APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 Western Washington University Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes Friday, December 14, 2018 CALL TO ORDER Acting on behalf of Board Chair Earl Overstreet, who called into the meeting by phone, Board Vice Chair, Trustee Chase Franklin called the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Western Washington University to order at 8:00 am in the Board Room, Old Main, in Bellingham, WA. Board of Trustees Earl Overstreet, Chair – by phone Chase Franklin, Vice Chair John Meyer, Secretary Citlaly Ramirez Faith Pettis Karen Lee Mo West Sue Sharpe Western Washington University Sabah Randhawa, President Brent Carbajal, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Richard Van Den Hul, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs Stephanie Bowers, Vice President for University Advancement Melynda Huskey, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services Donna Gibbs, Vice President for University Relations and Marketing McNeel Jantzen, Faculty Senate President Natasha Hessami, Associated Students Vice President for Governmental Affairs Paul Cocke, Director of University Communications Paul Dunn, Chief of Staff to the President, Secretary to the Board of Trustees Barbara Sandoval, Senior Executive Assistant to the President Rayne Rambo, Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION 12-02-2018 • • Trustee West moved that the Board of Trustees of Western Washington University, upon the recommendation of the president, approve the following minutes: Board of Trustees Meeting October 12 & 13, 2018 Board of Trustees Special Meeting, November 5, 2018 The motion passed. APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 5. PUBLIC COMMENT As per Amended RCW 28B.35.110, the Board of Trustees provided time for public comment. There were no requests for public comment. Trustee Franklin thanked the students who were in the audience for attending the meeting. 6. INTRODUCTIONS Trustee Chase Franklin welcomed Trustee Faith Li Pettis and expressed that the board is excited for the opportunity to work with Trustee Pettis as the board works towards meeting the goals of the strategic plan. RESOLUTION NO. 2018-04 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY WELCOMING TRUSTEE FAITH LI PETTIS WHEREAS, on October 22, 2018, Governor Jay Inslee appointed FAITH LI PETTIS of Seattle, Washington to serve a six-year term on the Western Washington University Board of Trustees ending on September 30, 2024; and WHEREAS, FAITH LI PETTIS brings to her appointment as a trustee years of professional experience as bond counsel and outside counsel to state and local governments, with a primary focus on housing, education, and nonprofit finance; and WHEREAS, FAITH LI PETTIS has received numerous professional honors, including election as a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel, and served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers; and WHEREAS, FAITH LI PETTIS was appointed in 2015 by the Mayor of Seattle to co-chair the City’s Housing Affordability and Livability task force, and was appointed in 2012 by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire to chair the statewide Affordable Housing Advisory Board; and WHEREAS, FAITH LI PETTIS has shown remarkable commitment to the community, serving as a trustee for College Spark Washington, an education grant-making organization, and the Seattle Children’s Theatre; and APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 WHEREAS, FAITH LI PETTIS received her bachelor’s degree in Russian language and Russian/East European area studies from the University of Washington, and her law degree from Harvard Law School; and WHEREAS, FAITH LI PETTIS has declared her commitment to serve as a member of the Western Washington University Board of Trustees; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees of Western Washington University officially extends a warm welcome to FAITH LI PETTIS as she begins her term on the Board. PASSED AND APPROVED by the Board of Trustees of Western Washington University at its meeting on December 14, 2018. MOTION 12-03-2018 Trustee Lee moved that the Board of Trustees of Western Washington University, approve Resolution 2018-04 Welcoming the Service of Board Member Faith Li Pettis The motion passed. 7. BOARD CHAIR REPORT Calling in by phone, Board Chair Earl Overstreet reported on two topics in his report that included trustee feedback on President Randhawa’s goals for the academic year and his feedback on campus climate and safety. Trustee Overstreet acknowledged President Randhawa’s highest priority goals relate to inclusive student success, diversity and inclusivity, and Washington Impact. He added that the remaining goal relate to securing the resources needed to achieve the primary goals including; the 2019-21 Legislative operating and capital budgets, the institutional resource modeling process, and Student Success Initiative fundraising campaign. Trustee Overstreet acknowledged that the Board of Trustees concurs with President Randhawa’s goals for the 2018-19 academic year. He added that the trustees are dedicated to supporting President Randhawa’s vision to heighten the commitment to improving campus climate and student safety, and reiterated the boards support for President Randhawa’s leadership in addressing these issues. He emphasized that the board is also committed to working with campus leaders on deepening common understanding of shared governance that will be key to achieving these goals. Trustee Overstreet commented on recent issues of campus climate and safety which is a priority of President Randhawa and the Board of Trustees. He noted that improvement is ongoing and some objectives have been achieved, but that more can be done and Western must work faster to achieve these goals. Trustee Overstreet noted that creating a caring, supportive environment where all community members are respected and treated fairly not only requires Western to energetically pursue justice and equity in its policies, practices, and impacts, but for every person at Western to be united in promoting these values in their spheres of influence. APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 8. UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT REPORT President Randhawa welcomed Trustee Pettis to the Board of Trustees and echoed the board’s enthusiasm about working with her in her new role as a trustees. He also welcomed Melissa Nelson, Assistant Attorney General, who replaces Rob Olson as legal counsel to Western. President Randhawa reported on events that occurred on campus over the past few weeks stemming from racist vandalism on campus. He noted that he and the executive leadership team have engaged in multiple difficult and meaningful conversations with students of marginalized identities regarding campus climate and campus culture. He noted that the meetings were held after a sit-in in the President’s Office and a student-led forum where students expressed their concerns about campus safety and the way the institution communicates about incidents, the student conduct and discipline process, academic support services for marginalized students, recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, institutional policies and structure related to marginalized communities and individuals on campus, ethnic studies education, and greater engagement of marginalized students on matters that are important to them. President Randhawa reported that the academic and administrative leadership team continues their work to make Western a safe campus, is committed to improving communication to students, and to being more sensitive to how students of color and students of marginalized identities are uniquely affected by these types of incidents. President Randhawa recognized that addressing these needs is central to advancing inclusive success and is a priority of the administration. Becca Kenna-Schenk, Executive Director of Government Relations, reported the Governor’s budget proposals had been released for the state’s biennial operating, capital, and transportation budgets, which marks the beginning of the biennial budget process. She reported that the operating budget is committed to fully fund the State Need Grant Program by fiscal year 2022 and proposed the name be re-branded to Washington College Promise program. Kenna-Schenk also reported that specific to Western the Governor’s Operating budget proposal includes three million dollars in funds that can be used to advance student success as well as academic programming enhancements. She reported that the Governor’s Capital Budget proposal includes funding for the construction phase of the Interdisciplinary Science Building at Western, pre-design and design funding for a new electrical engineering and computer science building, and significant funding for classroom and lab upgrades, minor works preservation and minor upgrades. 9. FACULTY SENATE REPORT McNeel Jantzen, Faculty Senate President shared information from the Senate Extended Education report which provides an overview of the history and future of Extended Education at Western. She reported that there are four areas of recommendations that include selfsustaining education, the use of extended education profits, extended education programs beyond Bellingham, and marketing. Jantzen reported that the Shared Governance working group will continue the important work of shared governance and will incorporate conversations with Faculty Senate, the staff unions, the Professional Staff Organization, Board of Trustees and the Associated Students Board of Directors. APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 Jantzen provided an update on the work of the Anti-Semitism Prevention and Response Advisory Group that is working diligently on implantation of the recommendations that were brought forward from the final report of the Task Force on Preventing and Responding AntiSemitism. 10. ASSOCIATED STUDENTS REPORT Sitting in for Associated Students President Millka Solomon, Natasha Hessami, Associated Students Vice President reported that inaugural election of Student Senators was successful. She said that there will be representation of two Senators from all seven colleges including the Graduate School and four at-large seats who will represent freshman, sophomores, transfer students and students who have not declared a major. The role of the Senators will be equal to the roles of the Board of Directors. Hessami shared that Associated Students Board of Directors will be finalizing the Student Legislative agenda for the two lobby days scheduled for January 21st with over one hundred students participating and on February 19th which has a focus on environmental protection and various marginalized identities. Hessami noted that the current Associated Students Board of Directors are majority women of color and they have been instrumental in the organization of the demonstration and forum that was held to provide students opportunities to have their concerns heard by the administration. She noted the importance of the continuation of the work for future students of Western to feel supported, safe and that Western’s campus is an equitable environment for everyone. 11. CLERY ACT COMPLIANCE AND INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT, AND 2017 ANNUAL SECURITY AND SAFETY REPORT UPDATE Antonia Allen, Director of the Office of the Internal Auditor, provided a highlighted overview of the Clery Compliance Audit which was conducted from January 2018 through July 2018. She reported that the Clery Act was selected during the annual audit planning process, which is based on a high level risk assessment and included campus management. She noted that the project was included on the FY 2018 annual plan and was presented and approved by the Board of Trustees and the October 2017 regular meeting. Allen explained that many of her peer university internal auditors had selected Clery compliance as an audit topic and that as a relatively new employee herself, she noted that she did not receive the annual Fire and Safety report, which is itself a Clery Act requirement. Allen explained that the purpose of the Clery Act is to ensure that current and perspective students and employees are provided with campus crime statistics and security information so they can make informed decisions that affect their safety. Allen reported that the objective of the Clery audit was to determine if Western’s Clery Act Compliance program contained all of the required elements to ensure compliance with federal regulations. She noted that during the review it was determined that there was need for significant improvements across areas tested for compliance by federal law. She explained that the administration, management in auditor’s terms, requested that she identify and review the most critical areas and systemic issues that need improvement. Allen reported that the primary APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 recommendation from the report was for management to assign responsibility and provided adequate resources to ensure that there is comprehensive oversite for Clery compliance. She noted that management has been very responsive to implementing improvements for Clery compliance. She added that a follow up audit will begin after the release of the next Fire and Safety report which will be on October 2019. She said that updates will be provided to the Finance, Audit and Enterprise Risk Management (FARM) Committee at every sub-committee meeting and updates will be reported to the Board of Trustees at regular meetings. 12. COMPREHENSIVE BUDGET OVERVIEW AND FINANCIAL HEALTH REPORT Richard Van Den Hul, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs, Linda Teater, Director, Budget Office, and Brian Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs, provided the annual comprehensive overview of all University funds, including revenues and expenditures of state, auxiliary, dedicated and local funds, grants and contracts, and key financial performance ratios. 13. CAPITAL AND SPACE PLANNING UPDATE Rick Benner, Director of Facilities Development and Capital Budget and University Architect, Francis Halle, Director of Space Administration and Space Management, John Furman, Director of Facilities Management, and Linda Beckman, Enrollment and Student Services Director of Budget and Administration presented an overview of projects that are presently underway or planned to begin over the next two years, which will begin to address the pressing space needs of the campus. These projects include Housing and Dining Development Assessments, New Residence Halls, and how these projects will impact academic and administrative spaces and the schedule for which the project will take place to completion. 14. INSTITUTIONAL RESOURCE MODELING UPDATE Richard Van Den Hul, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs and Brian Burton, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs provided the board with an update on Western’s Institutional Resource Modeling process, which was initiated in the fall of 2018 with the constitution and charge of the President’s Advisory Committee on Institutional Resource Modeling (PARIRM). Van Den Hul reported that the committee has been working toward meeting the goals of the Strategic Plan by creating a plan that will determine the resources necessary to advance Western’s goals and aspirations for the next seven years. Burton explained that the charge of the committee includes advancing Western’s role in the Washington Student Achievement Council goals of significantly increasing adults with postsecondary education, meeting current and emerging areas of need in the state, and ensuring delivery of high-quality education. He added that the resource modeling process involves working groups comprised of professionals in academic affairs, business and financial affairs, and enrollment and student services. The role of the PACIRM is to bring the broad perspectives and insights of Western’s faculty, staff, administrators, and students to reviewing draft resource APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 models and the assumptions that drive them for relevancy and consistency with the strategic plan. Burton noted that the role of the committee is advisory in nature and that it will complete its work and deliver its final report to the President in spring 2019. He added that the final work will be presented to the Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meeting later in the 2018-2019 academic year. 15. GENERAL CONTRACTOR/CONSTRUCTION MANAGER PERCONSTRUCTION SERVICES CONTRACT FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE BUILDING, PW733 Richard Van Den Hul, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs requested approval of the pre-construction services contract with the General Contractor/Construction Manager for work beginning in January 2019. He added that a construction contract award is scheduled for the April 2020 Board of Trustees meetings with the assumption Western receives funding from the legislature. MOTION 12-04-2018 Trustee Sharpe moved that the Board of Trustees of Western Washington University, upon the recommendation of the President, approve a contract with BNBuilders of Seattle, WA, for the amount of $364,571 for pre-construction services for the Interdisciplinary Science Building project, PW733 The motion passed. 16. FINANCE, AUDIT, AND ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT Trustee John Meyer, Chair, Finance, Audit, and Enterprise Risk Management Committee, reported that the committee recieved the exit interview with the State Auditor’s for the accountability audit for fiscal year 2017 and 2018, the Audit of Financial Statements and Western Crossing in which the auditors reported strong internal controls and safeguarding of public resources with no significant findings. Trustee Meyer noted that the committee discussed institutional reserves and best practices, and will be receiving a report and recommendation in February from Business and Financial Affairs and will make a further recommendation to the full board at the February 8th meeting. He added the committee also received an update on the Clery Act and the Minority and Woman’s Business Enterprises Inclusion Plan. Meyer indicated that the financial health report will be moved to the February committee agenda. APPROVED Minutes December 14, 2018 17. STUDENT SUCCESS COMMITTEE REPORT Trustee Mo West, Chair, Student Success Committee reported that the committee discussed current and future Student Retention Initiatives that will align with the strategic plan and advancing student success. She noted that the lead metrics of the strategic plan revolve around inclusive success, retention and graduation rates, and closing achievement gaps for traditionally underrepresented students. She added that success in these areas is confirmation that students are being supported throughout their time at Western. Trustee West reported the committee would be taking a closer look at student success within math classes (particularly first year math) that will facilitate better retention and graduation rates for students. She also reported that the Student Success committee will continue to discuss the reorganization of Extended Education at Western and how to best reach a broader student body. 18. INFORMATION ITEMS a. Academic Affairs Report Provost Carbajal provided a written report that included quarterly information about the number of student majors per academic department. b. Quarterly Grant Report Provost Carbajal provided a written report with information for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs concerning grant awards. c. Capital Program Report Vice President Richard Van Den Hul provided a written report on the University’s capital projects. d. University Advancement Report Vice President Bowers provided a written report on the University’s Alumni Relations and Western Foundation activities. e. University Relations and Marketing Report Vice President Gibbs provided a written report documenting recent activities of University Relations and Marketing. f. Legislative Update Report Becca Kenna-Schenk, Executive Director, Government Relations provided a written report of Legislative Updates. 19. DATES FOR NEXT REGULAR MEETING February 7 & 8, 2019 20. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:54 a.m.