• Agreed to a recommendation from the university administration to continue offering all 28 intercollegiate sports that are now available at JMU. The action creates a reallocation of resources among sports programs that will bring JMU closer to Title IX guidelines and will also provide needed funding to upgrade the athletics department's academic support and sports medicine programs.

Under the board action, JMU teams will be divided into two categories: one that will receive the maximum scholarship aid allowed by the NCAA and one that will receive no scholarship aid from the university. The programs, however, may raise private funds for scholarships.

An earlier recommendation to the university from the Centennial Sports Committee a group of faculty, administrators and community representatives had proposed the elimination of eight intercollegiate sports.

Under the action taken by the board, 13 JMU teams will receive the NCAA maximum number of scholarships from the university, and will be expected to consistently perform among the top teams in their conference and frequently appear in national rankings. Scholarships will be offered in football, baseball, soccer and basketball for men and in nine sports for women: soccer, basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, softball, volleyball, indoor track, outdoor track and cross country.

The 15 other intercollegiate teams will receive no future scholarship aid from the university but will continue to have their operations funded by the university. Those sports are: archery, golf, gymnastics, swimming/diving, indoor track, outdoor track, cross country, tennis and wrestling for men and the following sports for women: archery, fencing, golf, gymnastics, swimming/diving and tennis. (The two archery teams and the fencing team did not offer scholarships in the past.) While no new university scholarships will be available for these sports, the programs will have the university's endorsement and assistance in raising private funds for scholarships.

Existing scholarships will be honored until the student-athlete graduates or exhausts his or her athletic eligibility. Expectations for success by these teams will be commensurate with the fact they will be operating without university scholarship support. Whether they are on scholarship teams or not, all student-athletes will have the full support of the university so they can have positive experiences while representing JMU on the intercollegiate level.

Ultimately, scholarships awarded at JMU will be almost equal for men and women student-athletes 51 percent for men and 49 percent for women. Total participation rates for men and women in both scholarship and non-scholarship programs will be virtually even 50.6 percent for men and 49.4 percent for women.

• Approved a fee structure that will increase the cost for a Virginia student to attend James Madison University by $94 2.4 percent this fall. Tuition and mandatory fees for in-state students will go from the current $4,000 to the 2001-2002 total of $4,094. The $94 increase is in the university's comprehensive fee that covers non-academic campus activities, such as student organizations, health care, transportation, recreation and athletics. Inflation and higher energy costs are large factors in making the increase necessary.

Room and board will increase $168 to $5,458 for both in-state and out-of-state students. The new total for a Virginia student who lives on campus will be $9,552. Out-of-state tuition and fees will increase from $9,850 to $10,606 a 7.7 percent increase. The new total for an out-of-state student who lives on campus will be $16,064 a 6.1 percent increase over this year.

• Declined by a 7-6 vote to pass a resolution stating that the board "calls upon the leaders of the Virginia Senate to meet with the leaders of the House of Delegates in order to resolve this (state) budget impasse in order to insure that the needs of James Madison University and the needs of the Commonwealth are adequately addressed while allowing the governor's overwhelmingly popular commitment to repeal of the car tax be maintained." Several board members said they supported resolution of the budget impasse but did not feel that the board should express a preference on the method used to address the situation.

• Agreed to a suggestion from board member Charles H. Cunningham of Fairfax that the board's Education and Student Life Committee discuss in its June meeting the funding and operation of The Breeze, JMU's student newspaper. Mr. Cunningham expressed deep concern over the content of Turf, an insert that has appeared in several issues of The Breeze. Mr. Cunningham said the publication was inappropriate and the board should consider removing university funding from The Breeze.

• President Linwood H. Rose reported to the board on the following items:

• Unless the state budget impasse is resolved, JMU and higher education cannot expect salary increases, base budget adjustments, additional financial aid, or new capital outlay. About $575,000 in JMU funds that were earmarked for storm sewer improvements are currently frozen.

• Told the board that the recent 250^th celebration of James Madison's birth at JMU was a huge success. Dr. Rose praised Vice President of University Relations Barbara Castello and her staff for planning and carrying out the celebration.

• Reviewed the background that led up to the board decision on changes in the intercollegiate athletic program.

• Gave updates on the status of the following capital outlay projects: the parking deck; the Leeolou Alumni Center; the conference center; additional parking spaces; and the Harrison Hall addition and renovation.

• Reported that applications to JMU for admission in the fall of 2001 are up 373 over last year a 2.67 percent increase. The university has received 8,536 applications from Virginians and 5,795 from out of state, a total of 14,330. Last year, 13,957 applications were received.