Dear Ithaca College community,Dear Ithaca College community,
The final meeting of Ithaca College Board of Trustees for the 2017–18 academic year took place on campus Thursday through Saturday, May 17–19, deliberately scheduled to give the members of our board the opportunity to fully participate in Commencement celebrations. Trustees enjoyed connecting with one another and with members of our campus community at the Senior Class Donor Luncheon, the Commencement Eve concert and fireworks, and of course, on Commencement day. The weekend was a spectacular way for us to cap off a productive series of meetings, and we felt tremendous pride in our community, our institution, and our graduating students.
The board’s meeting agenda was ambitious and robust, and you are invited to read about the business items we discussed and took action on in the news story below. In addition to the board’s business, on Friday we held an open session for faculty, staff, and students to connect with the leadership of our board. This is the second such session, and the board remains committed to regularly providing these opportunities.
It is our sincere pleasure to share that trustees unanimously voted to appoint current vice chair Dave Lissy ’87 as the next chair of the board and Jim Nolan ’77 as the next vice chair. Dave and Jim’s new leadership roles will begin on June 1 and each will serve a three-year term in that position. The college is in incredibly good hands with Dave and Jim, and we offer them our deepest congratulations. You can read more about the board’s leadership succession in this news story.
On a personal note, I, Tom, would like to give my deepest appreciation to the board and to the Ithaca College family for the privilege of serving as chair for the past six years. It was a true honor. Thank you.
We both want to offer our thanks to the college community and to the members of our board for their dedication, focus, time, and expertise throughout this academic year. Our May meeting concluded a productive, exciting year, and we look forward to seeing how our engaged, invested community of trustees, administrators, alumni, faculty, staff, and students can shape the future of this college that we love.
The next scheduled meeting for the board of trustees will be from Wednesday, October 17, to Friday, October 19, on campus. Please stay tuned, too, for the date and time of the corresponding open session for faculty, staff, and students.
Have a wonderful summer.
Sincerely,
Tom Grape ’80
Chair, Ithaca College Board of Trustees
Shirley M. Collado
President, Ithaca College
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Approved Business and Updates from Board Committees
During its business meeting on Saturday, May 19, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the board’s first-ever inclusive excellence policy. The policy was drafted by the Inclusive Excellence Committee, an ad hoc committee specifically formed to develop a policy that reflects the board’s dedication to fostering, modeling, and leading a supportive and inclusive culture at Ithaca College. The policy defines inclusive excellence, and outlines ways in which each of the board’s standing committees can fold the philosophy into its work. You can read the board’s Inclusive Excellence Policy here.
The board also approved an update to the Rules for the Maintenance of Public Order, a section of the Ithaca College Policy Manual required under New York State education law. The rules apply to all members and organizations of the campus community as well as to visitors and licensees, and were last extensively amended in 2003.
The revisions underwent a thorough and inclusive series of reviews before being presented to the board. General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs Nancy Pringle participated with a workgroup comprising the chairs of the Faculty, Staff, and Student Governance Councils as well as a representative group of students, faculty, and staff. Presentations were also made to all three councils seeking feedback, and a survey was sent out to the entire campus community.
“We wanted to make sure to highlight the protections for freedom of speech, expression, and assembly, so those provisions were moved to the beginning of the document,” said Pringle. “At the same time, we wanted to provide more clarity and refinement for rules related to protecting the safety and welfare of the IC community and to ensuring that college operations are not disrupted.”
The updated Rules for the Maintenance of Public Order will be posted in the Campus Community section of the Ithaca College Policy Manual within the next few weeks.
Changes were also made to the board membership, with three new members voted in. The following individuals’ terms on the board begin June 1: student trustee Yetunde Smalls ’21, alumni trustee Ellen Staurowsky, M.S. ’79, and term trustee Luvelle Brown, superintendent of the Ithaca City School District. The board’s current alumni trustee was elected as a term trustee, and three current term trustees were re-elected. Please read the specifics around the changes to the board’s membership here.
The Educational Affairs Committee brought forward resolutions to promote 15 faculty members, all of which were approved unanimously by the board. A full list of the faculty, their departments, and their new titles can be found in this news story.
Finally, the board approved the reclassification of nearly $2.3 million in the 2018–19 capital budget to support much-needed renovations and upgrades to the college’s laundry facilities.
Plenary Sessions Offer Discussion, Energy around Enrollment and Strategic Plan
Two lively plenary sessions on Friday, May 18, saw board members engaging in thoughtful, energetic discussions around two major issues that affect the future of the college: the changing dynamic of the college’s enrollment landscape and the upcoming strategic plan.
President Shirley M. Collado and Gerard Turbide, vice president for enrollment management, delivered a brief presentation to board members during the first session. They outlined some of the data and forthcoming trends related to student populations over the next decade, and identified internal and external challenges confronting the college. The board then broke into small groups to discuss strategy and ideas around specific areas such as affordability and accessibility, academic programs, and student life.
Susan Baldridge, former provost and professor of psychology at Middlebury College, led the second plenary session. Baldridge, who has served as a consultant at IC around the strategic planning efforts, guided the visioning session about the scope of the plan and the board’s role in it by offering prompts for discussion related to goal setting and outcomes. The college’s strategic planning process begins in the fall, and President Collado has stated her full commitment to developing an inclusive, transformative, and highly collaborative process that the entire college community participates in and owns.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20180531101657991