June 2015 Board of Visitors Summary of Actions & Discussions

The James Madison University Board of Visitors met on Friday, June 5, 2015 at 1 p.m. in the Board Room of the JMU Festival Conference and Student Center.

The following is a summary of key areas of discussion at the board meeting:

• Received the president’s report from Mr. Jonathan Alger during which the board was told:
  • ESPN SportsCenter anchor and JMU alumna Lindsay Czarniak was the keynote speaker at May commencement;
  • 3,028 undergraduate and 569 graduate degrees were conferred at the May commencement exercises;
  • The Valley Scholars participated in a poster session on May 1.  The second cohort has been selected;
  • The Madison Vision Tour continues with a recent event in Harrisonburg and future events in McLean, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, California;
  • JMU hosted the statewide board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership;
  • JMU hosted the GenEdge Alliance leaders to talk about support for manufacturing and small business development;
  • JMU has the opportunity to share elements of The Madison Plan at upcoming events including the NCAA Champions Forum for football coaches, the College Media Relations Conference and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association;
  • Dick and Shirley Roberts have committed to a $1 million gift to support faculty;
  • The Luck family has committed to a gift to endow a chair in the College of Education;
  • JMU was ranked #11 on the Princeton Review’s inaugural list of the top 25 online MBA programs;
  • JMU received the Charlie Wampler Community Builder Award from the United Way of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County;
  • The Center for Wind Energy was selected by Virginia’s Department of Education as a regional winner of the 2015 Creating Excellence Business and Industry Partnership Award;
  • JMU student Ian Baxter was named to the Governor’s Fellows Program;
  • The women’s tennis program was recognized by the NCAA for being in the top 10 percent of all squads in the country for achieving top multiyear academic progress rates;
  • JMU was rated #1 for best college food by UniversityPrimetime.com.
• Received a report on University Recreation from Eric Nickel, director of University Recreation;
• Received a report on community engagement from Rich Harris, director of Community Service Learning.

The Board of Visitors took the following actions:

• Approved the minutes of the April 10, 2015 meeting;
• Approved revisions to the Faculty Handbook;
• Approved two bond resolutions relating to the Main Street parking deck;
• Approved a resolution containing technical changes to the Veterans Access, Choice & Accountability Act of 2014 resolution previously enacted by the Board of Visitors;
• Approved the 2015 – 2016 budget:

* Excludes Equipment Trust Fund (ETF) 

• Approved the purchase of 1.923 acres designated on the tax map as 004-B-2 located on Hunters Road for $450,000;
• Elected board officers for the 2015-2016 term.  Mike Thomas has been elected to serve as rector and Vanessa Evans-Grevious to serve as the board’s vice-rector.  Ms. Donna Harper, vice president for Access and Enrollment Management, will serve as secretary.