BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR FORT LEWIS COLLEGE
September 19, 2002
Student Memorial Lounge, College Union Building
Fort Lewis College
Vol. 2
Call to Order
The Board of Trustees for Fort Lewis College convened its first regular meeting
on Thursday, September 19, 2002, with Peter Decker, Interim Chair, presiding.
Those present:
Trustees: Linda Campbell, Peter Decker, Rita Kahn, Ian Lyle, Susan Moss,
Michael Pugh, and Leonel Silva.
Staff: Robert Dolphin, Jr., President; Steve Roderick, Vice President for
Academic Affairs, Steve Schwartz, Interim Vice President for Business and
Finance; Glenna Sexton, Vice President for Student Affairs; Fred Kuhlwilm, Legal
Counsel, Peggy Sharp, Executive Assistant to the President, David Eppich,
Assistant to the President for External Affairs; and Mike Larson, Audio
Consultant.
Guests:
Fort Lewis College
Michele Peterson, Interim Director of Budgets; Gary Goold, Controller;
Byron Dare, Chair, Faculty Assembly; Joe Taylor, Director of Internal
Audit; Greg Bell, Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs; Rena Bacus,
Assistant to Vice President for Business and Finance; Phyllis Hoyt,
Assistant to Director, Facilities Planning/Purchasing; Brad Hitti, Director,
Auxiliary Services; Paul Mares, Bookstore Manager; Ingrid Ryan, Faculty;
Ginny Engman, Dean, School of Education; John Ninnemann, Dean,
School of Arts and Sciences; Robert Bunting, Assistant Dean, Arts and
Sciences; Skip Cave, Dean, School of Business Administration; Michael
Fry, Faculty; Laura Godfrey, Director of Assessment; Kalin Grigg, Director,
Center for Service Learning; Dennis Lum, Faculty; Chris Aaland, External
Affairs; Chuck Yoos, Faculty; Doug Lyon, Faculty; Ernst-Gerd von Kolke,
Faculty; Amy Stenslien, Director of Institutional Research; Dugald Owen,
Faculty; Andy Sheston, Director, Student Housing and Conference
Services; Ana Vasquez, Assistant Director, Student Housing; Bill Bolden,
Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs; Susan McGinness,
Director, Counseling Services; Jill Wiegert, Director, Conference Services;
Tom Compton, Faculty; Paris Elliott, Student Reporter, The Independent;
Justin Boyd, student.
Other
Brett Siegel, CCHE Liaison; Anne Neal, Executive Director, American
Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA); Jerry Martin, President, ACTA;
Nancy Dolphin, Durango community member; Bob Hill, President, Fort
Lewis College Foundation; Sal Pace, Alumni Board member.
President’s Agenda
Action Item 1-1: Approval of the Minutes of the August 17, 2002 Meeting of the Board of Trustees
for Fort Lewis College
Leonel Silva moved to accept the minutes; Linda Campbell seconded.
The minutes were approved without corrections.
Action Item 1-2: Election of Board Officers
Leonel Silva nominated Peter Decker for Chair; Linda Campbell
seconded. Rita Kahn nominated Sally Schaefer as Vice Chair; seconded
by Mrs. Campbell. Both motions passed unanimously.
Peter Decker nominated Leonel Silva as secretary/treasurer; Ms. Kahn
seconded.
Following a brief discussion the motion passed.
Mr. Decker made the recommendation that President Dolphin serve as
Deputy Secretary/Treasurer. Mr. Silva so moved; Mrs. Campbell
seconded the motion. Dr. Dolphin said that he would work with the
College staff to perform the duties of this office. Mr. Pugh noted in the
future consideration should be given to having a deputy treasurer and a
deputy secretary.
The Board voted unanimously to elect Dr. Dolphin as Deputy
Secretary/Treasurer.
Action Item 1-3: Non-Delegated Personnel Actions
Dr. Dolphin explained that the Board’s Policies and Procedures Manual
delegates certain personnel authority solely to the Board and those
actions must come to the Board for approval.
Leonel Silva moved to approve Agenda Item 1-3; seconded by Mr. Pugh.
Motion carried.
Board Chair’s Update
Mr. Decker expressed the Board’s appreciation to Dr. Dolphin and Nancy
for hosting the reception on Wednesday evening for the Trustees and the
Executive Board of the Foundation.
The draft Proclamation to the Board of Governors (formerly the State
Board of Agriculture) was discussed and informally approved. It will be
printed, framed and presented to the Board of Governors at an
appropriate time.
Mr. Decker reiterated that the Board had agreed to act as a committee as
a whole on all matters for the initial months of operation. Mr. Pugh
suggested that the Trustees examine committee structure and see if the
structure currently listed in the Policies and Procedures Manual is
appropriate for this Board.
Susan Moss had communicated with Mr. Decker regarding clarification of
the role of the two non-voting members of the Board. In response to her
request, Mr. Decker stated that both the faculty and student representative
should:
 be included in all communication;
 be kept informed of meetings of standing committees and receive
minutes of said meetings;
 have an opportunity to put items on the agenda; however said
items need to come through the Chair or the President;
 be present at executive sessions of the Board and attend retreats;
 have all responsibilities related to the Board membership, but will
not have a vote.
Mr. Decker suggested that an event be held to celebrate the College’s
new governance system. Ms. Moss said that the campus community
would like to have an opportunity to meet the new Board and that the
November 7th meeting might be an appropriate time for both the
celebration and for the campus community to greet the Board members.
The College staff will make arrangements for this observance and will
keep the Board informed as plans progress.
President’s Report and Update:
Dr. Dolphin reviewed the 2002-2003 Campus Priorities with the Board.
He asked Dr. Greg Bell, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs,
to give a brief explanation of our enrollment management efforts, since it
is one of the College’s priority areas.
Recess
Steve Schwartz, Interim Vice President for Business and Finance, gave the
Board an overview of the voucher proposal being considered by the
Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel and announced that the next meeting of the
Panel will be November 22 from 7:30 a.m. till noon.
Dr. Dolphin reported on the College’s plan for obtaining the services of a
lobbyist to represent Fort Lewis College at the legislature. The actual
contract for services will be between Fort Lewis College Foundation and the
lobbyist, Mr. Danny Tomlinson. State funds will not be used to pay for
Tomlinson’s services. It was requested that the Board have input in
legislative strategy and any major issues having an impact on the College
and/or Board of Trustees.
ACTION AGENDA
Action Item 1-4: Approval of Board of Trustees Manual of Policies
and Procedures
Trustee Pugh moved that the Board approve the manual; Rita Kahn
seconded the motion.
Mr. Pugh stated that several areas in this manual needed to be revised.
Mr. Decker recommended that the Board be given an opportunity to study
the manual more thoroughly and come back with a list of changes they
would like to see made. In addition, he suggested that recommendations
for revisions could be an agenda item for the November meeting. Fred
Kuhlwilm reminded the Board that if they did not approve the manual as
presented in the September agenda, the Trustees and College would be
obligated to abide by any changes that the Board of Governors might
make in their Policies and Procedures Manual.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the Manual of Policies and
Procedures as presented.
INVITATIONAL PRESENTATION
At 11:00 a.m. Dr. Jerry Martin, President of the American Council of Trustees,
and Alumni (ACTA), and Ms. Anne Neal, Executive Director of ACTA, made a
presentation to the Board regarding their organization’s recommendations for
conducting a presidential search.
Lunch Break @12:05 p.m.
Dr. Martin and Ms. Neal continued their presentation at 12:30 p.m. and
concluded at approximately 1:30 p.m.
Break
President’s Report and Update Continued
Dr. Dolphin asked Steve Schwartz to provide the Trustees with an update
of the College’s financial condition, as well as fiscal issues at the state
level. Mr. Schwartz reported that the College is addressing the shortfall in
tuition and the pending rescissions from the State. Board members
Campbell and Kahn suggested that perhaps the College should pursue
more federal monies when appropriate.
Dr. Dolphin brought the College’s voluntary withdrawal of the Berndt Hall
Biology renovation to the attention of the Board. The CCHE requested
that institutions either voluntarily withdraw their construction project
requests or the projects would be pulled back by the state.
With regard to obtaining a subscription to The Chronicle of Higher
Education for each trustee, many of the Board members preferred to have
access to it on line. Dr. Dolphin will have staff investigate whether one
subscription for a hard copy would enable the other members to access
The Chronicle on the Web.
ACTION AGENDA (continued)
Action Item 1-5: Fort Lewis College Separation: Intergovernmental
Agreement
Michael Pugh moved that this item be approved; Rita Kahn seconded.
Ms. Kahn asked Mr. Kuhlwilm if he was comfortable with the document,
and Kuhlwilm responded affirmatively. In response to questions regarding
the College’s land in Horse Gulch, Dr. Dolphin indicated that the College
would provide the Board with a map of the property.
The Board voted to approve the Intergovernmental Agreement.
Action Item 1-6: Fort Lewis College Separation: Outstanding
Revenue Bond and Lease Obligations
Trustee Kahn moved to approve Item 1-6 with Mr. Pugh seconding the
motion.
Following a brief discussion, the motion to approve the Outstanding
Revenue Bond and Lease Obligations passed.
Action Item 1-7: Program Plan: Fort Lewis College Child
Development Center
It was moved by Mr. Silva and seconded by Ms. Kahn to approve Item 17.
Discussion followed regarding the impact of this project due to the
budgetary constraints the College is facing, as well as the added
operating costs. Mr. Schwartz responded that funds were already
committed and that the project would not be affected.
Without further discussion, the motion to the Program Plan for the Child
Development Center was approved.
Action Item 1-8: Approval of the Fort Lewis College InstitutionSpecific Indicators for the Quality Indicator System
Mr. Silva made a motion to approve this item; Ms. Kahn seconded the
motion. Dr. Roderick gave a brief description of the Quality Indicator
System and explained the reasoning behind the selection of these two
indicators.
Following discussion, the Board voted to approve the insitution-specific
indicators.
REPORT AGENDA
Report Item 2-1: Recommendation of Executive Search Firms for Fort
Lewis College’s Presidential Search
Dr. Dolphin reported that eight Requests for Proposals were sent to
executive search firms and information was also placed on the Colorado
Bid System on the Web. Seven responses were received. A review
committee consisting of Dr. Steve Roderick, Vice President for Academic
Affairs, Dr. Skip Cave, Dean of the School of Business Administration and
Dr. Dolphin read and rated the firms. The top three were Korn-Ferry,
Heidrick & Struggles and A.T. Kearney. A recommendation was made to
interview these three firms.
Mr. Pugh suggested that a set of standard questions be developed to use
in the interviews and further suggested that the Board take the time to
devise this list at this meeting. A set of questions was formulated.
The Board expressed a desire to interview all three firms in one day in
Denver. Mr. Decker offered the conference room at his office. October
24th was agreed upon as the first choice for the interviews, with October
14th being an alternate date. Dr. Dolphin will contact each of the principals
in these three firms to arrange for an interview.
A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the following issues: make-up of
the Presidential Search Committee; how to gather input from all
constituencies; and, the process for the search. The search process will
be formulated at the November meeting. Mr. Pugh suggested that the
Trustees should hold off on the decision regarding the composition of the
search committee until the process has been determined.
Mr. Decker recommended that the Board draft a job description at the
December meeting.
Report Item 2-2: Oral Reports from Faculty Representative and
Student Representative
Ms. Moss distributed a list of topics to the Board and asked that they let
her know which were of most interest to them. This will help her to
prepare her reports for upcoming meetings. She also stated that there is
great interest on campus in getting to know the members of the Board and
suggested that opportunities for interaction would benefit both the campus
community and the Trustees.
Mr. Lyle announced that Homecoming/Parents Weekend was happening
the weekend of September 27-29. Additionally he provided a brief
description of the role of the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College.
Following the completion of the Report agenda, Mr. Pugh asked that Dr.
Dolphin and his staff prepare an item for the November 4 th agenda that would
focus on the College’s mission/vision and the challenges ahead.
Mr. Kuhlwilm made a suggestion that in light of the discussion regarding the
presidential search, the Trustees might want to look at Section 4 of the
Policies and Procedures Manual, which describes the President’s role and
responsibilities. The Board may want to make some changes in this section
prior to commencing with the search.
Mr. Decker adjourned the meeting at 3:55 p.m.