May 7, 1999

The Board of Regents of Washington State University met pursuant to call in Open Meeting at 10:35 a.m. on Friday, May 7, 1999, in the Lewis Alumni Centre.

Present: Carmen Otero, President; Regents: Richard R. Albrecht, Phyllis J. Campbell, Robert D. Fukai, Peter J. Goldmark, William D. Marler, and Janelle Milodragovich; President Samuel H. Smith, Provost Gretchen Bataille, Vice President for Business Affairs Samuel Kindred, Vice President for Extended University Affairs Thomas L. Purce, Vice President for University Advancement Connie Kravas, Vice President for Administration Sally P. Savage, Faculty Senate Chair Robert Greenberg, Alumni Association President Craig Gable, GPSA President Abraham Kannankeril, and ASWSU President Steve Wymer.

Also present were: Executive Director of Budget and Planning Gregory P. Royer, Associate Vice President for Human Relations and Diversity Ernestine Madison, Assistant Vice President for Business Affairs Ernest J. Renfro, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Douglas Baker, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Gus Kravas, Budget Director Karl Boehmke, and Director of Statewide Affairs Larry Ganders, and Legislative Representative for the Faculty Senate Carolyn Clark, and Assistant Legislative Representative Matt Carroll.

1. Opening Remarks and Introductions. Regent Carmen Otero opened the meeting and provided welcoming remarks. She noted that WSU faces a busy couple of days with the graduation celebrations and the many events occurring for Commencement. Regent Otero also welcomed President Smith back to campus.

President Smith thanked everyone for all the kind thoughts and support expressed during this recent illness. He especially thanked his administrative team for working so hard during his absence. He stated that his recovery is going well and the prognosis is great.

2. Minutes. It was moved and seconded that the Board of Regents approve the minutes of the meeting of April 2, 1999. Carried.

3. Reports from University Groups. The reports from the University Groups are attached as Exhibit A.

Faculty Senate Chair Bob Greenberg reviewed his report. He announced that Dr. Peter Burke and Dr. Fran McSweeney had been elected as chair and vice chair, respectively, and would serve in these posts for the 1999-2000 academic year. Dr. Greenberg indicated the Faculty Senate has been very busy and noted that work had been done on faculty titles project but that this report needs to be refined and sent back to committee. He said this would be reported on further in the fall. Dr. Greenberg recognized Drs. Clark and Carroll whose work in the legislature had helped to get salary increases passed. Dr. Greenberg also thanked the Board of Regents for its support in this area.

In addition to his report, GPSA President Abraham Kannankeril spoke about working to improve student government communications among the main and branch campuses and wanted to continue to further the concept of WSU as one university. Mr. Kannankeril also introduced the new GPSA officers who were elected in the first, web-based election. He introduced Mr. Steve Kuehn, a Ph.D. student in Geology, who was elected to serve as President, and Ms. Victoria Hansel, a graduate student in Anthropology, who was elected to serve as Vice President.

In addition to his report, ASWSU President Steve Wymer reported that the students were glad to have President Smith back on campus. Also, Mr. Wymer thanked Provost Bataille for allowing the student leaders to meet with her, after the budget passed, to discuss the tuition setting issue. Additionally, Mr. Wymer presented a set of architectural renditions of the Student Recreation Center. Regent Otero asked when the Recreation Center would be completed, and Mr. Wymer responded that it is anticipated that January 2001 would be the move-in date. Mr. Wymer also noted that they had held their ASWSU reception, during which they had thanked Greg Royer and Jim Rimpau. Mr. Wymer stated that he is in the middle of making student appointments to presidential and faculty senate committees. He said ASWSU is waiting to hear which of the four students nominated will be appointed by the governor to be the next student Regent.

Regent Marler indicated he had some concerns about raising tuition. One concern expressed was that tuition will increase at a time when the students are not in Pullman, and he asked Mr. Wymer if the students had been able to provide input related to this issue. Mr. Wymer replied that ASWSU had lobbied against this authority because of the possibility of damaging the dynamics between students and Regent, as they currently have such a good relationship. He said student leaders had talked with Provost Bataille about tuition increases, that there has not been an increase in some time, so students will not be surprised about an increase. He said ASWSU knows the increase will be between 0 and 4.6 percent, so the decision will be up to the Regents. Regent Marler noted that as a student leader, Mr. Wymer also held some responsibility in regard to this issue and asked what the student leadership had done to poll the student body. Mr. Wymer replied that Cody Benson had provided the coordination to get students thoughts on this issue. He said they gathered e-mails and took students to testify before members of the Legislature. He said he felt that most students were not aware of the process and noted that if asked, students will respond that they do not want to pay any more to go to college. He said ASWSU listened to the students’ concerns of not wanting a tuition increase via e-mail, letters, and word of mouth and that they felt that WSU should stay with the tradition of the land-grant tradition and keep tuition as low as possible.

Alumni Association President Craig Gable reported that his time as Alumni Association President had been rewarding and had gone by quickly. He said that Crimson Company would be at the Moore Theater on May 17^th and invited everyone to attend if they could. Mr. Gable said the alumni would be holding gatherings with the theme “Cougar Pride Statewide” for incoming freshman and parents so the questions of these new students and their parents could be answered. He said the Alumni Relations staff is an incredible group and said that they “perform miracles” on a daily basis. Mr. Gable stated that as of Monday the gavel would pass from him to Sherry Friendenrich, Treasurer of the City of Huntington Beach, California. Mr. Gable said he was grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as Alumni Association President.

Regent Otero thanked Abraham and Craig for their service.

4. President’s Report. President Smith reported that a successful legislative session had been completed. He thanked Larry Ganders, Greg Royer, Carolyn Clark, Matt Carroll, the students and all involved for their outstanding efforts. He called upon Director of Legislature Affairs, Larry Ganders, to provide a legislative report.

In his report, Mr. Gander’s acknowledged all the legislators who helped to produce such a strong budget. He said that 147 members of the legislature made WSU’s package possible and stated that Governor Locke had distinguished himself as the “education governor” and was assisted by two important individuals from his staff—OFM Director Dick Thompson and Senior Budget Assistant Wolfgang Opitz. He said the three of them worked harder on higher education in the legislative session than ever before. He noted, for example, that without them, there would not have been a trust lands settlement or such a good proposed budget. Additionally, Mr. Ganders acknowledged the work of Attorney General Christine Gregoire, Deputy Attorney General Gary Ikeda, and others on her staff who lobbied and provided technical support.

Mr. Ganders also stated that many legislators had worked cooperatively and individually to provide support for the WSU budget request, including such items such as the Safe Food and Advanced Technology Initiatives, salary increases, the Health Sciences Consortium, and the Real Estate Research and Shock Physics Buildings, to name a few. He said the state’s legislative leaders made higher education a priority this session. Mr. Ganders gave tribute to President Smith and the Board of Regents who helped make difficult issues palatable to the legislature.

Regent Goldmark noted the significant amount of time and effort, as well as the level of success achieved by Mr. Ganders and Mr. Royer. He said the budget received will make it possible for this institution to do things in the future that we would not have otherwise been able to do.

5. Planning Committee Report. Regent Peter Goldmark reported that the Planning Committee had discussed the issue of tuition setting authority, which is part of the budget bill that had passed the legislature but had not yet been signed by the Governor. He said this is a significant issue on the horizon for the board, which will require much thought to make the right choice for WSU. He said Budget Director Karl Boehmke had led the group through some charts and information items. He stated that the group had discussed issues related to tuition setting authority, such as faculty salaries and their equitable and fair distribution. Additionally, Regent Goldmark said the Committee discussed the Spokane campus and the tremendous positive impact of the Health Sciences Building and the strategic planning process to be commenced in the near future. He indicated that the Regents would discuss this at the June meeting, which will include discussion about the process to be followed and outcomes as a result of the process. As a final item, Regent Goldmark reported that Provost Bataille had presented a report on faculty salaries and what the legislative budget will enable us to do in that area, and another report including components to help WSU meet the goal of increasing its ranking from the bottom to the middle range relative to our peer institutions. Regent Goldmark commented that this will be a long-term process and that we will continue to work to make progress in this area.

6. Academic Affairs Committee Report. Regent Carmen Otero reported that the Regents had discussed the action item concerning the establishment of a School of Molecular Biosciences to be recommended for action to the Board. She noted that the Committee had discussed two additional action items, the establishment of a School of Biological Sciences and the extension of the Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering to WSU Spokane, to be considered by the Board at a future meeting. Regent Otero stated that the Committee had talked about the need for more information regarding the potential action on setting tuition and stated that this Committee would like to have one more meeting prior to consideration of that authority. Regent Otero also reported that the Committee would like to provide a report to the Regents before the new school year begins, including recommendations about the issues they discussed relative to alcohol, campus climate, etc. She noted that priorities for the next year should include enrollment, budget considerations, and academic issues. Regent Otero extended her appreciated to student Regent, Janelle Milodragovich. She said the Regents were fortunate to have had her invaluable perspective throughout the past year.

7. Provost’s Report. Provost Gretchen Bataille summarized some of the issues that had arisen throughout the past year as follows:

· Promotion and Tenure Review—This included the establishment of a Promotion and Tenure Task Force to make recommendations to improve the process, particularly relating to branch campus faculty.

· Faculty Salaries—This will continue to be a priority as WSU reviews ways to increase salaries for faculty and administrative and professional staff.

· Undergraduate Excellence— Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Doug Baker had provided a report during the Academic Affairs Committee related to its activities over the past year

· Student Affairs— Vice Provost for Student Affairs Gus Kravas will be departing WSU and individuals are being assigned responsibilities in this area until a new individual can be hired.

· Search for a Vice Provost for Enrollment Management— Candidates for this position had recently visited WSU.

· Budget Activity—Although the Health Sciences Consortium was not funded, WSU will continue to work with this group and discussions will occur with the Regents on this topic at a later date.

· Academic Program Review—The Provost’s Office, the Faculty Senate, and the Graduate School have worked together to develop a new process to assess the quality of academic programs, which will involve external reviewers who will provide independent assessments of the quality of our teaching and research programs.

8. Establish a School of Molecular Biosciences. Provost Bataille provided the background information as it appeared in the information provided with the Regents packets. Provost Bataille expressed her appreciation to Dean Radziemski who was instrumental in the process, and Regent Goldmark expressed his support for this reorganization.

It was moved and seconded that, effective fall semester 1999, the WSU Board of Regents approve the recommendation to establish a School of Molecular Biosciences. Carried.

9. Finance, Audit, and Capital (FAC) Committee Report. Regent Albrecht stated that the Finance, Audit, and Capital Committee had met and had received reports on the following:

· Student Recreation Center/Capital Project Status Report—This project will be monitored as it moves forward.

· Modifications to the WSU Retirement Plan—The Committee recommends the modifications that appear under the area of Business Affairs on the agenda.

· The delegation of authority to approve the selection of firms to provide architectural consulting services and the authority to proceed with predesign and schematic design for several projects that are to be considered by the Regents.

· The confirmation of the directors of the Students Book Corporation, which will come before the Regents in June .

· A Treasurer’s Report was given.

· A discussion of the 1999 Operating and Capital Budgets and the Trust Lands issue.

· The Internal Budget Allocation Process.

· Tuition Setting Authority—The majority of the meeting was spent on this item, including the process that might be followed for consideration, the timing related to the Regents taking action, how the Regents will utilize this authority, and the importance of the Regents’ involvement in advance of taking action.

10. Trust Lands Settlement. Regent Albrecht reported that two bienna ago, the Regents reviewed the issue of trust lands and received an Attorney General’s opinion about the state improperly charging administrative fees against the management of the trust lands. He said two legislative sessions passed without resolution to this issue and that they were ready to seek a judicial solution to this issue. Regent Albrecht stated, however, a political issue had been determined. He noted that the Regents had received a copy of an agreement between WSU and the State, which says that $20 million would be appropriated now to WSU and that by the 2005 biennium, $16 million more would be appropriated. He said this represents a good solution to a contentious issue. Regent Albert also stated that without OFM Director Dick Thompson and Attorney General Christine Gregoire, this would not have passed in the legislature. He also reiterated Regent Goldmark’s comments about the work done by Executive Director of Budget and Planning Greg Royer.

It was moved and seconded that the Board of Regents approve the terms of the Settlement Agreement attached as Exhibit B and delegate authority to the President to execute said agreement and take all steps necessary for its implementation. Carried.

11. Contracts under Previous Delegation of Authority (under $500,000). Vice President for Business Affairs Samuel Kindred reported that on the authority delegated to the President or his designee at the meeting of January 24, 1986, he had entered into the following contracts:

Cascade Fire Protection, Pasco, Washington, for a retrofit of the fire sprinkler and alarm systems in Bustad Hall, for a total cost of $389,423, to be paid from 1997-99 Minor Capital Safety funds.

RAM Piping Industries, Kennewick, Washington, to modify an irrigation pump station and the Consolidated Information Center, for a total cost of $104,343, to be paid from 1997-99 Major Capital funds.

Hilliard’s Heating & Plumbing, Pullman, Washington, to isolate building non-potable water systems in Eastlick Hall, for a total project cost of $79,982, to be paid from 1995-97 Minor Capital Improvement funds, 1995-97 Minor Capital Renewal funds, and 1997-99 Minor Capital Safety funds.

Best Built Construction, Sunnyside, Washington, to reroof screenhouses #9 and #10 at Prosser IAREC, for a total project cost of $21,766, to be paid from 1997-99 department funds.

12. Contracts under Previous Delegation of Authority (over $500,000). Vice President for Business Affairs Samuel Kindred reported that based upon the authority delegated to the President or his designee, the Vice President for Business Affairs at the meeting of March 5, 1999, he had entered into a contract with PBI Construction, Spokane, Washington, for replacement of the endzone bleachers at Martin Stadium, for a total project cost of 4781,216, to be paid from 1997-99 Minor Capital Safety funds.

13. Quarterly Report of Appointments of Architects & Engineers under Delegation of Authority. Per the authority delegated at the meeting of January 24, 1986, Vice President for Business Affairs Sam Kindred provided a report of the architect and engineering firms appointed as consultants through Facilities Development and the projects for which they were appointed for the Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 1998-99.

14. Report by the Vice President for Extended University Affairs. Vice President for Extended University Affairs Les Purce reported on initiatives recommended by the Governor regarding community colleges and the baccalaureate institutions working for the development of central, open colleges, where students can have a common access to online courses and services. Vice President Purce said this initiative did not pass the legislative session but that the community colleges are continuing work on a strategy for a common access system for the community colleges, call the virtual campus. He said they have invited the baccalaureate institutions to participate in their strategy. He said they feel this will be important due the partnerships that exist between the institutions currently and because of the increasing numbers of students wanting to access education online. He stated that he will be attending a meeting to discuss the means by which they can think of strategies to work on a common system to identify common needs and that anything design will accommodate the baccalaureate institutions, as well as the community colleges. He said we are committed to follow-up with the state on the common interests we have for all students.

15. Report by the Vice President for University Advancement. Vice President for University Advancement Connie Kravas stated that University Advancement had recently upgraded its computing system and had transferred over a million records from the old to the new system. She stated that this would assist in the timely and efficient processing of records and that reports will begin to be produced by late June or early July. Vice President Kravas also noted that it was announced recently that WSU is number one in the country for alumni participation and was tied with Texas Technical University in this category. President Smith acknowledged the tremendous service provided by Connie and Gus Kravas, Vice President for Advancement and Vice Provost for Student Affairs, respectively. He stated that they would be departing WSU soon to take positions at the University of California, Riverside. He said that they had both achieved immense successes in their positions, that they had contributed a great deal to the institution, and that they would both be deeply missed. President Smith called for a round of applause for Connie and Gus.

16. Establishment of Dates for Meetings of the Board of Regents. It was moved and seconded that the Board of Regents adopt meeting dates for the calendar year 2000 according to the Resolution attached as Exhibit C. Carried.

17. Recognition of Janelle Milodragovich. Regent Peter Goldmark announced that he had a Resolution to read and present to student Regent Janelle Milodragovich. Regent Goldmark read the Resolution as appears in Exhibit D. He also presented her with a plaque commending her for her service as the first student Regent at Washington State University.

President Smith added his thanks on behalf of the University and stated that Ms. Milodragovich had done an outstanding job during the past year.

18. Election of Officers. It was moved and seconded that Regent Peter Goldmark be elected to serve as President of the Board of Regents for the year beginning May 15, 1999, and that Regent Kenneth Alhadeff be elected to serve as Vice President of the Board for Regents for the year beginning May 15, 1999, with the understanding that he shall act as President pro tempore in the absence of the President, with the power to preside at the meetings and to sign all instruments required to be executed by the Board of Regents. Carried.

19. Recognition of Carmen Otero. On behalf of the Regents, Regent Albrecht presented a certificate of appreciation to Regent Carmen Otero, for her service and counsel as President of the Board during the past year.

Regent Otero thanked the Board and thanked Regent Goldmark for his assistance as Vice President during the past year. She said he had been a wonderful Vice President that that he would be an outstanding President.

Regent Goldmark stated that it had been a pleasure working with Regent Otero, that the Board had made significant progress working under Regent Otero’s leadership, and that he hopes to be able to continue to provide the leadership she and others have given to the Board.

The Regents’ Meeting adjourned at 11:50 p.m.