policing.