The president opened the meeting with a high-level overview that recapped the activities of FY2021. He stated that 2021 was a challenging year. The university delivered the majority of its classes in a remote format this year due to COVID-19. Approximately 10% of classes were taught face-to-face in a traditional classroom setting. State funding was level as compared to the prior year. In anticipation of declining demographics, the university made conservative estimates with regard to student enrollment. Enrollment in the graduate division was slightly higher then estimated. The university received some debt payment assistance from the Massachusetts State College Building Authority (MSCBA) which helped the budget considerably. The university concluded the academic year with a very low overall COVID-19 positivity rate. He noted that there were three rounds of relief funding with the receipt of some funds yet to come. Planning is underway for FY2022. The university had its 5-Year Strategic Plan unanimously approved by the Board of the Department of Higher Education. The main components of the strategic plan are built on educational justice, a student ready campus and inclusive excellence. Within that context, much of the plan has a focus on student retention. This last academic cycle, the university saw a 3% increase in student retention which was the highest in the system. We believe we are making positive forward progress.

The university continues to push hard in our efforts with enrollment management and the recruitment of new students. To date, there is a significant increase in applications. We have implemented a much more aggressive recruitment approach and have increased our usage of our relationship management software. Students are looking to understand their possibilities earlier and we have
increased our communication with rising juniors and seniors. The data, and our consultants, confirm that if efforts are focused at current high school seniors, it is probably too late. Our online graduate programs continue to do well and we continue to see a shift from traditional to online formats. We have a number of high performing accelerated programs and we are looking to build on our expertise
in delivering online programs. Students are looking for programs that better fit their lifestyles given many are working. We are also looking to further diversify our revenue streams. Students in the School of Graduate, Online and Continuing Education program run the continuum from those looking to add education to create career opportunities, to those in the ALFA program that are seniors and retirees looking for lifelong learning opportunities. Efforts have also been undertaken in workforce development and refinement skills with increased emphasis on certificate programs.

He next reported on the facility projects and technology updates. He said that all projects could be considered to be in the realm of deferred maintenance. Work will continue on McKay and the final phase should conclude sometime in the fall semester. The next renovation project to begin will be in Thompson Hall. He mentioned the DCAMM electrical project is underway and fully funded. This project is scheduled to conclude in the spring semester of 2022. At its conclusion, the university will have modern electrical delivery systems much improved from their current state. He stressed the importance of continued technology upgrades and the challenges keeping up with both technology and cost. Most recently a number of student labs and classrooms have been upgraded. He reported that last year, on the recommendation of the Chief Information Officer, a switch was made to the Google platform. The transition was a huge benefit when the campus was forced to go to remote learning due to the pandemic. Operations for the coming year were next discussed. The president indicated that it is the university’s intention to be back on campus face-to-face in the fall to the
greatest extent possible. To date, no guidance on this has been provided from the state. Academic Affairs has built class schedules to get students back in the classroom. Faculty opted to build face-to-face courses which is consistent with what students indicated was their preference. The university will await state guidelines. With the intention to be back in person in the fall and the realization that COVID-19 is not going away, planning will take into account a broad range of contingencies. It is anticipated that COVID-19 testing will continue. The university sent out a message yesterday to the campus that the state university system will require vaccinations for the fall semester assuming final FDA approval. Under this scenario, it is hoped that vaccination requirements will reduce some of the burden associated with testing and tracing side. Early estimates are to put another $1.5 million into the budget for COVID-19 expenses.

L. Barrieau asked if there was any sense of enrollment plus or minus due to the vaccine requirement.

D. Irving joined at 8:38 a.m.

The president responded that our data, and the national data, is suggesting that there is a significant lag in college enrollment commitment. There is an uncertainty about the future and he believed vaccinations would contribute to the uncertainty. Admissions has received calls regarding the decision and similar to the what is happening on the national stage, some are upset and others are supportive. This was the same situation encountered with testing last year. It's very difficult to figure out. Anecdotally, it is believed that more people have expressed a positive reaction to the decision than those that were negative.