Biennially, the Board of Trustees has a fall retreat to deepen their knowledge about Lawrence and higher education in a robust and concentrated fashion. This year’s retreat was held October 26-28, 2022. Because of the focused retreat agenda, the committees of the Board met during weeks preceding the retreat to attend to their business via Zoom. Ahead of committee meetings and the Board retreat, the Board was provided with materials to prepare for conversations and decisions.
During the course of each committee meeting, reports were delivered by the respective committee leadership and campus leadership. In the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, the committee focused on the external review of student affairs with new leadership, while also hearing from the provost and dean of the conservatory on the strategic initiatives and first impressions and vision from the new athletics director. The Development Committee discussed our endowment policies and celebrated the completion of new projects like the Lawrence Arch, the Drew Street Bridge, and the Kohler Hall renovation. The IDEAS Committee committed to supporting President Carter and the new leader once hired to this work and reaffirmed the committee’s strategic goals. The Enrollment Committee reviewed AY 22 enrollment cycle and discussed this current first-year class, while also hearing from our interim enrollment leadership on the state of admissions and financial aid. There was also discussion of the enrollment-focused strategic initiatives. In the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee, there was much discussion on the highlights of an extraordinarily busy summer construction season where several strategic investments and critical deferred maintenance items were completed. The Finance Committee maintains its focus on the financial positioning of the institution, focusing on modeling and projection towards a balanced budget. The President and the Chair of Board led the trustees in discussion on the priorities for academic year 2020-2021 and reviewed the institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic across all aspects of campus.
At the Board Retreat, the Board focused its time on institutional strategies to eliminating our structural deficit and thriving through the demographic changes that will impact higher education in the near future, and created a Task Force on Enrollment Size comprised of Trustees, faculty, and staff to report out in the next meeting.
Over the course of the meeting, the Board:
- Approved aspects of the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget.
- Approved changes to the physical plant.
- Approved changes to the Development Committee charge.
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for February 7-9, 2023 in Appleton and virtually via Zoom conferencing.