BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR FORT LEWIS COLLEGE

SPECIAL MEETING

President’s Conference Room, 2503 Berndt Hall

Fort Lewis College

October 12, 2017

Vol. 17-129

Trustees Present: Steve Short, Chair; Alan Hill, Ernest House; Nora Jacquez, Dick Kaufman, John Wells, Michael Valdez, Faculty Representative; and Dustin Fink, Student Representative Absent: Dianne Van Voorhees

Staff Present:Lauren Becker, Legal Counsel; Peggy Sharp, Deputy Secretary; and Mike Larson, Audio Consultant

Guest:Lucy Leske, search consultant with Witt/Kieffer, and Tom Schilling, Communications Consultant for the Presidential Search.

Chair Short, convened the special Board meeting at 3:50 p.m. for the purpose of hearing a presentation on the presidential search process by Lucy Leske. Ann Yates, a principal with the search firm, participated by phone.

Ms. Leske talked about the higher education landscape and expectations of the new president. She met on Wednesday with campus and community constituencies and had a meeting earlier today with the Presidential Search Committee. The language in the charge to the committee has been changed slightly to state the committee will recommend two or more candidates. The search schedule will be public and Dick Kaufman will be the main communication source. Information on applicants will be confidential, and the committee will observe the open meeting laws. There will never be anything in writing about the candidates. She reviewed the steps and the timeline that would be followed by the presidential search committee and the search firm. She stated that following the selection of two or more finalists, campus visits for each will be scheduled. There will be also be the opportunity for the Denver Board members to interview the individual. At the April 6th Board meeting, campus input will be provided to the Board, and an allotted time will be set aside for public input with the Board. At this point, the Board will go into executive session to make their decision for the next president of Fort Lewis College. Witt/Kieffer will make the notification to the chosen candidate and will also notify the others who were finalists.

Discussion ensued regarding the presidential residence and the possible use of a survey instrument. She stated that a survey instrument is part of the public record and therefore, has some risks as well as benefits.

Ms. Leske asked that the Trustees articulate expectations of the next president. Some of the responses were:

  • Increasing enrollment
  • Create unification of the campus and develop trust
  • Find an individual who can provide long-term financial stability and sustainability
  • Maintain good relationships with the Foundation
  • Nimbleness to make changes without getting bogged down
  • Have a firm set of goals that can be measured
  • Work with marketing to stress the qualities of the institution: it’s unique location; the excellent faculty; small classes; and diversity
  • Fundraising was discussed as an expectation

Ms. Leske indicated that the input received from her various campus meetings and the meeting with search committee were beginning to coalesce. A few of the main points are:

  • Long-term financial stability
  • Shared vision about identity – where are we going; ways to explain our mission and strengths
  • Marketing – raising visibility
  • Build strategic partnerships and relationships
  • Getting the institution to a higher level of flexibility & nimbleness
  • Culture of accountability for everyone
  • Board needs to be prepared to support the person selected
  • Look at the organizational structure and efficiency and have the authority to make changes

Chair Short reported the College is discussing a name change and asked if we should push this issue a little faster to perhaps have a recommendation to the Board by March or wait for the new president? Ann Yates indicated that it might not be a good change to make in the middle of the search process.

Ms. Leske indicated the Search Committee has gathered enough input to begin to put together a job description. The requirement for a terminal degree was discussed, as well as consideration for a non-traditional candidate. The Board is open to these ideas and would prefer to cast a wide net at the beginning of the process. Dr. Valdez reported that faculty felt very strongly about the Ph.D. degree.

Ms. Leske stated she and Ms. Yates will work with the committee to finalize the leadership profile and recruiting plan at the next search committee meeting. She thanked the Board for their time and input.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.