Board of Visitors summary of actions and discussions

Board of Visitors Summary of Actions and Discussions 

Feb. 13, 2026 

The James Madison University Board of Visitors met Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in the 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: 

The consent agenda was approved, which included the minutes of Nov. 14, 2025. 

Accepted committee reports from Academic Excellence; Athletics; Audit/Risk and Compliance; Campus Development Working Group; Governance; Finance and Physical Development; Philanthropy and Engagement; Strategic Planning and Student Affairs.   

Presentations to the Board of Visitors  

Faculty Senate Speaker Kathy Ott Walter provided an update from the Faculty Senate:  

• Feedback was gathered at the December meeting on the proposed general education curriculum. 
• The committee is discussing processes (e.g., develop practices that come with a deadline, return to decisions made during emergencies, nominate and vote for the membership on committees and task forces). The Shared Governance Implementation Team aims to recommend how to implement the task force recommendations and to develop best practices at unit-level governance (e.g., voting). 
• Several faculty members were highlighted for their efforts supporting students. 

Sydney Stafford, Student Representative to the Board, provided the following updates: 

• Support the presidential transition with students: educate and inform students on board functions and how they can get involved; support students through collaboration, advocacy and engagement in alignment with the student affairs strategic plan. 
• Connection Across Commonwealth: regular engagement with Virginia universities; Student Representative Conference at Virginia Tech on April 25; sharing pass down documents, ideas and resources. 
• Student Priorities – VA legislation: college affordability, student well-being and student success. 
• Looking Forward: student advocacy days, career fair, alternative spring breaks, Carrier Library senior walkthrough, admitted students open house; spring Halftime on The Quad, senior celebration events. 

President James Schmidt presented during his report: 

• JMU National Distinction: JMU received five CASE Awards recognizing excellence in advancement, alumni engagement, and communications and marketing; received the FARE Award, which highlights leadership in food allergy awareness and student support; earned the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for leadership in community engagement, which affirms JMU’s commitment to community engagement across research, student learning, economic development, and civic impact.  
• Civic Discourse at JMU: granted $2.72 million by the U.S. Dept. of Education to expand the Better Conversations Together program; goals are to scale the program nationally, engaging 40 universities and more than 30,000 students. 
• Strategic Plan Updates: Vision Teams are working hard to develop strategies and explore the feasibility of ideas in the draft plan.  
• Local, State & Federal Relations: welcomed BR2JMU co-admission program participants to campus; advancing a $120 million bipartisan legislative budget package supporting CHBS building expansion, nursing program growth, and Carrier Library operations and maintenance; engaged in high-level meetings with House and Senate Appropriations leadership; earned Senate recognition for advancing higher education and business collaboration; met all legislative deadlines.  
• Philanthropy and Partnerships: completed 40+ presidential engagements across six states; launched the Comprehensive Campaign Planning Task Force to engage longtime donor families and inform the draft strategic plan and shape preparations for the next comprehensive campaign.  
• Getting to Know Virginia: met with 225 individuals during 176 meetings, including alumni, donors and external stakeholders; spoke to 1,420 attendees at 12 presidential tour events in fall 2025; recorded presidential tour virtual Zoom event viewed by 709 people.  
• Athletics: qualified for the College Football Playoff (CFP), first time for a Virginia and Sun Belt Conference institution; earned the No. 12 seed after winning the Sun Belt Championship; finished No. 19 in the final AP Top 25; Wayne Knight earned Second Team All-America honors from four organizations; leading the Sun Belt Bubas Cup standings, reflecting excellence across fall sports; Cheerleading captured bronze at the UCA Nationals; senior Peyton McDaniel was the fourth JMU women’s basketball player to reach 2,000 points; Lacrosse opened the season at No. 19, the fourth JMU program nationally ranked this year; senior Kennedy Louisell received the American Volleyball Coach’s Association Honorable Mention All-America, the fourth in program history.  
• College Football Playoff Impact: CFP advertising value equivalency of $300 million; Total CFP audience reach of 31.2 billion; 4.4 million viewers for first round CFP game, most to ever watch JMU Football; 10,400 total media mentions; extraordinary digital engagement and record web traffic: JMU Football Instagram account received 32 million total views and X had 22.7 million impressions. 
• Future Dukes: fall 2026 total applications are 44,638; first-year applications are 43,800; transfer applications are 778.  
• Looking Ahead: advancing long-term institutional priorities; reimagining the center-of-campus experience, which explores a student housing strategy to house at least half of students on campus and reimagining the center of campus as a residential hub and student life destination.  

Bethany Blackstone, Dean, Honors College and Co-Chair, Strategic Plan; Rudy Molina, Vice Provost for Student Academic Success; Paul Mabrey, Director of Student Success & Enrollment Analytics; and Chris Orem, Executive Director for the Office of Planning Analytics and Institutional Research, provided the following updates on student success at JMU:  

• No Student Falls Through: accomplished by working across divisions to build new partnerships, designing data environments and acting swiftly, building relationships with students and piloting and iterating quickly to scale. 
• Undergraduate retention for 2025-26 is 91.3%.  
• Text and Email Campaigns: utilize data, focus groups, reports and interviews to inform well-being, sense of belonging, academic support, and basic needs campaigns.  
• Student Success Seminars: first-year, student success and transition success seminars with “Exploring Your Purpose” theme.  
• What Can We Learn From Graduating Seniors: Senior Compass - seniors complete a learning-assessment survey with a 99% completion rate; information collected on student experiences, satisfaction and perceptions: 95% satisfied with JMU, 90% felt like a community member, 92% felt JMU provided a welcoming environment, 96% said obtaining a degree was worthwhile, 65% rated the value of their education as high; seniors reported engagement in these high-impact practices at JMU: undergrad research, study-abroad, and work-based learning.  
• Student Success and the Strategic Plan: build on institutional strengths, expand access to experiences that support student success, build models for high-quality and high-impact practices. 

The Board of Visitors voted and approved: 

• Motion re: Curriculum Updates 
  • BA/BFA in Dance 
• Motion re: Real Estate Purchase 
• Motion re: Personnel Action Report