2008-09 Board of Trustees Meeting Notes

May 2009
(From https://intranet.hampshire.edu/viewDetails.php?messageNumber=28209)

Summary of the May 15-16, 2009 Meeting of the Board of Trustees

The Hampshire College board of trustees met on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16, 2009.

At their meeting, the trustees vote to approve the following:

- The minutes of the February 6-7, 2009 meeting of the board of trustees - Faculty personnel actions as recommended by the president - Award of the baccalaureate degree to the candidates recommended by the faculty of the college - Citations in honor of retiring trustees Hosea Baskin, Renee Freedman, Florence Ladd, Meredith Miller, Robin Mount, and Brian van Slyke - Election of the staff trustee, Wendy O'Rourke, effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011 - Election of the student trustee, Matan Cohen, effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010 - Election of trustees David Dinerman and Stephan Jost, effective May 15, 2009 through May 14, 2013, and Laura Nasir, effective July 1 through June 30, 2013 - Election of the officers of the college, effective July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010: - Sigmund Roos, chair - Ralph Hexter, president - Helen Cohen, vice chair - Timothy Koller, vice chair - Alan Goodman, interim vice president and dean of faculty - Mark Spiro, vice president of finance and administration and treasurer - Nancy Kelly, secretary - Election of Kenneth Rosenthal to the executive committee - Election of Edward Cerullo as trustee emeritus - Commendation of retiring Vice President and Dean of Faculty Aaron Berman

In addition, the board learned that the executive committee has appointed and charged the ad hoc committee to redraft the college's investment policies. Committee members are: - Jonathan Scott, chair - Kenneth Rosenthal - Meredith Miller - Samuel Light, student - Stanley Warner, faculty - Staff member to be named The committee is expected to report at the November, 2009 meeting of the board of trustees.

The trustees were briefed by board committees or the administration on: - The establishment of the governance task force, which will begin its work with a "governance audit," and which includes trustees Shelley Johnson Carey and Stephan Jost as members; - The efforts to create an accurate FY11 budget by late summer, when information about net revenue will be available; - The land transactions, campus improvements and changes to Route 116 and Bay Road that will take place this summer; - The steps taken by the investment committee to transfer endowment funds into Parametric, a socially responsible fund, in which the college will have its own account, that uses social screening software development by industry-leader KLD Consulting; - The three pilot academic programs to begin this fall that address concerns raised by the Wabash Study; - The charge to the Wabash Task Force II, which will examine issues of student life and the intersection of student and academic life on campus; - The fundraising successes of the graduating class (which met an anonymous $150,000 challenge through gifts of $20.09 from students) and the annual fund, which appears on target to meet its goal in spite of the economic downturn; - The anticipated entering class and overall enrollment for the fall.

The board devoted significant time to reviewing, with the president, possible goals and work plans; it agreed to extend its September retreat to two full days preceded by an evening of work.

Board members attended Division III presentations, Commencement, the Dedication of the Jerome Liebling Building for Film, Photography and Video, and the Div Free Dance.

The board will meet again August 27-29, 2009.