The Board of Trustees held its spring meeting on May 14-16, 2025, on Lawrence’s Appleton campus and via Zoom conferencing for those unable to attend in person.
The Board was provided with materials which contained updates from all areas of the institution, including the Faculty Committee on University Governance (FCUG) and the Lawrence University Community Council (LUCC). Ahead of the in-person meeting, the Audit Committee, Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee (of Finance), Trustee Governance Committee, and newly formed Communications and Marketing Subcommittee (of Enrollment) met virtually. The Investment Committee continues to meet virtually off-cycle.
The main topics of discussion included campus updates, including the ongoing impact of federal actions on the campus, the budgets for the current and next fiscal year, enrollment for the fall of 2025, and marketing and communications updates.
The following committees met in-person this past week: Academic and Student Affairs, Development, Enrollment, and Finance. The Academic and Student Affairs Committee received its regular reports from the Faculty Committee on University Governance and the Lawrence University Community Council, along with an update on the Career Center. It also considered faculty candidates for promotion. The Development Committee focused on a year-end update and the campaign. The Enrollment Committee heard an update on Fall of 2025 enrollment. The Finance Committee focused on updated projections for the current fiscal year as well as a budget for the next fiscal year.
We also held two bi-committee meetings; the purpose of the bi-committees is to provide space for open dialogue between committees on key topics. During the Spring meeting, ASA and Development discussed how we can leverage philanthropy to support academic program growth, while Enrollment and Finance focused on how we prioritize net revenue and enrollment headcount.
At the meeting, the Board voted on items coming out of Committees and approved the following:
- Approved the promotion of the following faculty members to full professor: Dominica Chang, Associate Professor of French; Mark Jenike, Associate Professor of Anthropology; Douglas Martin, Associate Professor of Physics; and Julie McQuinn, Associate Professor of Music.
- Approved the proposed FY26 budget.
- Approved additional funding for enrollment and communications/marketing strategic investments.
- Approved an easement for We Energies utilities near the Warch Campus Center.
- Approved the addition of a non-trustee committee member to the Investment Committee, Jason Spaeth ’92, who begins July 1, 2025.
- Approved updated Board of Trustees Bylaws.
- Approved the election of five new term trustees, who begin July 1, 2025: Daniel Flaherty; Jeffrey Fox ’72; Kathi Seifert; Heidi Ling ’83; and Andrew Wong ’06.
- Approved the election of Board Officers starting July 1, 2025: Dave Shepard ’83 as Chair of the Board, Bill Baer ’72 as Vice Chair, and Katy Strei ’84 as Secretary.
- Approved a new Corporate Resolution.