April 2018 Board of Visitors Summary of Actions & Discussions

The James Madison University Board of Visitors met Friday, April 27, 2018, in the Board Room of Madison’s Festival Conference and Student Center.

 The following is a summary of actions taken by the board and key areas of discussion at the board meeting;

• Approved the Feb. 9, 2018, Board of Visitors meeting minutes;
• Approved committee reports from the Advancement, Athletics, Audit, Education & Student Life, and Finance & Physical Development committees;
• Received a report on Title IX presented by Ms. Amy Sirocky-Meck, Title IX coordinator;
• Approved 2018 – 19 tuition and fees for returning undergraduate students and all graduate students:

*Student level – sophomore, junior and senior

• Approved tuition and fees for the 2018 summer sessions:

• Approved the fiscal year 2019 university budget (in millions):

*Excludes ETF

• Approved the creation of a graduate certificate in cyber intelligence;
• Approved a resolution changing the university’s legal representative for the Florence study abroad program;
• Approved resolutions to authorize the sale of bonds for the demolition and replacement of Phillips Hall and for the construction of the Chesapeake Avenue Parking Deck;
• Approved 5 utility easements related to the Chesapeake Avenue Parking Deck, the College of Business expansion, Phillips Hall and improvements to the intersection at West Grace Street and South Main Street;
• Approved revisions to the Board of Visitors by-laws;
• Approved a resolution recognizing Dr. Mark Warner, senior vice president for student affairs, for his service to the university and congratulating him on his retirement;
• Elected the following individuals to serve as officers of the Board of Visitors for the 2018-19 term:
  • Maribeth Herod, Rector;
  • Lara Major, Vice-Rector;
• Met in closed session;
• Approved the following real estate purchases:
  • 1140 Hillcrest Drive for $425,000.
• Approved the sale of the following real property:
  • 2868 South Main Street for $5 million.

Was told by President Alger during his President’s Report:

• Former Virginia lieutenant governor and Board of Visitors member Bill Bolling gave a lecture on campus titled, “Since When Did Compromise Become a Bad Thing?” as part of the Democracy in Peril lecture series;
• Board of Visitors member Mike Thomas spoke about business ethics with a College of Business class;
• Board of Visitors member Matt Gray-Keeling w the keynote speaker at JMU’s 2018 Lavender Graduation;
• CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta spoke on campus as part of the Madison Vision Series;
• The JMU Parents’ Council recently held a gala to celebrate their 40-year anniversary;
• JMU is at the table nationally on issues such as civic engagement, free speech and civil discourse;
• Noted business leader and philanthropist David Rubenstein will be the next Madison Vision Series speaker on September 17, 2018;
• JMU has officially entered into a partnership with the Peace Corps to build a Peace Corps Prep program;
• Laura Katzman, professor in the School of Art, Design and Art History, has been appointed as a visiting professor at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at the Free University in Berlin;
• Imelda O’Reilly, assistant professor in the School of Media Arts and Design, had a screenplay accepted into the Cannes International Film Festival;
• Four students and alumni received Fulbright awards;
• Nine students received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow Program awards;
• Three students received Goldwater Scholarship honorable mentions;
• Student Sakira Coleman was named a 2018 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact;
• A team of JMU students coached by Mert Tokman, professor in the College of Business, won first place in a case competition at the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators;
• The new Hotel Madison and Shenandoah Valley Conference Center opens May 1, 2018;
• The university is excited to support the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport’s new United Airlines jet service to Washington Dulles and Chicago O’Hare airports;
• Dr. Mark Warner will be the commencement speaker at the university ceremony on May 4, 2018. The university will confer degrees on 3,817 undergraduates and 597 graduate students.

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