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JUNE
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The Board of Trustees held its spring meeting
on June 6-8 at the Deerfield Hyatt in Deerfield, IL. The official
business meeting occurred on Friday morning, June 8.
Joined by three members selected by the Board
to fill unexpected vacancies and observed by the four new
members elected this spring and starting service on September
1, the Board of Trustees started their June meeting with a
twenty-four hour retreat. With the help of Dr. Monica Manning
of The Nova Group, the Board discussed the current state of
affairs in institutional accreditation generally and in regional
accreditation specifically. It reviewed the trends and pressures
that will affect the Commission in the future, and contemplated
the kind of leadership it should provide, as well as the kind
of leadership it needs to hire and cultivate, within the organization.
  The
new members whose service started at this meeting are: David
Ho,
Management Instructor, Metropolitan Community College (NE);
Phillip
Jones, Vice President of Student Services and Dean of Students,
University of Iowa (IA); and Mike Strong, Executive Director,
Oklahoma
Quality Award Foundation (OK).
 The
new trustees elected this spring and attending this meeting
as an orientation to the Board are: Les Gardner, President,
Cornell College (IA); Albert Walker, President, Bluefield
State University (WV); Janice Purdy, President, Service to
Nonprofit Organizations (OH); Kinchoon Yang, Vice President
and Provost, Northwest Missouri State University.
THE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 2007-08
 At
its June meeting, the Board selects its officer for the coming
year. This year the Board confirmed its selection of Kathleen
Nelson, President, Lake Superior College (MN), to assume the
chair responsibilities on September 1. It elected Marlene
Strathe, Interim President and System CEO, Oklahoma State
University, to be Vice Chair/Chair Elect. Both will serve
on the 2007-08 Executive Committee. It voted to have Ron Modreski,
RAM Management Group (MI), continue as chair of the Finance
Committee, thereby sitting on the Executive Committee. It
agreed to continue the Board Development Committee and elected
Ellen Watson, CIO, Saint Louis University (MO), as its chair.
In that role, Watson will sit on the Executive Committee.
Carmen Gonzales, Vice President for Student Success, New Mexico
State University (NM), was chosen to continue her service
on the Executive Committee for another year.
The Board selected Robert Cupp, Ohio Supreme
Court Justice, to be the Vice President/President-Elect of
the Board of the North Central Association. By this action,
Cupp's service to the Commission's Board is extended
for two more years.
Betty Overton-Adkins also will remain on the Board to fulfill
her two-year commitment to serve as the Commission's
Board liaison with the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions
(CRAC).
The Board, through a formal resolution, noted the departure
from the Board of Ferol S. Menzel, Vice President for Academic
Affairs, Wartburg College (IA), and James Freer, Vice Chancellor
Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (WI). Menzel
completes her presidency of the Association and Freer completes
his year as Past-chair.
LEADERSHIP
TRANSITION
President Steven Crow gave to the Board his
official notice of his desire to retire from the Commission,
effective June 30, 2008. The Board accepted his notice, acknowledging
the significant contributions he has made to the Commission
since he joined the staff in January 1982. The Commission
has already sent official notice of Crow's retirement.
The Board devoted a considerable part of the formal business
meeting on Friday, June 8, to an executive session during
which the plans for the search process were developed. Those
plans will be made public when the search process officially
commences.
COMMISSION
FINANCES
The Finance Committee had reviewed and found
acceptable the Controller's report as of the first six
months of the fiscal year. At that point, the Commission had
a net income of $428,000, considerably above budget. Savings
have occurred largely through unfilled staff positions, some
of which will come on line before the end of FY2007. Now that
the Commission has strong financial leadership within the
staff, the Committee was able to propose and have accepted
a motion to move $300,000 into the Commission reserve, thereby
bringing that up to $3.5 million, slightly over the threshold
amount to be kept in reserve established in policy.
At the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Board
approved a preliminary budget for FY 2008, giving the Committee
authority to make as appropriate minor revisions before the
fiscal year starts on September 1. The budget projects operating
revenues of $9.226 million and non-operating revenues of $193,000.
Against those revenues it projects expenditures of $9.125
million.
ANNUAL
MEETING
Susan
Van Kollenburg provided the Board with a statistical summary
of the Commission's 2007 Annual Meeting. Overall attendance
was 4085, a 15% increase over the previous year and marking
a 46% increase since 2004. Every track and training component
of the Meeting showed a significant increase. More than 804
affiliated institutions were represented in one way or another,
with 687 having delegations of two or more (73 had delegations
of 10 or more). Self-reporting tells us that the numbers of
faculty in attendance rose 43%, an important indication of
broader institutional involvement in accreditation. Estimated
revenue is between $1.161 and $1.162 million. At this time
formal evaluations of the content of the meeting have yet
to be compiled and received by the office. Informal comments,
however, have been very positive.
Click
here to view photos from the 2007 Annual
Meeting.
Mark
your calendar for the 2008 Annual Meeting!
"Finding Common Ground: Accreditation, Assessment, and
Accountability"
April 11-15, Hyatt Regency Chicago
INSTITUTIONAL
ACTIONS
On the recommendation of the comprehensive
evaluation team, supported by the Review Committee, the Board
voted to remove the On Notice sanction from the Frank Lloyd
Wright School of Architecture (AZ).
The Board also voted to extend to July 20, the date of withdrawal
of accreditation for Lewis College of Business (MI). That
withdrawal action has been appealed, and the outcome of the
appeal process is anticipated near the end of July.
OFFICE
OPERATIONS
President Crow had earlier shared with the
Board the news of the selection of Martyne Hallgren to assume
the new position of Vice President. Ms. Hallgren's most
recent position was the Chief Information Officer at the University
of Massachusetts-Boston. She had prior appointments at The
Jackson Laboratory (ME) and Cornell University (NY). Her management
experience, together with her expertise in information management
and the Internet, gives her a unique set of skills that promises
to be of great use to the Commission. She will start her work
on July 30.
At the time Ms. Hallgren joins the staff, the office decision-making
structures will shift from a President/Cabinet arrangement
to one with three decision-making/coordinating councils. One
of those councils will bring together the recent hires that
have been made to new cross-program positions, particularly
Mike Kane, Assistant Director for Quality Assurance, and Sarah
Marino, Senior Officer, Peer Review Corps. Kane joined the
staff last July; Marino joined the staff on May 28 from her
position at the Associated Colleges of the Midwest.
Note:
Institutional CEOs, CAOs, Peer Reviewers, and Data Update
Coordinators receive Commission notices regarding publications,
meetings and events via email, fax, or regular mail as a regular
part of their ongoing relationship with the Commission.
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