April 6, 2006
9:00 a.m.
Teleconference Meeting
1. Call to Order and Determination of a Quorum
A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by Chairman, R.T. “Ted” Rogers. Board members participating were: Mrs. Margaret Sayre, Secretary; Dr. Darrin Martin, Faculty Representative; Mrs. Amy Pitzer, Classified Representative; Mr. Jesse Call, Student representative; Mr. J. Franklin Long, Vice President; Mr. James Brown; Mr. Wayne Meisel; and Mr. James Miller. Others participating: Dr. Jerry Beasley; Mr. Kent Gamble; Mr. Rick Dillon; Ms. Anita Moody; Mr. Greg Quick; Dr. Dean Turner; Ms. Mandy Sole, The Concordian; Mr. James Cannon; Ms. Loretta Young; Mr. Jared Tice, Student Body President; and Ms. Sharon Manzo, Recorder: Unable to participate: Dr. Deborah Akers, and Mr. Eugene Fife.
2.
Action Item –
Approval of Tuition and Fees for 2006-2007
Mr.
Rogers stated the Board was meeting to approve tuition and fees for
2006-2007. The proposed increases
are 6.8 percent in tuition and fees and 4.7 percent increase in housing. Dr. Beasley briefly addressed the data,
which had been e-mailed to Board members, then turned the meeting over to Jim
Cannon, who asked if there were
questions.
Mr.
Meisel asked Jesse Call for his perspective on the feelings of students and how
the increases are affecting morale.
Mr. Call said he announced the increase proposals to the Student
Government Association on April 5, 2006, and they do not understand why the
University does not find other ways to secure funds rather than placing the
burden on students. He suggested
that it might be appropriate for Dr. Beasley to address the students and
provide additional justification for
the increases. Mr. Meisel
asked if other ways of funding have been explored by students. Mr. Call said they have suggested fund
raising and using money the University has set aside for new buildings to meet
expenses.
Mr.
Rogers said the increases are modest and Concord is in line with other institutions. Dr. Beasley stated that the
institutions, other than the Morgantown campus, under the governance of the
West Virginia University Board of Governors have announced increases in excess
of 7 percent. Shepherd announced a
5 percent increase. He mentioned
there is a relationship between what we do with tuition and fees and how
generous the Legislature is to us.
Marshall is increasing only 3%, but they had a 16% increase last year. (After the meeting, Marshall
representatives reported that they were considering an increase greater than 3
percent.)
Mr.
Meisel indicated it is important that when we make announcements regarding the
increases we communicate again and again these are temperate increases. He asked if we could look at student
wages; if we expect students to pay more, can we examine means for them to earn more. Dr. Beasley said he believes we can do this. Provided in this budget is the
possibility of another increase in student aid, some of which could come in the
form of increases in wages,
particularly for students who are juniors and seniors who have gained
experience in the areas in which they are working. We could create a career ladder within certain areas. Mr. Meisel said from a morale
standpoint increasing wages would be helpful.
Mr.
Long stated he agrees with Mr. Meisel’s suggestion to increase wages and he
added he is concerned that, since we have increased fees each year, we are
going to price ourselves out of the market. We are taking the easy way out by these increases and he
believes that the cost is too high for a typical working family. He said he believes we should pursue
alternatives such as increased fund raising or cut backs. He stated he is opposed to increasing
tuition and fees.
Ms.
Pitzer echoed Mr. Long’s feelings regarding Concord pricing ourselves out of
the market, even though the increases are modest. Mr. Meisel suggested that we do what we need to do for this
year but campaign for no increases for 2007-2008.
Dr.
Martin agreed with the concerns regarding the increases but he stated the kind
of programs students want and
which we need to offer cost money; we are in a “Catch 22.” He stated we do need
to look for ways to fund programs that do not require increases in tuition and
fees but we cannot sacrifice quality.
Mr. Pitzer said she agrees with Dr. Martin but we need to consider
creative alternatives to fee increases.
Mrs. Sayre stated we do not want to lose quality and our scholarship aid
is extremely important.
Mr.
Cannon said the increases will maintain the CAT (Center for Academic
Technology). Salaries for
individuals in this office have been funded through grants, which will not
always be available. Increases
will provide for salaries for three of the five people as regular University
employees. Increases will also pay
for pay increases for faculty and staff.
He stated we need specificity and plan development for other alternatives
because the State gave us a 1/4 of 1 percent increase this year.
Mr.
Brown said the problem with saying we will not have future increases is that we
never know what the Legislature is going to do to us. Ms. Pitzer said there are other things we can do. For example, she asked if anyone has
sought other State or Federal grants to fund the CAT. Mr. Cannon said Tim Barnes has but there is less money
available in Washington. He stated
he does not believe we are giving up, however, and we continue to work with
congressional representatives.
Mr.
Rogers stated be believes we need to do something now for this year and begin
to seek alternatives to increases for 2007-2008. Mr. Call said he has a concern with the 4.7 percent increase
in housing because students do not understand why housing fees are going up but
there have been no significant changes to housing. Living standards are remaining the same; prices are
increasing. He said he believes
there are plenty of alternatives for next year. He
believes there are grants available for every department. We can do more fund raising. He said it is hard to explain to students
that although we are increasing fees, we are also increasing scholarships. He said students ask why we do not just
charge them less.
Mr.
Meisel asked if we increased the tuition fees more than 6.8 percent could we lower the housing
increase. Mr. Cannon stated
housing fees must remain segregated from the E&G (Education and General
Funds). We cannot subsidize
housing with regular tuition and fee money. One of the things driving the 4.7 percent increase in
housing is a mandated sprinkler system to be installed by 2010. The engineering has been completed at a
cost of $176,000 and the engineers estimate a cost of well over $2,000,000 to
install. We need the capacity to
make payments on bonds. The plan
is to do a complete remodel beginning with Towers and we will need to float
bonds to do this. We will need an
extra $300,000 to $600,000 yearly to make the bond payments. Mr. Dillon said this does not take into
consideration the energy increases each year.
Mr.
Meisel reiterated that we need to be clear when we explain why the increases are being made. Dr. Beasley said he believes it is
unfair to Mr. Tice and Mr. Call to always take the message to the students, and
he will be pleased to address the Student Government Association about why we
need increases this year and what the options are for future years. He also stated faculty and staff have
been called on to do extraordinary things. Faculty have very heavy teaching loads; they are responsible
for more student credit hours than
any four-year college or university in West Virginia. We have eliminated major administrative positions and people
are being asked to wear multiple hats; there are no easy answers on the cutting
side. We can look to the revenue
side for additional revenue but often money available is project specific and
many times to get funds you need to commit to new things.
Mr.
Rogers stated we need to do something now for the coming year and look for
alternatives for the future. Dr.
Beasley shared what legislators are considering. Mt. State University’s enrollment has grown, not in southern
West Virginia, but in satellite operations. Even though their rates are
significantly higher than ours, they have a significantly higher population of
students who are Pell Grant eligible (80 percent). We are in a policy environment where legislators are asking
if Mt. State can do this, why can’t State institutions. He said we will explore other options
for 2007-2008. The Strategic
Planning committee is examining the long-run issues, and can suggest options.
Ms.
Pitzer said that when enrollment was the driving force we made an effort to
increase staff to see a better return.
Perhaps we need to consider increasing personnel in our fund raising,
development area. Mr. Meisel
stated it takes money to raise money.
Mr.
Tice asked why the initial proposed increase of 11.17 percent to fully fund the
B&G was reduced to 6.8 percent.
Mr. Cannon said the 6.8 percent took us through part four on the
strategic planning sheet; the part 5 areas were not included (attached).
Mr. Tice also asked about the equity fees. He said it appears female student athletes are
being funded at a higher level than males and we have more coaches per student athlete. He asked how the 20 additional dollars
would be used. Mr. Quick explained
with actual head count there is
more support for males than females and there are still extreme differences
between gender and salaries and
the number of full-time coaches. The numbers are confusing because they go by FTE not
headcount and we look at salaries
per sport not per individual. We are treating athletes, regardless of gender, very equitably but there are
still issues with travel and personnel.
The $20 will address these
and facilities issues.
Mr.
Meisel stated when we announce and talk about the increases we should mention
the initial proposal was 11 percent but the administration has been able to
reduce the increase by almost half.
He also suggested that board members sit down with constituents and help
explain the increases and reasons for them. Mr. Cannon agreed saying communication is critical and we
need to communicate to students that things they ask for come with a price, for
example, the separation of the Dean of Students from the Director of Student
Residential Life.
Mr.
Rogers called for action on the proposal. Mr. Meisel moved to accept the
increase as proposed, Mr. Brown seconded, and the motion carried with a vote of
eight for, one opposed.
3.
Other matters
Dr.
Beasley reminded the Board of the April 19, on-campus meeting, which will
include a tour of campus
facilities, including residence halls.
They will meet with faculty, staff and students. He also congratulated Mr. Long for the
award he received from the Governor for his civil rights work.
There
being no further business, Mr. Rogers asked for a motion to adjourn, moved by
Mr. Meisel.
Respectfully
submitted,
R.
T. “Ted” Rogers, Chair
Margaret
Sayre, Secretary
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