Board of Trustees > Meeting Archives > June 28, 2004 Minutes

The Florida State University Board of Trustees Meeting
FSU Research Foundation Building
June 28, 2004
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
MINUTES

Members Present: Dr. Valliere Auzenne, Mr. Derrick Brooks, Mrs. June Duda, Mr. David Ford, Dr. Jessie Furlow, Mr. Manny Garcia, Mr. Andy Haggard, Mr. Harold Knowles, Dr. Stanley Marshall, Mr. Jim Smith, and Mr. Jarrett Eady, Mr. John Thrasher.

Members Excused: Dr. Ann McGee.

1. Executive Session (Closed to the public)

The Board of Trustees met in Executive Session to discuss issues relative to collective bargaining matters.

2. Call to Order and Welcome

Chairman Thrasher convened the meeting of the Florida State University Board of Trustees at the FSU Broadcast Center in Tallahassee, Florida, at 1:00 p.m., June 28, 2004. The following members were present: Dr. Valliere Auzenne, Mr. Derrick Brooks, Mrs. June Duda, Mr. David Ford, Dr. Jessie Furlow, Mr. Manny Garcia, Mr. Andy Haggard, Mr. Harold Knowles, Dr. Stanley Marshall, Mr. Jim Smith, and Mr. Jarrett Eady, Mr. John Thrasher. Mr. Manny Garcia participated by conference call. Dr. Ann McGee had an excused absence.

Chairman Thrasher welcomed everyone to the meeting. Trustee Eady made a motion to suspend the Board of Trustees’ Operating Procedure Section 203 (b) to take up the items listed on the agenda. Trustee Auzenne seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

Chairman Thrasher welcomed Barry Adams as the new President and Executive Director of the FSU Alumni Association. He also thanked President Wetherell and all of the staff that participated in the commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 1, 2004, in which Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney was the commencement speaker.

3. Approval of Minutes

Trustee Ford made a motion that the Board of Trustees’ minutes of the January 30, 2004 meeting be approved. Trustee Auzenne seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Trustee Haggard made a motion that the Board of Trustees’ minutes of the March 26, 2004 conference call be approved. Trustee Auzenne seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

4. Comments, Faculty Senate

Dr. James Cobbe made a presentation on behalf of the Faculty Senate. He said that he had two comments. First, he said faculty are sometimes criticized because it can be hard to find them in the summer. Dr. Cobbe said that there is a good reason for that. All though University Administrators are typically on 12-month contracts that give them vacation leave, Faculty are on nine-month contracts with no leave provisions. They are only paid by the University during the three months of the summer if they are teaching, have assigned administrative duties, or a contact or grant that includes summer salary. This is the traditional way of doing things and it has considerable advantages. It gives faculty a block of time when they can pursue their research, wherever it might take them, and it also gives them a strong incentive to seek outside funding for that research so they can be paid in the summer to the thing that they love and in many cases the thing that lead them to become a Faculty member in the first place. But, if people criticize faculty for not being around in the summer please defend us by explaining that the chances are that the faculty concerned are not on the payroll in the summer. Second, increasing enrollment is also a concern for the faculty. Growth of faculty has not kept up with growth of student numbers over the past couple of decades. The ratio of full time equivalent students to full time equivalent Faculty is higher than at any other large state university in Florida and almost double that of some of the peer universities we seek to compete with in the southeast. Maintaining and improving quality under these circumstances requires unusual effort by faculty and further enrollment growth tends to make us nervous when it threatens to outstrip the growth of the faculty. Faculty members have a strong and abiding interest in the quality of the institution for self-interested reasons and we know that we are dependent on you, the trustees, to ensure that we have enough colleagues to preserve and ensure that quality.

Chairman Thrasher indicated that he and the President have talked about the issue in terms of goals and objectives for the next couple of years. Their goal is to ensure that the Faculty/Student ratio is kept to a level in which quality education is promoted.

5. Comments, Student Government Association

Ms. Jessica Hanson, Vice President of the Student Government Association made a presentation on behalf of student government. She reported that the budget for 2005/2006 is being completed. The Student Senate has finished their hearings and will soon be presenting their proposals to the Executive Branch for approval. Trustee Eady was just elected as Chairman of that the Florida Student Association Board, which means he will subsequently be serving on the Board of Governors. She said students are concerned about tuition and the status of the computer labs on campus. Finally, Ms. Hanson said that students are very concerned about the status of the job position opening in the office of Greek life within Student Affairs.

6. Council of 100 Report on Higher Education

Chairman Thrasher introduced Charlie Ohlinger, Executive Director, Council of 100, Joe Lacher, Chairman, Higher Education Funding Task Force (and President of BellSouth Florida), and Joe Heel, Council of 100 Member (and Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company) to discuss the Council of 100 report on higher education, “We Must Do Better: Moving Florida’s State University System to the Next Level in Quality and Accessibility.”

Mr. Lacher explained that the Florida Council of 100 is a non-profit organization started by Governor Bryant to bring business leaders together to develop recommendations on how to improve the quality of life of Florida citizens. In that role we are frequently asked to undertake studies. About a year ago he was asked to chair a task force to study higher education funding which issued this report. Mr. Lacher said the set of recommendations is an integrated package. The other issue is that you can make adjustments in one or two of the items as long as you make offsetting adjustments in the others. It’s a proposal that will allow us to model and predict what are the best ways we can improve the quality and accessibility of Florida’s Universities given the fact that it is highly unlikely we’re going to get significant increases in state funding. Chairman Thrasher urged the trustees to read the report because of the important issues that it raises for universities.

Mr. Heel made a presentation of the report’s key findings. He said McKinsey & Company developed the report on a pro bono basis. Mr. Heel said that they used an unconventional approach by using a business and economic perspective. In the last school year, the State of Florida spent $2.3 billion directly or indirectly funding higher education for the production of undergraduate degrees in the State of Florida. The output that the State of Florida gets today is not that impressive. The quality of the educational system and the accessibility in terms of the number of students that have low economic means to attend the school is below national average on most criteria. In addition, there are not enough Bachelor’s degrees produced in our state to meet the needs of our economy, and of the businesses that create those jobs. The report uses an economic framework. Mr. Heel said, that a metric was created to show the return on state funding. What it means is for every million dollars that the state puts directly and indirectly into the production of Bachelor’s degrees how many Bachelor’s degrees do I get

    • The answer for the State of Florida is 25.1 and we rank quite a bit lower than the national average, which is 29. As this is disaggregated there is a difference and that results in an integrated set of recommendations that is one way to change this picture of funding and that has to do with tuition, Bright Futures, the prepaid scholarship fund, and needs-based aid. He said they are proposing change in an integrated way that produces more graduates per dollar of state funding and at the same can improve quality and accessibility. Mr. Heel presented the detailed recommendations of the report located at: http://www.fc100.org/display.asp
    • navid=0&id=6. From a business and economic perspective, the study examined higher education funding in terms of what return the State receives from investing $2.3 billion by measuring quality, accessibility and productivity. The recommendations keep the total amount of spending by the State constant. The Council recommends that Florida:


    • Increase funding of need-based aid from $80 million to $243 million by 2008-2009 to ensure availability of funds for students in financial need. This increase in funding includes $202 million to fully assist needy students adversely affected by changes in tuition and Bright Futures, plus an additional $41 million for use by needy students.

    • Increase the total cost of attending college by 3% per year for the next 5 years, by increasing tuition and fees at 13.9% per year to reach national average tuition and fee levels. Given that tuition represents approximately only 23% of an individual’s total cost of attending a 4-year college, the 13.9% rate of tuition increase represents a 3% annual change in the total cost of education for students.

    • Make the Bright Futures Scholarship Program a true merit program. Beginning in 2005-2006, increase the minimum SAT requirements for Academic Scholars from 1270 to 1330, and for Bright Futures Medallion Scholars from 970 to 1070. This increase moves the minimum program requirement above the average 2001-2002 Florida SAT of 995, as well as the national average of 1038, and closer to the Florida State University System (SUS) average of 1113.

    • Increase the financial aid available to students attending Florida’s private schools to $120 million (through a $3,000 Florida Resident Access Grant per student, or FRAG) from today’s level of $80 million, beginning in 2004-2005.

    • Increase the Education and General (E&G) budget (appropriations plus tuition) per State University System full-time-equivalent (FTE) student to $17,008 by providing $366 million in additional funds by 2008-2009.

    • Accrue approximately $101 million in funds each year beginning in 2005-2006 to ensure that all of Florida’s existing pre-paid college tuition contracts sold are honored, and re-price new contracts appropriately. A $50 million accrual per year is required to compensate for contracts sold up to the 2002-2003-enrollment period. An additional $51 million needs to be accrued for contracts projected to be sold during the 2003-2004-enrollment period, if sales continue at current rates, and contracts continue to be priced at current levels.

      The results of these policy changes by 2008-2009 will be:

    • Increase the accessibility of the state’s university education system, by increasing need-based aid from $80 million to $243 million. The additional funds could allow full tuition coverage for 15,000 students in financial need per school year. Florida’s rank in terms of state need-based aid/Pell Grant aid would increase from 34th to 22nd.

    • Increase the quality of the state’s university education system, by increasing the annual E&G budget per SUS student by 14%, from $14,867 to $17,008. Depending on policy decisions or the specific university mission, these funds could be used to improve quality of SUS institutions in different ways. For example, these funds could simultaneously increase teaching spending per student by 25%, graduate an additional 100 PhD’s per year, reaching national average mix of doctorates to total
    • Graduates, and increase research budgets by 25%. Florida’s rank in terms of E&G budget per full-time equivalent student would improve from 34th to 24th among the fifty states.

    • Graduate 4,600 more bachelor degrees than would otherwise be graduating by 2008-2009, effectively going beyond closing the gap in bachelor requirements to meet labor market needs.

    • Improve the state’s return on invested funds from 25.1 to 27.8 graduates per $1 million of taxpayer funds, even after increasing the quality and accessibility of the system.

      After some brief questions and discussion Chairman Thrasher thanked Mr. Heel and Mr. Lacher for the excellent substantive presentation.

      7. Consent Items

      Trustee Smith made a motion to approve the consent items. Trustee Eady seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. The following items were approved in this motion:

      1. Report on Tenure
      2. Change of degree name and CIP Code from Information Studies (11.0401) to Information Technology (11.0103)
      3. Change of department name from Chemical to Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
      4. Approval to Explore B.A. in French and Francophone Studies
      5. Approval to Explore M.S. in Biostatistics
      6. Approval to Explore B.S. in Science of Earth's Environment
      7. M.A. in American Dance Studies - Change of CIP Code
      8. Studio and Related Studies - New Major in Dance
      9. Computational Structural Biology - New Major in Biology
      Ph.D
      10. Lambda Rail Financing - Mr. John Carnaghi
      11. Vendor Prompt Payment Policy/Rule – Mr. John Carnaghi

      8. Legislative Report

      Kathleen Daly discussed the Legislative outcome from the 2004 Session. Funding was provided for the Mag Lab, PECO projects, a tuition increase, School of Chiropractic, Ringling Museum, Appleton transfer, major gifts matching, and the Florida Center for Reading Research. Chairman Thrasher thanked Kathleen Daly and President Wetherell for their successful lobbying efforts.

      9. Committee Reports:

      Finance and Business Committee

      Chairman Thrasher recognized Mr. Carnaghi, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, for a discussion of the Action and Information Items. Mr. Carnaghi began by explaining the FY 2004-05 tuition policy proposal. The Legislature required mandatory tuition increases 7.5% for in-state undergraduates and 12.5% for graduates. The option of imposing up to a 2.5% increase atop the 12.5% increase is not proposed. Trustee Knowles made a motion to approve the 2004/2005 tuition policy. Trustee Ford seconded the motion, which passed on a vote of 11 to 1, with Trustee Eady opposed.

      Mr. Ralph Alvarez, Associate Vice President of Budgeting, Planning, and Financial Services, presented the tentative 2004-05 operating budget and Direct Service Organization budgets for approval. Trustee Eady made a motion to approve the tentative 2004-05 operating budget and Direct Service Organization budgets with delegated authority to the President or his designee to make any other changes during the year within available resources. Trustee Ford seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. Alvarez presented the FY 2005-2006 Legislative Budget Request Issues. He said the issues add up to $31.8 million. Trustee Ford made a motion to approved the FY 2005-2006 Legislative Budget Request issues. Trustee Smith seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. John Carnaghi presented the fiscal year 2005-2006 Fixed Capital Outlay Budget Request. Trustee Duda made a motion to approve the fiscal year 2005-2006 Fixed Capital Outlay Budget. Trustee Ford seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. Carnaghi explained the proposed Capital Improvement Trust Fund Allocation. Each student pays $4.76 per credit hour into the fund. There is $16.7 million available to the University. The plan is to expand Intramural Fields near the golf course and develop another Student Activities facility for volunteer programs as well as for Career Services Programs at the University. Trustee Smith made a motion to approve the Capital Improvement Trust Fund allocation. Trustee Marshall seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. Carnaghi discussed the facilities and equipment fees, including the Use of Equipment Fee for Medical School Technology, Musical Instruments, Nursing Equipment and Underwater Forensics. The FSU Card Fee was deferred from the Committee. Chairman Thrasher summarized the four fees for the Board: 1) For the College of Medicine, the adoption of a equipment use fee of $500 per year per student for laptops, PDA’s, software; 2) For the School of Music, the adoption of an instrument equipment use fee of $90 per semester per student; 3) For the School of Nursing, the adoption of a equipment fee in the amount of $10; and 4) For the Panama City campus, the adoption of an equipment fee in the amount of $90 per student per semester enrolled in the Underwater Crime Scene Certification Program. Trustee Ford made a motion to approve the Facilities Use and Equipment fees. Trustee Auzenne seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. Carnaghi explained the $30 orientation fee to the Board. Currently students pay $25, so it is an increase of $5 to cover escalating costs. Trustee Smith made a motion to approve the increase in the orientation fee. Trustee Ford seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. Carnaghi asked for approval of the Parking & Transportation Services fee increase. It would be implemented in 2005 and consist of an increase from $4.90 per credit hour to $6.00 per credit hour. Trustee Smith made a motion to approve the Parking & Transportation Services fee increase. Trustee Ford seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Ms. Cheryl Gonzalez, Associate Director for Human Resources, provided an overview of the Equity Accountability Program Report. She said that of all Universities, Florida State University was ranked 19th last year with 2004 rankings to be published soon. Hispanic Magazine ranked Florida State one of the top 25 colleges for Latinos. Among only public colleges and universities, Florida State ranked eleventh. It moved up higher. Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education ranked FSU 45th in the nation in terms of number of Bachelor’s Degrees awarded to Hispanic Students. Ms. Gonzalez said that FSU has a strong record of excellent progress. She asked the Board of Trustees for their approval of the report. Trustee Knowles thanked Mr. Carnaghi, Ms. Gonzalez and Mr. Alvarez for briefing him on these issues in detail. Trustee Furlow made a motion to approve the Equity Accountability Program Report. Trustee Auzenne seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Mr. Carnaghi discussed several information items. First, he said that several fees were being explored such as an email transfer fee and computer lab-printing fee. The FSU card fee was put on hold in the Finance and Business Committee after lengthy discussion. Chairman Thrasher emphasized the importance of a technology fee to the University.

      Second, Mr. Carnaghi updated the Board on the President’s House Committee progress. He said that five to seven sites were being explored.

      Third, Mr. Carnaghi provided an update on Direct Service Organization (DSO) relationships. He said there are eight university DSOs. All the DSO’s operations are tied to the University’s business organization and everything seems to be going well.

      Fourth, Mr. Alvarez presented a report on the university bonding process. He explained the approval process and funding sources for bonds. The University has no authority to issue bonds. Instead, bonds are issued by the State Board of Education on behalf of the University. However, Direct Service Organizations may issue their own bonds. By statute, bond issues must be approved by the Board of Trustees, the State Board of Education, the Board of Governors, the State Board of Administration, the Division of Bonding and Finance, and the Department of Education. He explained which funds could be used for bonds. Trustee Knowles said that the only issue that came up that was not disposed of at the Finance Committee meeting was the issue of diversity on the management team. He said that he recognized that DSO’s are seldom self-contained entities, but they report to the Board of Trustees and their mission is in support of the University.
      He asked Mr.Carnaghi’s office to follow up and ensure that there is diversity on the management team when and if there are bond issues.

      Academic Affairs Committee

      Dr. Robert B. Bradley, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, presented the strategic plan update and a proposed 10-Year Enrollment Plan. First, the Board of Governors is putting together their Strategic Plan. He said that at this point they have come up with something called the Y-axis, which is their plan at the State level, and they have three major goals: A. Access to and production of degrees; B. Meeting Statewide Professional and Workforce needs; and C. Building a World Class Academic and Programs Research Capacity. Those are the three goals that the Board has been formulating and they’re coming up with measures on each one of those. Second, the Administration put three options before the Academic Affairs Committee, which selected option two which Trustee Marshall will explain. Trustee Marshall said that the Academic Affairs Committee requested support from the Board of Trustees for an enrollment plan that would include an additional 800 undergraduate FTE’s and 200 Graduate FTE’s for 2005/2006 and thereafter increased the plan by 1% at the Undergraduate Level and 2% at the Graduate Level. Trustee Marshall made a motion that the Board approves the 10-Year Enrollment Plan. Trustee Brooks seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      Ms. Joyce Ingram, Associate Vice President for Human Relations, presented a union update. She said that since the last update in January there was an additional representation election and subsequent certification by perk of the Florida Nurses Association bringing the total number of certified bargaining units on campus to five. UFF represents the faculty and the teachers at the Developmental Research School. The PBA represents the law enforcement officers. AFSCME represents the operational services employees that are based in facilities and housing primarily, and FNA represents the nurses. There have been 18 UFF sessions and approximately 30% of the contract has been completed having reached tentative agreement on ten of the 31 articles on the table. We are scheduled to meet again in July at which time we will continue our negotiations and discussions regarding the non-economic issues and we’ll also continue our discussions regarding the economic issues where we’ve already talked about preliminarily. Next, as it relates to UFF negotiations for the Developmental Research School of particular notice that PERC has ruled that we are a joint employer with FSU Inc. until such time that such a transition to sole public employer status occurs on behalf of FSU Inc. We’re in the process of developing our proposal and plan to present that proposal to UFF in July. Next, the University has been in negotiations with FPBA since January of this year. There have been four bargaining sessions in January through March and 98% of all non-economic issues have been completed. Next, AFSCME was certified as the Bargaining Agent for these operational services employees in September of last year. Discussions will be on July 2, 2004 to commence negotiations. Of particular note is the fact that the First District Court of Appeals has ruled in the University’s favor indicating that the Board of Trustees is still the public employer for collective bargaining. Last, the FNA was certified in March and the University is waiting to hear from their representative to commence negotiations. In conclusion, the goal is to continue to move forward in a collaborative manner and negotiate contracts that will balance the needs of the employees with the needs of the University.

      Student Affairs Committee

      Dr. Mary Coburn, Vice President for Student Affairs, began by indicating that the University is very excited about the CITF release. She said the University was expecting about $8 million and to have it be $16.7 million is very thrilling. The Campus Recreation Board that is comprised primarily of students had been planning for the Intramural Fields Project for most of this year. About 40 acres west of Innovation Park has been identified to be the site of Intramurals and students are very pleased with the progress of this project.

      10. Legal Report

      Ms. Betty Steffens, University General Counsel, reported that the Risk Management case of the Estate of Devaughn Darling vs. the Trustees had been settled. Further, the settlement agreement had been approved by the presiding Judge. The terms of the agreement provide that: FSU will 1) place a memorial to Devaughn at the Athletic Center; 2) provide duplicates of photos; 3) have replicas made of rings awarded to Devaughn Darling; 4) implement or revise the scholarship endowment; and 5) execute a release and settlement agreement. In addition there is a consent judgment of $2 million. The Division of Risk Management will pay the first $200,000 of this amount pursuant to state laws governing sovereign immunity. The remaining $1,800,000 requires that a claims bill should be filed by the plaintiffs. Finally, there is an August 1 deadline for claims bills.

      11. Presidential Evaluation

      Chairman Thrasher discussed the presidential evaluation results. He said that on January 30, 2004, the Board of Trustees was given an evaluation form and asked to return the completed forms to the chair by February 13, 2004. He summarized the general results of the evaluation forms completed by the FSU Board of Trustees as follows:

      1. Academic Management and Leadership. During the first year of Dr. Wetherell’s presidency, he faced many challenges. He set the direction for the University with a Five-Year plan. Dr. Wetherell was evaluated on eleven factors that measure leadership, including two statutorily mandated items: the accountability process (s. 1008.46, F.S.) and the employment equity accountability program (s. 1012.95, F.S.). All of the completed evaluation forms ranked Dr. Wetherell in the strongest possible terms on seizing opportunities to increase University resources and achieving performance goals established by the state university and accountability process. Most of the evaluation forms gave Dr. Wetherell the highest ranking for leadership, knowledge, work atmosphere, quality programs, and delegation of authority and responsibility to staff, concern for students, progress on the employment equity accountability program, and control over DSOs and athletics.

      2. Administrative Duties. The job description of the President has many tasks in common across the state university system, although each University is unique. Dr. Wetherell was
      evaluated on nine administrative factors. All of the completed evaluation forms ranked Dr. Wetherell in the strongest possible terms on promoting the University’s objectives, legislative advocacy, and accessibility. Most of the evaluation forms gave Dr. Wetherell the highest ranking for administering university budgets, successful fundraising, developing and executing plans and programs, representing the University on national councils and committees, and making presentations to academic community groups.

      3. Personal Qualities. In addition to traditional assessment factors, the Board evaluated President Wetherell on eleven personal qualities. All of the completed evaluation forms ranked Dr. Wetherell in the strongest possible terms on enthusiasm and dedication to the job, personal honesty and integrity, and zeal for the position of President. Most of the evaluation forms gave Dr. Wetherell the highest ranking for being positive, accepting constructive criticism, being open-minded concerning suggestions for improvement, expressing ideas well, being articulate, encouraging input from the University community, and encouraging staff development and growth.

      4. General Comments. Several trustees provided additional comments on their evaluation forms, praising Dr. Wetherell’s leadership. Selected comments include: “Dr. Wetherell’s comments to the Faculty in the fall meeting were inspirational and his love for FSU is evident.” “It has been a pleasure to watch him assume the leadership of FSU and propel it toward greatness.” “I think President Wetherell is excellent for this University.” “I am pleased with the performance of Dr. Wetherell as the President of Florida State University.” “In my interaction with T.K. I have been impressed and pleasantly surprised with the great choice we made for our president.” “President Wetherell has done an outstanding job in his first year. He has the best interest of FSU on his mind always.” “The operation of the University and relationship President Wetherell has with the staff and students is outstanding.” “T.K. has done an extraordinary job in a very difficult time.” “T.K. Wetherell embodies all that a president of a University should be. He balances confidence in his own abilities to run an institution of higher learning with an open-mindedness to listen and value the opinions of those in a position to assist him in his goals. His vision and integrity are an inspiration and his love of Florida State University shines through in every task he undertakes. It has been a true pleasure to serve on the FSU Board of Trustees with T.K. at the helm of our university.”

      Chairman Thrasher said that President Wetherell has done an outstanding job in his first year. He said that Dr. Wetherell’s vision and integrity are an inspiration and his love for Florida State University shines through in everything he undertakes. Trustee Eady thanked the President for including him on discussion of major issues.

      Trustee Smith made a motion to approve the evaluation report, contract, and President’s performance in making progress in gender equity in athletics. Trustees Haggard seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Trustee Eady made a motion that the performance bonus in the contract will be effective at the same time as university employees receive their bonuses. Trustee Haggard seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

      12. President’s Report

      President Wetherell thanked the Board for the evaluation and complimented the University’s management team. He provided an update on three issues. First, the University will be up for final accreditation in Atlanta in December. Second, when students return, Florida State University will be a totally wireless campus. The goal is to look at a four-year program where students actually show up with laptops and have the whole thing wireless and ready to go. Third, the freshmen class this year was estimated to be about 5,900. The model suggested to get 5,900 we should admit 6,400. The average SAT for students admitted this year was 1200 the average G.P.A. is 3.8. Finally, promotion and tenure dollars are a priority. The University needs funds to reward and seek special faculty and staff that can bring national recognition. FSU will work with the faculty, and the other groups to make sure that we can put a comprehensive salary package on the table that not only rewards people for what they do when they do it well, but also keeps the institution moving forward.

      13. Open Forum for Board Comments

      Chairman Thrasher asked the Board of Trustees if they had additional comments. Trustee Brooks thanked the Board for accommodating meeting times and schedules in accordance with the limited free time he has September through January. He said it has been a pleasure. In the first year on board he has learned a lot, and there is still a lot yet to learn, but the foundation of learning is communication and the staff, the president’s staff, and the president do a good job of communicating and providing information in order to help me serve the university in a better capacity. Trustee Brooks provided an update on the project that he has personally taken on to draw more of former athletes back to the University family. He is seeking assistance from fellow athletes and moving along and hopefully by the next board meeting there should be a more specific report.

      Trustee Auzenne thanked President Wetherell for his year of working with the faculty.

      Trustee Ford said that even though he lives in New York, he is really proud of Florida State. He said that the board should give something back to the school, and so he will look forward to seeing everybody, but know that if he calls that that might be the reason. Trustee Ford said that for national ratings for colleges and universities, one of the factors is the percentage of the alumni that contribute back to the university. He said he hoped that as the board of governors takes a look at how they’re going to evaluate various universities, they’ll consider getting some feed back from the people that actually went to school here, whether they’re one year out, two years out, five years out, and that is one measure of getting that feedback might be how many of them contribute back to the university. Trustee Ford said that he thought the Council of 100 presentation was an excellent and very important.

      Trustee Furlow said it has been her pleasure to be on the board as well.

      Trustee Smith said that he thought this is one of the better meetings. He said that the Board should get behind that Council of 100 effort. Something should be done about Bright Futures and the pre-paid program or the universities are going to be in a pretty steep decline. He congratulated the President on a great year.

      Trustee Eady thanked the Finance Committee for supporting his motion to re-visit the FSU card fee. That was really important to the students. He said when the Board considers proposals for tuition and increases for students, to please remember students as individuals and not abstract concepts or just numbers because they are people and individuals with lots of bills, Trustee Eady said that the President and administration are doing a great job of truly making the University a shining university.

      Trustee Haggard complimented Chairman Thrasher for his leadership. He said Chairman Thrasher runs a meeting better than anybody, cares more about Florida State, is the most prepared man, and that the Board is extremely lucky to have John Thrasher as chairman.


      14. Adjournment

      Chairman Thrasher thanked everyone for attending the meeting and the meeting was adjourned at 4:47 P.M.

      The Florida State University Board of Trustees approved the minutes on September 24, 2004.