Minutes
UWF Board of Trustees
Fort Walton Beach Campus
April 12, 2002

Chair Collier Merrill called the meeting of the University of West Florida Board of Trustees to order at 10:14 a.m. Trustees present were:

Honor Bell
Pam Bilbrey
Travis Bowden
K.C. Clark
Sharon Hess Herrick
Charles Horner
Collier Merrill
Eddie Phillips
Roy Smith

Chair Merrill recognized Rep. Jerry Melvin, R-Fort Walton Beach, who attended the meeting, and Dr. Dianne Barlar, the Fort Walton Beach Campus director for hosting the Board. He asked Dr. Linda Dye to update the Board on the presidential search. She said that three candidates were scheduled to be on campus next Monday and two more on Wednesday for interviews. The Search Advisory Committee meets on April 22 to recommend three candidates to the Trustee Search Committee.

Trustee Bilbrey, at the chair's request, briefed the Board on the progress of the ad hoc committee working on the UWF Strategic Plan. A formal recommendation will be brought to the Board at the June meeting. The Plan has been reduced to a one-page document, which Trustee Bilbrey said is "pretty powerful." The document next will be distributed widely through the university and community for review and comment.

Trustee Phillips said that the Board must periodically work on the Strategic Plan throughout the year, suggesting that every quarter the Board should devote some time to the strategic planning process.

President Morris Marx distributed a list of names for tenure nominations and promotion, which was submitted to the Florida Board of Education for approval. The boards of trustees do not yet have authority to approve tenure nominations and promotions, but that responsibility is expected to be shifted to the boards in the School Code rewrite, President Marx said.

Vice President Parks Dimsdale said that no tenure nominations were denied and only three did not receive their promotions.
President Marx briefed the Board on the School Code rewrite in the Legislature, saying that, "Jerry Melvin certainly had his finest hour in putting together the School Code rewrite." Melvin sponsored the bill in the House. Both the Senate and the House bills included the essential products sought by universities, and the only disagreements were in the K-12 areas. Once the bill is passed, the Board will begin work on adopting such things as a personnel system. On the budget, President Marx said he was confident the budget cuts of last year would be restored. He also distributed a report on deferred maintenance, adding that it will be brought back to the Board in the future.

Trustee Bell asked why there were no African-American and few Hispanics on the tenure/promotion list. "Are we not attracting African-American or Hispanic faculty?" We need to be sensitive to this as a community," Trustee Bell said.

President Marx said the University is "absolutely" committed to diversity, and it advertises open positions in professional journals that target audiences of African Americans and Hispanics.

A lengthy discussion ensued, with the president saying the problem is the limited supply of minority faculty members who want to come and stay at UWF. One of the biggest reasons is that larger universities can offer larger salaries, and UWF cannot be competitive in that area. Minority student enrollment is climbing, however. Trustee Horner said that if there are factors inhibiting recruitment of faculty, the Board should address them. Trustee Clark said there are factors beyond the University's control, such as the perception of the South mentioned by presidential search consultant, Bill Funk. Chair Merrill said he would be interested in appointing a committee to study the issue, should it be warranted.

Approval of minutes
Trustee Clark moved and Trustee Hess Herrick seconded a motion to adopt the minutes from the March 15 meeting of the Board of Trustees. It passed unanimously.

Action item 1 - Presidential performance evaluation policy
Trustee Smith said the procedure is fairly general and broad, and it required more specifics. He would like to see a specific set of targets or goals for the president to hit. Trustee Bilbrey and others agreed. On a motion by Trustee Phillips, seconded by Trustee Bilbrey and unanimously adopted by the Board, the proposed policy was amended and approved. The amendment inserted the following language into the policy: "As part of the yearly evaluation procedure, the Board and president will establish target goals and objectives for the next year. Those goals and objectives will be used as part of the next evaluation."

Action item 2 - BOT mail policy
Trustee Smith moved and Trustee Clark seconded adoption of the Board of Trustees mail policy. There was no discussion. It passed unanimously.

Action item 3 - BOT meeting schedule
Trustee Clark suggested that the Board have one meeting a year outside of Northwest Florida. It would provide opportunity for Board members to meet with alumni and others around the state. Trustee Phillips questioned whether the Board would be criticized for spending the extra money, but President Marx said that the Foundation should sponsor such an event. General Counsel Julie Sheppard cautioned the Board that a meeting away from the University should contain no controversial items. After a few corrections on dates of proposed meetings, Trustee Bilbrey moved and Trustee Clark seconded adoption of the meeting schedule. It passed unanimously.

Committee reports

Finance, Administration and Audit Committee
Trustee Clark reported there were no audit issues to be brought to the full Board, and that Trustee Bilbrey abstained from the vote on acceptance of Student Health Center Audit because of a conflict of interest.

The committee unanimously recommends adopting the changes in the UWF Student Housing System Agreement, which is evaluated every five years, Trustee Clark said. He moved to adopt and Trustee Bell seconded. It passed unanimously.

Academic and Student Affairs Committee
Trustee Smith reported on the degree program approval/modification policy, which was developed and approved by the committee. Trustee Smith moved and Trustee Phillips seconded adoption of the policy. It passed unanimously, with Trustee Horner adding that the committee expressed interest in expanding the engineering program. Provost Parks Dimsdale said the electrical and computer engineering programs are coming to Fort Walton Beach, and civil and mechanical engineering is being looked at.

Trustee Smith said the committee reviewed and approve the UWF Code of Student Conduct, after hearing a presentation from Dr. Dye, who said the code was updated and reviewed by a committee of students and legal counsel. Trustee Smith moved and Trustees Clark and Horner seconded adoption of the Code of Student Conduct. It passed unanimously.

Discussion items

Structure, growth and development of IHMC
President Marx said that Trustee JoAnn Morgan wanted him to inform the Board that as a former member of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), she has heard discussions intensify about operating the Institute as a direct support organization, a 501.3c entity. IHMC began 11 years ago with a $300,000 appropriation from the state and two faculty members. The state now contributes $700,000 annually, but other revenues total $5.5 million. The typical leveraging between public and private dollars is two-to-three times the state appropriation. In IHMC's case, it is leveraged at eight times. The Advisory Board has felt restricted by state rules when most of the money is coming from outside sources. Trustee Morgan suggested the time to convert the IHMC is now, President Marx said. It would be a similar arrangement to what the university did in the historic preservation program.

Trustee Morgan's request is for the Board to authorize IHMC Director Ken Ford, Chair Collier Merrill, General Counsel Julie Sheppard and Trustee Morgan to report back to the Board at its May meeting on how that may proceed.

Trustee Bell said he is concerned because sometimes programs become disassociated from their mother entities. Trustee Smith asked whether a change in status for IHMC mean the University will continue to financially support it. President Marx said those issues will have to be dealt with, and the change allows a symbiotic relationship between IHMC and the University, sort of a contract between the two.

Expansion of student housing report
Dr. Dye provided the Board an update on University and Foundation activities to expand housing. The first student housing on campus came in 1966, and it was HUD financed. In 1972, housing was only subsidized by HUD. Since then the financing of housing became difficult. In 1998, the most common form of financing housing became the Direct Support Organization, and UWF consolidated all is housing through the Foundation, which subleases the land. The UWF Foundation secures revenues sharing bonds, and the Foundation then contracts with the university to manage the units. All housing operations must be self -sufficient.

An exploratory team is looking at housing needs, after Martin and Pace Halls were completed on time and under budget. There appears to be a demand for additional housing, evidenced by a waiting list last fall. The occupancy rate was 95 percent at the end of fall and 90 percent at spring, with a 45 percent retention rate from freshmen residents. The reasons for the expansion are the increased enrollment, the type of students (more traditional) and the retention rate. Housing currently has $2.8 million in reserve for maintenance and unexpected expenses,

Another housing unit, a replicate of Pace Hall, could be opened in fall, 2003, with construction beginning the fall of this year. It would require legislative approval for issuing revenue bonds, adoption of enabling resolution to explore expansion, and an exploratory team to decide the best bond strategy. Replication of the Pace Hall is preferred because the University owns the design, and it would standardize the mechanical equipment, Dr. Dye said.

Other business
None.

The meeting adjourned at 12:04 p.m.