MEMORANDUM
December 1, 2009
TO:
Campus Community
FROM:
Gary Abramson, Chairman, Board of Trustees
SUBJECT:
Board of Trustees Fall 2009 Meeting Summary
_____________________________________________
The American University Board of Trustees held its fall 2009 meeting on Thursday, November
19 and Friday, November 20 on the AU campus. On November 19, eight committee meetings
were held which included: Academic Affairs; Trusteeship; Finance and Investment; Alumni
Affairs and Development; Audit; Campus Life; Communication; and Athletics. (A Real Estate
subcommittee meeting was held on Wednesday, November 18.) An open forum was also held
on November 19 to provide an opportunity for the campus community to ask questions of me,
President Kerwin, and other board members in attendance.
Prior to the November 20 meeting, student leaders hosted a reception for the board, and as part
of the meeting, the trustees toured the new School of International Service (SIS) building now
under construction and heard a presentation by dean Louis Goodman. Today, the SIS is the
largest school of international relations in the world, with nearly 3,000 students and more than
150 faculty.
At the main meeting, President Kerwin gave a brief update on the strategic plan implementation
steps currently underway. Among other activities, a campus-wide project team was appointed in
July 2009 and has been working to develop mechanisms to measure activity and track progress.
Into the future, regular reports on the plan’s progress on specific areas will be given in the
various board committee sessions, and the first comprehensive overview of plan implementation
will be given to the full board at the September 2010 meeting.
As announced to campus, the H1N1 flu vaccination was being made available to campus
populations according to Center for Disease Control guidelines, with vaccinations starting on
November 20. Since the university began tracking incidences, AU has averaged about 20 to 22
cases per week.
President Kerwin reported a few recent fundraising successes, including that WAMU raised
more than $1.47 million during its mid-October fundraiser, which is testament to the devotion
of its listeners even during a tough economy.
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Trusteeship Committee Chair Jeff Sine announced the recommendation that the board
transition the Athletics Committee status from adhoc to standing; a notice will be sent to the
board for formal action at the February meeting. He also proposed a resolution (that was
passed) which named Maria Pahigiannis as assistant secretary to the board.
On behalf of the Alumni Affairs and Development Committee, vice president Tom Minar
reported that the Campaign for AnewAU had reached $190.3 million, with the expectation that
the campaign would be finished (and celebrated) in fall 2010 at the President’s Circle Dinner.
Also, the number of alumni donors, events, and participation are all up over previous years.
Audit Committee vice chair Tom Gottschalk reported that the annual trustee disclosure
statement has been updated to comply with the new IRS reporting requirements. The Protiviti
auditing firm gave the committee an overview of the recent internal audit, and the 2010 audit
plan was approved.
Athletics Committee chair Jack Cassell gave a fall sports wrap-up and reported that the February
6 Hall of Fame banquet will induct two female athletes (separate announcement forthcoming).
Campus Life Committee chair Pam Deese reported that all students currently in triples who
want to be de-tripled should be accommodated for spring semester. However, the record
enrollments and retention success is stretching campus life services to an increasingly greater
extent.
Communications Committee chair David Drobis gave an update on the campus branding
initiative and the hiring of the consulting firm 160over90 to help create and implement a plan.
The agency is conducting interviews of campus leadership to get a strong understanding of AU
and to complement the work done previously by the Simpson Scarborough group.
Finance and Investment Committee chair Gary Cohn reported that at midpoint 2010, university
revenues are ahead of target, expenses are on track with the budget, and no problem areas have
surfaced at this point.
Real Estate Subcommittee chair Marc Duber gave an overview on the campus plan discussions
underway.
Academic Affairs Committee chair John Schol gave a comparison with this year and last’s data
regarding early decision, SATs, and applications from minorities and key/target areas. He noted
that the “yield” still needs attention, and an area of ongoing focus is how to raise AU’s academic
profile.
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees will be February 18 and 19, 2010.