September 30, 2013
TO:
American University Community
FROM:
Jeffrey A. Sine, Chair, Board of Trustees
SUBJECT:
Early Fall Board Retreat and Meeting Summary
________________________________________
The Board of Trustees completed its early fall 2013 retreat and meeting (September 26-27).
Each year at this time, the board uses this opportunity to review key issues and set the broad
agenda for our board and committee meetings for the academic year ahead.
At the retreat, President Kerwin reviewed the original SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats) analysis for our strategic plan and we reflected on the key
challenges and opportunities currently facing the university at the mid-point of our ten-year
plan. Invited guest, Chris Miller, executive director of the Education Advisory Board,
identified the most significant issues shaping the higher education landscape; and Provost
Scott A. Bass augmented the presentation with perspective on AU’s academic potential to
meet these challenges. Particularly clear in the provost’s presentation was the mounting
objective evidence of the significant academic achievements, in both teaching and
scholarship, of the AU faculty compared with peers at other major research universities.
In particular, we learned more about the potential role for technological innovations to
reinforce and expand the university’s teaching and delivery model, by enriching a strong
residential undergraduate experience and extending capacity in our master’s programs. We
also affirmed the importance of cultivating our competitive strengths in providing
internships, career services and employment outcomes for our graduates and communicating
them more powerfully as part of the value proposition of an American University education.
Based on these presentations and the discussion that followed, the board is attuned to the
most pressing academic challenges facing AU, as well as the risks to address and the
opportunities to pursue so that AU is positioned for the future. This effort has already
begun through AU Project 2030, a forward looking planning process that identifies areas in
which AU will build significant strength and become a leader for decades to come.
I am optimistic of American University’s ability to position itself strongly and become even
more academically distinctive in creative and significant ways.
At its business session on September 27, the board passed a resolution authorizing the
university to proceed with the development of East Campus (currently the site of the
Nebraska Avenue parking lot), as approved by the District of Columbia Zoning Commission
in the 2011 Campus Plan. Residence halls to be built on this site will allow us to fulfill our
obligation to the District, to house two-thirds of our undergraduates in campus housing by
fall 2016. Academic buildings on the East Campus will add capacity for instruction,
scholarship, and administrative functions, and will create a buffer between residence halls
and neighborhoods to the east.
The resolution also authorized the university to proceed with the design and renovation of
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, which will be repurposed after the Washington College of Law
relocates to the Tenley Campus in 2015. The design will support professional education and
administrative functions consistent with the current use by the law school.
In a memo to the campus community later this week, President Kerwin will provide more
details about the scope of these two important projects and the opportunities they present.
Finally, we were proud to honor our trustee colleague and alumnus Jack Cassell and his
family as we dedicated the newly opened Cassell Hall and Stafford H. Cassell Fitness Center.
The Cassell family commitment to American University is generous, extraordinary, and
exemplary.
As always, the board welcomes your feedback. If you would like to comment on the board’s
activities, please email us at AUBOT@american.edu. In addition, I encourage your
participation and opportunity to interact with us personally at the next board forum in
November.