Approved Meeting Minutes Board of Trustees for Adams State University July 9-10, 2015

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Page 1 of 26 APPROVED BOT 7/9/15 Approved Meeting Minutes

Board of Trustees for Adams State University July 9 - 10, 2015

The Salida Steam Plant Theatre and Event Center 220 West Sackett Street

Salida, Colorado 81201

The Board of Trustees for Adams State University convened a meeting on July 9-10, 2015, at the Salida Stem Plant Theatre and Events Center.

Call To Order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Arnold Salazar at 3:05 p.m. with the following Board members in attendance:

Chairman Arnold Salazar – Present Trustee Farley – Present

Trustee Griffin – Present Trustee Rogers – Present Trustee LeRoy Salazar – Present Trustee Simpson – Present

Trustee Singletary – Present Trustee Vigil – Present Trustee Wright – Present

Faculty Trustee Benson – Present Student Trustee Madrigal – Excused

ASU Staff, Students, and Others

Eric Carpio – Admissions

Bill Mansheim – Finance and Govt. Relations Ken Marquez – Student Affairs

Beverlee J. McClure – Office of the President Lillian Montoya – Facilitator

Larry Mortensen – Athletics

Frank Novotny – Academic Affairs Jessica Salazar – Atty. General’s Office Tracy Rogers – Human Resources James Trujillo – Office of the President

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved by consent.

New Board Member Orientation

Jessica Salazar, from the State Attorney General’s Office, presented an orientation for new and existing Adams State University Board of Trustees members, giving a general overview of the role of legal counsel, and the legal duties of each Board of Trustee member. The board engaged

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Page 2 of 26 APPROVED BOT 7/9/15 in discussion on the best methods to manage current and new policies and respective areas of responsibility. Additionally, special statutes were addressed including the Colorado Open Meeting Law, the Colorado Open Records Act, and the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. Further discussion was had regarding document retention.

**Note: The following was added by board consent**

Prior to the meeting continuing, President Beverlee McClure introduced Ms. Lillian Montoya, Vice President of Public Policy and Stakeholder Engagement at St. Vincent Hospital in New Mexico, who has been secured to facilitate the board retreat session. The Board welcomed Ms. Montoya and thanked her for agreeing to facilitate tomorrow’s portion of the meeting.

Agenda Resumes

Presentation: Summary of State Revenue Forecasts and TABOR

Bill Mansheim, Vice President for Finance and Governmental Relations, presented a report on the financial health of Adams State University, and explained various factors affecting the budget including the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), Amendment 23, Referendum C, etc.

He then reviewed with the Board the proposed FY15-16 budget that was communicated to the campus, and implemented at the start of this fiscal year.

The Board then engaged in general discussion regarding budgetary concerns and the future fiscal viability of the institution.

Presentation: ASU by the Numbers

Eric Carpio, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management, presented a broad overview regarding the 2014 undergraduate on-campus students including data regarding the overall student body, class profile, persistence data, alternate pathways to graduation, and demographic information. Additionally, he provided data on freshman and transfer students.

The Board then discussed at length various issues including retention, tuition, Pell, recruitment opportunities, exploring becoming an MSI, branding, scholarship awarding, enrollment/current yield, student athlete, affordability issues, graduation rates, lack of student placement data, and the increased recruitment efforts in Colorado by other institutions from other states.

**Note: The following was added by board consent**

Lobbyist Discussion

Chairman Arnold Salazar, and members of the Board, discussed a recent decision that was made regarding the institution’s lobbyists, and the reasons behind the decision. It was then suggested that, as a personnel matter, the discussion continue in executive session. Trustee Singletary did not feel the need for an executive session and suggested that discussions continue in open session.

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Page 3 of 26 APPROVED BOT 7/9/15 Chairman Arnold Salazar then called for a motion to convene in executive session with the Board’s attorney pursuant to Section §24-6-402(3) and 3.5 C.R.S. for the purpose of discussing certain employment matters. Trustee LeRoy Salazar moved the motion. Trustee Farley seconded. The motion passed with Trustee Singletary opposing. The motion passed.

Open Session Resumes

Chairman Arnold Salazar proposed to the members of the Board that Federal lobbyists be considered to reach other sources of funding for the institution at the Federal level. The board then discussed at length strategies, sources of funding, opportunities for grants, etc.

The Board further discussed what steps need to be taken to keep a presence at the State level for Adams State, and the importance of said. Chairman Arnold Salazar proposed contacting Tanya Kelly-Bowry to discuss possibly lobbying for Adams State. Trustee Griffin also suggested that the Board consider having an economic development/government relations person for the University based in the Denver area. Trustees Vigil and LeRoy Salazar stressed the need for a constant presence at the Capitol, and were uncertain of the effectiveness of the current proposal. The Board then discussed other options, timelines, budget priorities, accountability,

communications, expectations, etc., and agreed to move forward with perusing qualified lobbyists, both at the State and Federal levels, and asked that President McClure present a proposal on how to redeploy lobbying resources at a future meeting.

** The meeting was recessed at 6:15 p.m. until Friday, February 10, 2015**

Meeting reconvenes at 8:02 a.m. on Friday, July 10, 2015 with the following Board members present:

Chairman Arnold Salazar Trustee Farley

Trustee Griffin Trustee Rogers

Trustee LeRoy Salazar

Trustee Simpson Trustee Singletary Trustee Vigil Trustee Wright

Faculty Trustee Benson

Board of Trustees Retreat

During this time, Board and staff members engaged in lengthy discussion facilitated by Ms. Lillian Montoya, Vice President of Public Policy and Stakeholder Engagement at St. Vincent Hospital in New Mexico, regarding the institution’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and discussed various aspects of each as it related to the current and future stability of University.

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Adams State University

July Retreat Summary Notes and

Cumulative Pre-Retreat Responses

Prepared by Lillian Montoya, Facilitator July 9, 2015

ASU

by

the

Numbers

The President and Executive Team presented “ASU by the Numbers” the evening before the retreat. The presentation was emailed separately to the Trustees. Following are comments following the presentation.

1. Need deeper dive on the data, regularly. Data integrity issues. The Trustees would like data to be presented more regularly so decisions and strategy are based on accurate, timely data.

2. Explore obtaining MSI status, with additional strategy to grow Native American and mixed‐race enrollment

3. The low ASU average family income actually can be a potential recruitment opportunity, by targeting those students

4. Second semester retention and 1st_/2nd_year_retention_{opportunities}

5. Kids that come from disadvantages backgrounds have great academic challenges, larger debt issues to overcome…we are failing everybody the first 2 years

6. Would like to see 6 year graduation rates, recognizing that their debt burden will be more substantial 7. Shall we examine Learning Communities in order to improve persistence?

8. Athletic student persistence/graduation rates? 9. Explore/capture job placement data.

10. Questionnaires to our graduates? (for tracking purposes)

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What

would

you

like

to

get

out

of

the

day?

1. Walk out understanding what our value proposition is—an elevator speech as applies to new students, legislators, etc.

2. Get a better feel for how we use the data and work with data on how best to target our resources for retention.

3. An action plan so that team can create deliverables to report to the board about our progress.

4. Keener sense of our identity as a community and a better understanding of what “the temperature” is on campus.

5. Clear vision from the board that we can communicate to campus and campus back. That linkage was missed when 2020 plan was developed. Good and clear communication of expectations with a plan to get there.

6. Measurable goals to support our mission and vision. Clarity of accountability for meeting the goals. What are we going to do to support our mission/vision.

7. Need a plan of how we are going to approach recruitment/retention. Need more data—why are students dropping out? We need the answers in order to target the solutions. Without this ASU will not continue to exist. Need more data and action in our regular board meetings.

8. Walking out with a value proposition. How to become a university of choice. We need to walk the talk. How do we get started?

9. Knowing that there is cohesiveness between the faculty/staff/board. This is essential for the HLC accreditation visit. Need broad community support for our direction. We need to believe in it and agree that this is the direction to go.

10. Where do we see education in 10 years? Lay the groundwork to prepare us to be on the cutting edge 10 years from now in higher education.

11. Disappointed in the 2020 goals. They are not measurable. Need to set some goals that are measurable. 12. Excited about the numbers that Eric presented. Need a deeper data dive. Retention rates for

demographic areas (urban vs rural).

13. The reason that 2020 did not take hold is because the industry of education is undergoing extreme change so that strategic planning has no value. We need to do scenario planning so that we can be prepared for different changes. As the scenarios change the strategic plan becomes insignificant. 14. What should we be trying to achieve in 12 months, 24 months, etc.

15. We are in the market of higher education—whoever implements wins. We need to be the first to implement. Execution, execution, execution.

16. Want to know more about the institution. What is our role as a board? Board needs to contribute knowledge, enthusiasm, etc. to help guide the leadership at ASU.

17. How can we as a board support this mission? Use our specialties as individual board members and our talents and make good use of that will help move the organization forward?

18. Board members have served as external ambassadors. How to help internally as well?

19. Board members have local knowledge of their community, the K‐12 system, etc. We need to tap into this more. Help board members get more involved connecting ASU with the community.

20. Also tap into board members’ connections with the state legislature.

21. Data. Data is something people thrive on. Vision. Having a vision of some kind would be fantastic. Accountability and innovation are also very important and exciting.

22. What is frustrating is that we are a team. We need a better vision for having a better team. This will allow us to adapt to the changing scenarios. We need to be prepared to adapt.

23. The presidential search was a great model for engagement and promotion of the institution. We should leverage this for the future. Expand this to the state level. The local community responded positively.

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Mission

Discussion

Group discussion centered on Mission as defined by the ASU enabling law and the ASU 2020 Mission. It was agreed to rename the ASU 2020 “Mission” as a “Core Purpose”. Two “commas” were selectively added to the Vision, intentionally broadening the student population to be served by ASU.

Board of Trustee Bylaws, Mission and Goals:

The University shall be a general

baccalaureate institution with moderately selective admission standards, offering undergraduate liberal arts and sciences, teacher preparation, and business degree programs, a limited number of graduate level programs, and two-year transfer programs with a community college role admission. In addition, the University has a significant responsibility to provide access to teacher education in rural Colorado, to serve as a regional education provider, and to offer programs, when feasible, that preserves and promotes the unique history and culture of the region.

The Board will, from time to time, establish and revise its goals and objectives for carrying out its mission.

Revised ASU 2020 Mission to read… 2020 Core Purpose:

ASU’s core purpose is to educate, serve, and inspire our diverse populations in the pursuit of their lifelong dreams and ambitions.

2020 Vision:

To become the university community of choice for diverse, historically underserved groups, and all who value quality education and inclusivity.

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Strengths,

Weaknesses,

Opportunities,

and

Threats

Prior to the retreat, the Executive Team met and conducted a SWOT analysis. Following is their presentation.

Strengths (internal, positive factors)

Strengths describe the positive attributes, tangible and intangible, internal to ASU. They are within your control.

 Strong, talented and diverse leadership  Beautiful campus

 Community support for our role and mission

 Committed and loyal employees  Diversity and HIS status

 Safe campus

 Student/faculty ration = personal touch  Small campus

 Extracurricular activities  Co‐curricular activities  Benefits package

 Potential/capacity for student growth  Flexible, nimble, accessible

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Weaknesses (internal, negative factors)

Weaknesses are aspects of ASU that detract from the value ASU offers or places ASU at a competitive disadvantage. ASU needs to enhance these areas in order to compete with its best competitor.

 Low self‐esteem/morale

 Alamosa ranked in top 10 “worst paces to live”

 Retention/graduation rates

 Internal/external communication: not telling our story and not defending our reputation

 Lack of unity  Data integrity

 Location, climate, no mall  Culture of accountability

 Lack of urgency

 Lack of financial resources (HR challenges)  Lack of vision (consistent/shared)

 No consensus on what being an HSI means  Lack of coordination of resources

 Link to our local communities  Fundraising

 Lack of academic scholarships  Need a cultural change

Opportunities (external, positive factors)

Opportunities are external attractive factors that represent reasons ASU is likely to prosper.

 Enrollment and retention  New leadership

 Realignment of resources  Diversification of revenue  HSI to MSI

 New programming/new markets..p3 (this includes extended studies)

 Public/private partnerships  Location, natural resources  Veterans

 Rep. Millie Hamner, ASU Alum  State Pop growth

 Trinidad and CSU

 DHE=Future Job Report Shows will Require degree

 International student/faculty (DHE program)

 Friend “raising” = fundraising

 Concurrent enrollment…clean up at state level

 Community/economic opportunity

 Elder hostels  Endowed chairs

 Expand student scholar days

 Revitalization or general ed curriculum  Honors program

 Graduation rates = time to degree  BAS (90 SCH)

 Career and Tech education…un‐manned, bookkeeping, small biz programs

 Certificates and completions  Student leadership

 BAIS‐NL

 Failure of NM Lottery

 Strong student engagement program, expand and strengthen (i.e. CASA)  Improving ASU/k‐12 connections.

Recruitment etc., talent search grant by re‐ connecting with superintendent

 HSI STEM grant, $750k, can stack  STEAM

 ROTC

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Threats (external, negative factors)

Threats include external factors beyond ASUs control that could place ASU strategy, or the business itself, at risk. You have no control over these, but ASU may benefit by having contingency plans to address them if they should occur.

 State funding (new funding formula)  Increasing tuition

 Retention of best and brightest faculty and staff (quality of life, salaries, spouse, dating pool)  Reputation of capitol

 Increasing competition (i.e. community colleges, out‐of‐state, CMC)  Frequently evolving compliance

 Federal financial aid

Trustee/E

‐

Team

Pre

‐

Retreat

Responses

(Detailed

Feedback

Follows

the

Retreat

Notes)

There was a surprising congruency of responses from Trustees and Executive Team. Following are the high‐level themes:

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Small

Group

Breakout

Following are the small group responses for the following three questions:

1. What are the most important results we want to see from each 2020 priority area? 2. What are the gaps (obstacles) to accomplishing this?

3. Need a goal around operational finance under each priority.

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Academic Excellence

 Not sure how to define academic excellence? How do you measure?  We much be concrete, less vague language

 Academic Excellence is the transfer of knowledge from prof to student

Measure should include:

 clear expectations of learning outcomes  whether the content is relevant

 feedback from former students  Survey of employers

 examine salary surveys

 how our students perform on GRE, Med school placement, Pharm placement  5 year program reviews by dept (w independent reviewer)

Gaps:

 Need data about our students, need to track multiple measures (completion, placement)  Curricula that evolves and is relevant

 Providing Academic Excellence as an outcome  Faculty tenure measures

 prof’l development for faculty to stay relevant  Career advisement

Student Success

 Is defined by the student

 Is defined by external mandates (CCHE)  How do these two align?

 Tutorial training to improve retention

 Opportunity to align/centralize student support services  BASELINE DATA is critical for all areas

Results:

 Numerous degrees with various delivery methods  Retention

 Learning communities

 Co‐curricula and extra‐curricular (to keep students engaged)

Gaps:

 Affordability

 Limited funding/unaligned

 Improve retention rates (1st_yr_to₂nd_year)  Improved graduation rates

 Job placement

 Engagement as alumni

Personal & Professional Development (of faculty and staff)

 Remove “students” from this goal..should be faculty/staff focused (acad Excellence/Student success to captures student development, don’t mention in this goal)

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Page 14 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15 Gap:

 funding, individual motivation, time…not perceived as an important priority for staff/faculty to “grow”

 limited $ to invest, special projects – limited research opportunities within their fields

 More opportunities for development (how many participate?) Can be on campus development  Need to invest in our people

 Take a close look at how dollars are used and make necessary changes.

Results: cutting edge, high morale, knowledge transfer to students  Conduct satisfaction surveys of each learning event

 Increase number of employees who earn a certificate or degree  Track number of employees taking courses

 Offering tuition discount for dependents of faculty  Examine faculty dependent/spouse scholarship guidelines

Access and Affordability

 If we are accessible and affordable to students with the least resources, we are accessible for all  Flexibility in payment plans

 Net price, tell the story publicly, examine annually  Offering tuition discount for dependents of faculty  Financial aid advisors for incoming freshman

 Admissions counselors need to know more about financial aid

Results:

 Recruit more college ready students

 Improve aid to students from local community  Serve our region‐low income

 Paid internships  Lowest Room & board

 Greatest tuition window (can move students through)  # of 1st_{generation…retention/grad}_rates

 # of low income…retention/grad rates

 Ranking of ASU tuition rates w peers and/or competition  Cost of attendance vs. out of pocket (after financial aid)  Increase retention and graduation rates of ALL students

Gaps:

 Funding: state, federal, and private aid  K12 communication

 Branding our aid packages

Community Relations

 Be a policy anchor to create jobs and improve quality of life, serve as the cultural center  Develop and further community partnerships w K12, businesses

 Economic anchor, driver for economic development  Expand intern opportunities, especially for paid interns

 Strengthen relationships AND partnerships with community stakeholders (i.e. hospital collaboration), enhance federal and state entities (BLM, Dow, banking, k12…)

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Page 15 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15  Redirect the ASU Community Program (..Mary Hoffman) and ensure more strategic

Measure:

 # of event/# of attendees

 # of partnership & outcomes of these partnerships  Community engagement survey

 # of students provided internships & community service opportunities and track the “hours”  # of and hours of ASU employees engaged in community groups/volunteer service

 % increase of community sponsorships  ASU economic impact study almost ready

 # of outside boards/groups hosted on campus and legislative committees

Gaps:

 Need for baseline data  Communication, consistent

 Come up with new/different ways to engage

Large

Group

Discussion

1. Are there 2020 goals missing, should be eliminated or combined? Why?

2. Discuss and identify strategic issues, those that represent a major policy choice that affects

University mandates, mission, services, finances, structure, processes, or management?

3. Anything missing?

Economic development/Community development (add this to the last goal) (team needs to tighten goal 5)

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Plus/Deltas

The Good Stuff about our retreat:

 James Trujillo great at logistics etc.

 Putting our ideas in writing and will have timelines and deliverables  We have deliverables. Something “to hang our hats on.”

 Having 100% of the board.  Having the E‐team involved.  The joint meeting was good.

 The alignment between the new president and the E‐team that happened and happened quickly.

 Very educational for our new board members (and for those longer term).  Data mining that has begun that will determine what direction we go.  We have more of a value proposition and story to tell.

 Scenario planning.

 Use the talents/skills of the Board members.

 The attitudes of the E‐team are completely different. It seems that the burnout is less.  New energy/synergy.

Delta:

None noted

Trustee

(Pre

‐

Retreat

Questionnaire)

Responses

Following are the verbatim, unattributed responses from Trustees and E‐Team.

1. General statements as to the Adams State University’s 2020 Strategic Plan:

 I do not nor have I reviewed the 2020 Strategic Plan.

 I honestly didn’t even know it existed until I got this survey. I looked it up on the website so that I could answer these questions. I guess I was disappointed that three of the five goals focus primarily on diversity and so little on quality education. Not that I don’t value diversity, it is part of the value of a Liberal Arts University. It shouldn’t be the main focus. Goal C, (or 1 in the 2020 document) Seemed reasonable, but I noticed there was nothing in the form of a mentoring program? Goal E was okay, but like the rest of the strategic plan, it isn’t measurable. If you have goals you need to have a way to know you met those goals.

 The plan is muddled in certain respects, for example: Sub‐Goals 1‐4 and 3‐1 ‐‐ what is the difference between "inclusive excellence" and "regular" excellence? Sub‐Goal 4‐1 ‐‐

"underrepresented groups" is not the same as "historically underserved students" (Goal 4). As an HSI, we have a special role vis a vis Hispanic students, who are "historically underserved," but inasmuch as we are an HSI they are not "underrepresented" on campus; statistically, one might say they are "overrepresented". And I don't see how "representation" is part of our

mission. We need to serve those who need serving. Sub‐Goal 5‐6 ‐‐ what's the difference between "develop" and "cultivate"? Seems like bits of jargon find their way into the plan without reflection as to what bearing it may or or may have on what we're trying to accomplish. Either that, or someone needs to take the time to explain to the trustees the import of said jargon.

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Page 17 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15  The 2020 plan as attached to the BoT retreat agenda was approved in April. The previous

one expired in 2007, I believe. I think we need more than three months to see how we are doing. That should not preclude discussion of the 2020, but my answers are based on the past and status quo.

 I have little exposure with the internal operations of the University.

2. As you reflect on the Adams State University’s 2020 Strategic Plan, on a scale of 1 ‐5, with 5 being

excellent, how would you rate our effort to achieve the goal of…Academic Excellence?

 I believe we have outstanding and dedicated Professors, etc. at ASU and by description from many students and former students ‐ those I’ve spoken with have felt they’ve come out of ASC/ASU with a good education.

excellent, how would you rate our effort to achieve the goal of…Student Success?

 We have many success stories from ASU. Student success can mean many things. Do we produce great candidates for outstanding positions in a variety of occupations? Yes, I believe we can stand with the best of them. Where I have concern is more in the graduation/retention rate. If they complete their degree…I believe they come out of ASU well prepared for their workplace/career, in general. We are fortunate…or the student is fortunate… to have the opportunity to be educated in an institution where they KNOW their Professor, etc. We hear that from many students….we often hear that students think it’s great to really know their Professors as well as often the President of the University and other administrators/staff. They also feel personally cared about by the whole team. I’ve heard countless stories around this part of ASU life.

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excellent, how would you rate our effort to achieve the goal of…Personal and Professional

Development?

 Pretty hard to answer, but as above…the anecdotal information I’ve gotten over the years indicate that there is a support system among ASU faculty and staff. I think it’s sometimes difficult, in a smaller community such as ours – to be placed in programs/internships, etc. locally. I see, many areas where Professors/Staff work hard with the community to help create opportunity. This one is difficult as I don’t feel that I have enough of an inside track on this.

excellent, how would you rate our effort to achieve the goal of…Access and Affordability?

 In comparison…I think we are still as or more affordable than most institutions…however, I do worry about the tuition increases and lessening opportunities for grants. I know we must and we must find ways to increase our revenue further, as I am very concerned about increasing salaries of our faculty and staff. We’ve been fortunate to attract and retain some very good people….and….for ever changing needs….I am concerned that at our pay scale, we’ll find it very difficult to attract those we need to. I’d like to see more diversity, especially ethnic diversity in our professors, etc. I am not certain we have what might attract those we need to or that they will stay….

excellent, how would you rate our effort to achieve the goal of…Community Relations?

 For the most part…ASU enjoys a great reputation among our community. The staff/faculty play key roles in many aspects of our community life. ASU brings culture and entertainment and without ASU – that would be scarce. There have been a few incidents that, as negative press often does…stand out to the community. But…I believe among those that are most involved in the community…ASU is recognized as a very important player in Alamosa’s success. The

community comes out in support of sports and activities in the Arts area…Community members take on personal relationships with athletes, both male and female, welcoming them in their homes and being a contact for them since they are away from their families. I am not sure what other Universities have such programs but I think this speaks highly of our coaching staff and the Grizzly Club to assure our student athletes feel supported. Would love to see this program expand much further than in only athletics. I believe many community members would participate if asked.

7. Is the University better positioned today, as an academic institution of choice, than it was 3 years

ago? Why or why not?

 No. I believe that 3 years ago we were able to ride enhanced enrollment numbers due to the recession. We have not been responding strategically to the need to grow enrollment.

 Perception is reality and success breed success. I believe our academics have been and remain strong. I also believe the improvements in the look and feel of the University has given ASU more credibility. It now has a small University feel. First impressions make a difference and I believe that has all been very good for the success of ASU. It has definitely put more financial strain and….I am a believer or stepping out there a bit. There’s no way to gain any benefit

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Page 19 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15 without a little risk. The community appreciates that, too. We just need to find creative ways to address revenue and expense.

 Yes, I feel that we have addressed issues like retention.  It is a university, more offerings, a Doctoral program...

 Both. There are some areas of the university that are moving in very positive directions and others that are not. I have seen things in the Business Department, Teaching, Athletics and the Sciences that are exciting. However, at the same time, enrolment is dropping.

 I would say marginally better, certainly financially. It also seems that a sense of urgency has begun to dawn on trustees, administrators, and faculty alike that we need to revisit our current business model in light of the dramatic changes taking place in higher education.

 No. The recent economic downturn (2008) resulted in a windfall of student enrollment that was squandered on non‐academic programs. Such programs have not produced genuine fiscal data and not are identifiable contributors to the academic mission. As as example, athletics has an unexplained ‐$4M on the budget sheet last provided to the BoT. The explanation will be that outside money erases that.

 I don't know what it was like 3 years ago. I do think the institution is in a better financial

position. The expansion of athletics is well perceived by the community, but I am not sure about the student body or the faculty.

 It is because of the huge investment in our buildings. However, this investment has out stripped our investment in our faculty and I fear that we could see this eroding the academic excel lance we so strongly depend on.

8. In your opinion, what are the top 3 challenges facing our University today?

 Budget, Money, Development (not just fundraising)  Keeping tuition competitive

 1) Recruitment/Retention of students. Once we get them here, we need to be diligent in their orientation and support and find ways to get them involved and fall in love with ASU and the community in their first months of student life. When we ask people to be involved and we support them…I think we have a much better chance of keeping them there through graduation. 2) Faculty salaries – we really need to work on that. There are many challenges around that and I don’t have the answer. But, I believe if it’s top of mind and we keep looking at ways to improve…we’ll slowly continue to make that right. 3) I hear morale is suffering among Faculty and Staff. While I don’t think money is everything to people, I know if likely contributes. I think the uncertainty of the changes in leadership has weighed on F/S and I believe Dr. McClure and her team will soon inspire confidence that we will move forward positively. Change is always difficult. I think this challenge will work itself out with a little time. I do know that if

Faculty/Staff are unhappy…there’s no way to create an environment students will feel welcome and want to stay at. I think that’s the base of the pyramid of need.

 Retention, Short fall of State Funding, Adequate pay for our professors.  Retention, recruitment, salaries

 There are very few challenges on the campus that couldn’t be taken care of with more and/or better use of finances. On a Statewide basis, our biggest challenge is funding, period. Tabor and other issues that will have a greater effect on the next few years than even in the past when it comes to getting general fund monies. Financial Aid in general is a huge future challenge. We have no summer PELL grants and normal semester funding has dropped significantly. And my third challenge is keeping up with technology and trends. If we don’t learn to adapt quickly, we will die. And that goes for Higher education in general.

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Page 20 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15  a. growing student recruitment and retention b. financial development ‐‐ finding more sources

of private investment instead of relying overwhelmingly on government (state and

federal) c. cultivating academic excellence without sacrificing the terrific campus culture we have.

 Retaining faculty, invigorating existing programs, and getting rid of the "backwater university" reputation

 The continued racial segregation at multiple levels, the affordability of secondary education, producing graduates that fill the needs of the communities across our state.

 Funding to increase faculty salaries to maintain and recruit top level faculty.  Retention and graduation rates.

9. What do we need to stop doing in order to free up resources for our priorities?

 I wish I knew

 I’m not familiar enough with the day to day operations to answer this adequately. I don’t know what we can STOP doing.

 I am not prepared to answer this question, I feel like I don't know that much about our budget nor are we involved in creating the budget.

 Review and perhaps eliminate some program that are not mission essential  I believe we are heavy on administration.

 This is a very good question, and one to which I don't have a very good answer. I have

wondered if we really need our own campus police force, since we are in the middle of a small town, but I would want to get more information before putting that on the table.

 Stop hiring administration and funding athletic carte blanche, as perceived on campus at this time.

 Evaluate the real effectiveness of faculty sabbaticals.

 There is little we can stop doing that will make a huge difference. The challenge really is go figure out how we do more of what has been so successful in the last few years. Mainly, we need to continue to grow our enrollment, add more doctoral level degrees and continue to distinguish ourselves as a top HSI in the country.

10. As you reflect on the past 2‐3 years of your involvement with Adam’s State, what are you most

proud of?

 I think we did an excellent job of finding a new president; someone who can take Adams State to the next level. As simplistic as it sounds, I'm extremely proud of every one of our graduates, esp. those first generation students.

 I’m proud of the former trustees and leaderships insight to make the improvements that have been made to go to University status and to improve facilities making it a more desirable place to be and get an education from. I’m also proud…and this must continue…that despite some small setbacks, such as a couple of negative happenings around our Campus Police and another program…we were as transparent as possible (given the limitations by law) and held our heads high…told our story (as we could) and moved on. When you know you’re acting on principal and with character…things work out….and we learn through every turn. I think we have some good people in place now to move us forward. I like that we hired a neutral person to meet with staff/faculty to hear their concerns and I’m glad we’ll hear those…..knowing there aren’t answers for them all. However, knowing is half the battle. We can’t improve what we don’t know about.

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Page 21 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15 University welcomes them as part of their family and goes out to make the students wanted.  Becoming a University, staying financially solvent, student engagement through CASA and other

activities

 Adams has long had a reputation of excellence and we should build on that reputation and especially in the teaching.

 In general and specifically, I am proud of the Hiring of our new President. I’m proud of the process, the search committee, and the hire.

 On the whole, I feel that the recent presidential search, while admittedly imperfect, is

the most extensive one this institution has ever had. But my perspective is limited by the fact that the search was 90% of what I did over the past 18 months.

 Hiring a new president.

 Hiring an effective strategic leader for the institution.

 I’m most proud of the transition to a new President , this is not an easy task and much work still needs to be done. I’m also aware that the verdict is not in on the success of our new President but I am very optimistic that we made an excellent choice. Our challenge as a board is to make this investment we have made work for ASU – We have to be full partners in this endeavor.

11. Trustees: What type of information, communication, or support do you feel you need to be an

effective Trustee?

 It would be great to have a news feed set up for all trustees ‐‐ with daily or weekly updates from University communications or alternatively from various cabinet members.

 As a governing body, it’s important for us to stay out of day to day operations. We have to hire right and then give the leadership room to build their team and manage ASU appropriately. We must keep an eye on business. We’ve got to make the decisions that affect revenue and

expenditures…and we must be diligent in adhering to regulation and remain complaint. I do like to be communicated with about events that will hit the newspaper before reading it in the newspaper….there’s a certain expectation in our community that if there’s a concern…the leadership of the organization…whatever it is….will know about it and have the ability to answer concerns. If, as a leader, we are phoned about an exceptional event on campus, and we haven’t been made aware…that never feels very good. Just a quick blast of concerning items would be helpful. In no way to I want to interfere. I have plenty to do….just a quick note for an

update. Especially if it concerns safety or potential law suit claims. I like texting/calling, etc….I am not always immediately on email, but I am even ok with finding out later – if it’s not urgent. Just so the info. comes from the University where applicable.

 I personally feel like I need more hands on with the operations of the University. I visit it when we have meetings and then only for a day or two.

 ASU is doing a pretty good job of this.

 Regular updates, in advance of meetings, regarding major campus academic initiatives,

 Reporting Cabinet and other E‐Team minutes in a timely manner. The intent is not to allow the BoT to micromanage, but to improve transparency and operational understanding. Shared governance might be viewed with less cynicism by the campus if the practice was used.

 New board member training to start with. Weekly updates from the President initially, outlining progress towards established goals and objectives. Can progress to monthly at some point then just regular board meeting updates.

 I would like to see more analysis. We seem to get a lot of information but many times it does not come with the in‐depth analysis that I think would be more helpful the board.

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 I have not seen a clear cut work plan. I feel like I am just a rubber stamp trustee with no involvement in the actions.

 Let's be cautious where we need to be cautious and bold where we need to be bold! We need to encourage organizations such as CASA which I believe are being quite effective in improving student relations.

 Seems to me the strategic plan should be developed by the President, but approved/adopted (and amended) by the Board, and then the President and administrators provide an

implementation plan. Seems like in the past the strategic plan quickly becomes shelf ware; no specific deliverables, no one accountable. How do we know when we have succeeded or failed? And who is responsible for each success or failure?

 Additional things that don't seem to fit into the questions asked above: (1) our entire government liaison effort needs to be reviewed. We need to get ahead of the curve each session, build relationships with key members (an ongoing challenge because of term limits), and build effective coalitions with other institutions so we can "punch above our

weight." (2) Really need to institutionalize an IG or compliance function because of increasingly onerous federal requirements. Who's keeping tabs in all of this and making sure we're

compliant?

 We have a lot of opportunity right now to go to the next level. I believe much has happened that give us opportunity to grow and gain credibility as a worthy candidate for higher

education. We need to know our legislators and be at the forefront of protecting and growing whatever revenue we may be able to get from the state…and protect that. We should be leaders in working on issues that affect the revenue we need to sustain ourselves and remain an affordable university. I’d also like to expound on our being an HSI and find ways to leverage that bringing in a more diverse workforce and finding ways to highlight that and ASU. I know it affords the whole student population advantages…but perhaps some effort geared toward that would be good.

 I need to become better acquainted with the inner‐workings of the institution.

 What is the status and connection the university has with the Commission on Higher Education (and its Master Plan) as it pertains to our Department of Higher Education Performance Contract?

 I would only like to say that I think we are poised to do great things as a University and it will only be our failure to execute that will squander this opportunity. I am very focused on this challenge.

Executive

Team

(Pre

‐

Retreat

Questionnaire)

Responses

excellent, how would you rate our effort to achieve the goal of… (see Powerpoint. Team didn’t provide additional narrative)

2. Is the University better positioned today, as an academic institution of choice, than it was 3 years

ago? Why or why not?

 No. State funding has decreased and tuition has significantly increased

 Compared to 3 years ago, the institution has improved facilities and a established a broader range of academic (graduate and undergraduate) and athletic offerings. In that sense, the institution is better positioned to achieve our goals of becoming an institution of

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Page 23 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15 choice. However, the institution has struggled to establish priorities and communicate a strong vision to internal (students, faculty, staff, etc...) and external (alumni, community, state, etc...) audiences. As a result, it seems to be a challenge moving departments and stakeholders in a cohesive and consistent direction.

 Yes, I believe we are. The growth of our program offerings, as well as the growth of campus infrastructure, has improved our position. Our increasing tuition is hurting our position but I believe it is hurting Higher Education broadly.

 yes and no. there are a broader offering of academic programs and better facilities but some support areas do not have a positive student centered focus and ASU's marketing (including social media) isn't strong.

 ASU is positioned better today because of the expanded on‐campus and on‐line programs. We have partnerships with many organizations that are allowing us to grow academically.

 Yes. In my opinion, we are better positioned to attract and retain students given our campus improvements and caring faculty. What we lack is a strong recruitment force to bring in quality students.

 Since all the institutions have had to increase tuition we are positioned the same for

affordability. But, I would say we are not positioned as well in regards to recruiting. We face more challenges recruiting students then other institutions because we are in a rural area.  Yes. The addition of several athletic programs has given student athletes a new choice. The

quality of our programs combined with our top notch facilities, have earned Adams a good reputation quickly. The 5 year contract to host the Colorado High School Coaches Association All State games here has also elevated our standing amongst high school coaches and the student athletes.

 The overall campus renovations have vastly improved our attractiveness and marketability.  I don't believe it is any better today than 3 years ago. We have not done anything to make it

better. There are no new programs for retaining students. Our numbers for recruiting new students has continued to drop over the last 3 years Our Strategic Plan does not reflect how we plan to become an academic institution of choice.

3. In your opinion, what are the top 3 challenges facing our University today?

 1) rising cost of tuition paired with decreased state funding; 2) getting faculty to buy into enrollment and retention; 3) finding revenues outside traditional funding methods  (1) Student Retention, (2) Access & Affordability, (3) Funding

 Increasing tuition costs, budget constraints, and retention (student and employee).

 funding (state and feds), compliance (HLC, financial, Title IX, Cleary), increased accountability  Decline in state support which causes an increase in tuition, Small staff sizes with increased

work load (also does not allow for cross training)

 Recruitment (students & faculty/staff), Retention (student & faculty/staff), External (Front Range) perception of the University/community as being to “rural”.

 The three challenges I see are: reduced funding and increasing costs, rising cost of tuition makes it difficult for the type of students that chose ASU, and finally recruiting students from larger cities to a small rural area.

 The continued decline in state support, freshman to sophomore retention, silos

 Budget constraints but that can be a great excuse. If we really evaluated our situation we might be able to come up with better solutions. Retention ‐ we have to retain students yet we have very few programs in place to do that and some of them we do have are not working (ex. FIGS). Recruitment ‐ how do we get student to come to a rural community with not much to do in town? We need more community support as well

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Page 24 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15  Increasing tuition costs, budget constraints, and retention (student and employee).

4. What do we need to stop doing in order to free up resources for our priorities?

 retention programs are not working and waste of money (make every department accountable for retention/enrollment)

 This is an important question but it's difficult to answer without having established a consensus on true campus priorities. Many of departments that I'm most familiar with are very lean in staffing and resources.

 Reacting rather than planning. We tend to spend a lot of time reacting to the current "crisis" rather than planning to avoid the crisis. . I also think we need to evaluate very carefully where we spend salary to maximize our investments. Are supplemental contracts (non‐teaching) a Band‐Aid for lack of COLA? We also need to stop duplicating services.

 hard to say because there is a lack of data. We would need to evaluate the placement of recruiters, evaluate student retention efforts, evaluate title V grants (several positions have been absorbed by the general fund), look at outsourcing print shop, some IT, business and finance

 Adding new programs without tying them to strategic goals and approving grants that include ASU assuming the expense of positions during the grant cycle. Some grants require the

institution to pick up portions of salaries throughout the grant and eventually cover 100% of the position ‐ how do we budget for this?

 Perhaps we need to stop funding various positions that aren’t performing well or just not performing. This would free up much needed funds to support/improve those areas that are performing at a level the institution needs to move forward.

 I think we should evaluate academic programs that are standard/common in every other liberal arts college. We should look for programs that are difficult to find or different and in demand.  We should maybe also evaluate some of the sports programs. Sports are important to enrich

students` lives but they might not all be feasible here. We might be spread too thin and causing damage to all programs. The additional cost per student ‐ athlete needs to be compared to the success of student‐athlete. Then the dollars could be shifted to other sports or areas that have the demand from the students. We don’t want to lose enrollment but invest better.

 We need to stop absorbing the full amount of cost from grants without evaluating the success of the grants to our needs.

 Streamline our processes for admissions. Pushing paper. Tolerate poor employee performance.  A complete reevaluation of the current budget and fund areas that support retention. Fund

retention efforts like FIGs, Second Year Initiatives, tutoring and advising, early alert systems with resources to back them up, programs that track students before they take a leave from the school, faculty must buy in that they play a huge role in retention, financial aid is huge and they have to be interactive with student rather then not meet with them (the sign on the door of FA says no appointments), improve social integration methods and more leadership programs. Solve the math problems that students are having

 Reacting rather than planning. We tend to spend a lot of time reacting to the current "crisis" rather than planning to avoid the crisis. . I also think we need to evaluate very carefully where we spend salary to maximize our investments. Are supplemental contracts (non‐teaching) a Band‐Aid for lack of COLA? We also need to stop duplicating services.

5. As you reflect on the past 2‐3 years of your involvement with Adam’s State, what are you most

proud of?

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Page 25 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15  Surviving a tough period and assisting ASU by enrolling and retaining 300 new student/athletes  Improvement of campus facilities, increased campus awareness of ASU's HSI status and role as

an access institution, ability to secure federal funding (title V, CAMP, TRIO, etc...)

 The management of our CHEIBA benefits. We have worked hard to keep benefits high while managing cost both to the institution as well as to the employee. In a time of no COLA it was important to not add to the hardship.

 expansion of academic graduate programs, capital construction, attention to diversity, assessment, and student attention

 I have always been proud to be involved with Adams State because of the opportunities it provides to students especially in the valley to obtain an education. I was a first generation student and am a proud graduate of ASU!

 The campus in terms of grounds/buildings/personnel—we have an exceptionally attractive campus with mostly modern/up‐to‐date buildings (some still need attention i.e.: Faculty Drive, High‐rise Apts, Conor & Pettys), and some wonderful caring staff that truly care and believe in our students.

 Our commitment to students, and doing a lot with our limited resources. Dollar for dollar, staff size to staff size, we perform very well compared to other institutions.

 Rebuilding our campus.

 I'm most proud of what we have done with becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution rather Hispanic Enrolling. We used to simply focus on enrolling Hispanic students but now have added the CASA house to work on retaining all of our minority students. We have created the

CIELO group to continue in those efforts. We are active members in HACU and CoCEAL. I'm also very proud to have been a part of the $80 million dollars in renovations and updates to our campus over the last 5 year.

 The management of our CHEIBA benefits. We have worked hard to keep benefits high while managing cost both to the institution as well as to the employee. In a time of no COLA it was important to not add to the hardship.

6. Is there anything you’d like to share that hasn’t been asked?

 ASU has made too many decisions based on personality. For example, if an employee can't get along with his/her supervisor, the reporting structure will change rather than dealing with the issue.

 I have never seen the 2020 document…and I was at the retreat when it was formulated. I remember going through the process, but I don’t recall seeing the final document. I think the board strategic plan should be the basis of the institutional strategic plan. While they share similar goals, the 2020 plan was never a part of the institutional strategic planning process, at least that I can recall. I know these are supposed to be anonymous, but I would like to own this statement, but it could be that I’m not recalling our institutional planning process from 3 years ago. I have a hard time remembering yesterday, let alone 3 years ago. ‐ Bill Mansheim

 I am very proud to be associated with ASU and truly believe we could be an institution of choice with the right recruiting team and with more attractive compensation offerings to faculty/staff.  I see a lot of burn out from faculty and staff. They have been asked (and embraced the

challenged) to do so much with so little. There is little time for planning because daily task and evaluation requirements dominate the time. It is discouraging to put in extra hours and still not be able to complete all the tasks. We have made many adjustments to work smarter, not harder but the reality is there is still a large work load.

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Page 26 of 26 DRAFT BOT 7/9/15 XI. Adjournment

Chairman Arnold Salazar called for a motion to adjourn. Trustee Griffin moved the motion. Trustee Simpson seconded. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 3:52 p.m.