September 2003 Minutes - Arizona Board of Regents

A meeting of the Arizona Board of Regents was held September 25 and 26, 2003, in the Alumni Lounge of the Memorial Union at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. President Herstam called the meeting to order at 1:45 p.m. on September 25.

PRESENT:	Regent Fred Boice Regent Robert Bulla Regent Chris Herstam Regent Jack Jewett Regent Danelle Kelling Regent Wes McCalley Regent Kay McKay Regent Christina Palacios (Friday Only) Regent Gary Stuart Regent Donald Ulrich
ABSENT:	Governor Janet Napolitano Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne

Also present were: President Michael Crow, Dr. Milton Glick, Dr. Mernoy Harrison, Dr. Kathleen Church, and Dr. Christine Wilkinson, Arizona State University; President John Haeger, Dr. M. J. McMahon, and Dr. Elizabeth Grobsmith, Northern Arizona University; President Peter Likins, Dr. George Davis, Mr. Joel Valdez, Ms. Edith Auslander, Dr. Randy Groth, Dr. Richard Powell, Dr. Saundra Taylor, Dr. Ray Woosley and Mr. Dick Roberts, University of Arizona; Executive Director Linda Blessing, Board Counsel Joel Sideman, Secretary to the Board Judy Garza, Dr. Tom Wickenden, Dr. Art Ashton, Ms. Cathy McGonigle, Ms. Kathy Bedard, Mr. Dave Harris, Ms. Gale Tebeau, and Ms. Norma Salas, Central Office Staff; and Dr. David Camacho, Arizona Faculties Council. Regent Designee Lorraine Frank was present both days and Regent Designee Ernest Calderón was present Friday.

All lists, reports, summaries, background materials, and other documents referred to in these minutes can be found in the September 25 and 26, 2003, Documents File.

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance. President Herstam welcomed Regent Designee Lorraine Frank.

Michael Martin, President Elect of ASU Main Classified Staff Council, expressed the appreciation of more than 10,000 employees of the three state universities to the Regents and the university presidents for their continuing efforts to maintain a vital work environment with career development opportunities for all state university employees. As the universities continue to grow during the coming years, it will be the classified staff who will help to meet the challenges of growth.

Jennifer Jacovitch, representing the University of Arizona English Graduate Union, urged the Regents to consider working conditions for graduate students, especially in the matter of wages. She said the University of Arizona graduate students rank in the 30th percentile when compared with peer institutions and 15% of their wages go back to the school for tuition or fees. She asked for 100% tuition remission. She said graduate students carry much of the teaching load at the universities.

Amy Hamilton and Sung Ohm, Co-chairs of the University of Arizona English Graduate Union, asked for 100% tuition and fee remission for Graduate Assistants and Research Assistants at the universities. They said child care money would also be helpful.

Gabrielle Giffords, State Senator from Tucson who has a Masters Degree in planning, spoke on behalf of the University of Arizona School of Planning. She said the UA School of Planning is nationally and internationally recognized in a variety of areas. She said the enrollment in this department has tripled since 1998 and there is 100% placement of the graduates. She described how students help in the community. She said closing the department would save less than $200,000.

Kelli Sertich, President of the Arizona Planning Association, said planning is a separate, recognized profession with its own set of knowledge and skills. It contributes to the debate and subsequent solutions to some of the critical societal problems. There are at least six firms in the Tucson area that are owned and operated by UA planning graduates.

Jim Mazzocco, Pima County Development Services Planner, said he is a graduate of the UA School of Planning and is a recipient of the products of the program. Out of the 22 planners in his office, 11 are UA planning graduates and 5 additional employees are pursuing degrees in the program. Interns from the UA School of Planning work in the offices of most of the cities as well in the county office. Pima County is currently pursuing state of the art innovations in environmental and geographical information services. The university has been the link to qualified professionals that are necessary to do this type of planning.

Mark Schnaufer, an alumnus of the UA Planning School, said you can’t get a planning job unless you have a planning degree; another degree doesn’t work for this field. He said this is an excellent program and has won many awards. He identified a number of graduates of this program and their current positions. He said the salary increases for UA administrators are greater than the money that would be saved by eliminating the planning program.

Mark Holden, a biologist with the National Park Service, said park workers deal with urbanization issues every day. A healthy environment is necessary for economically sustainable communities. Planning is a discipline that balances social, environmental, and economic development concerns. He believes the UA program teaches the concerns and ideas that are important for the southwest and over 50% of the graduates work in the southwest.

Larry Hofreiter, a recent graduate of the UA School of Planning, told the Regents about the impact the School of Planning has had on the City of South Tucson. He asked for the School to be preserved.

President Crow introduced Dr. Robert Wills, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, and Professor Thanassis Rikakis, Director of the Institute for Studies in the Arts. Dr. Rikakis explained how art has changed and the necessity for artists to be able to blend the arts with engineering and various media such as the special effects in motion pictures like “Lord of the Rings” and animated features. He also described how art, especially dance, can be used in identifying people.

Items on the Consent Agenda, which are marked in these minutes with an *, were considered as consent matters and were adopted upon motion of Regent Boice, seconded by Regent McKay. There was no individual discussion of these items.

The Board approved the June 19, 2003, Executive Session, the August 14, 2003, Retreat Meeting, and the August 15, 2003, Regular Meeting minutes.

The Board approved the appointment of Molly C. Williams as Vice President for University Advancement at Northern Arizona University, effective November 17, 2003. Her salary will be at the fiscal year rate of $153,000.

The Board approved the designated Management Group for the negotiation, execution and administration of User Agency Contracts as described in DoD 5220.22-M, “National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual.”

The persons occupying the following positions among the officers of Arizona State University and one member of the Arizona Board of Regents shall be known as the Management Group: President, Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs, Associate Vice President for Research, Director of Research Administration, Vice President and General Counsel, and Regent Chris Herstam.

The ASU President certifies the following to the best of his knowledge: 1) The nature of the agreement has been described to the president, 2) The entity has demonstrated that the proposed agreement will benefit the economies of the state or nation; 3) The proposed agreement does not violate any state or university contract; 4) University instructional activities, research and public service will not be adversely affected, 5) No employee interest will adversely affect any state interest, 6) The proposed agreement does not violate ABOR policy on competition with private enterprise, 7) As neither professor Beckman nor L’Eau intend to supply equipment, material, supplies, or services to ASU, no approval under A.R.S. §15-1635.01 is required, 8) The Agreement will compensate the university for the intended transfer of technology, and 9) The ASU Office of General Counsel has approved the Agreement.

The Board approved the agreement between ASU and L’Eau, a company owned by ASU employee James Beckman, Associate Professor Chemical and Materials Engineering.

The Board received a written report on the ASU Research Park (Park) for 2002/2003. The Park chaired the Arizona Bio Expo 2003 which had sponsorships raised in excess of $80,000 and had exhibits by 37 companies. The Park also supported the Arizona exhibit at the Bioindustry Organization Conference in Washington, D. C., and the Arizona Bioindustry Association’s activities and events. The Report related other activities in which the Park participated during the year.

Capital Improvements were highlighted. The Park now has sixteen buildings consisting of 1,524,403 square feet. There are 65 available acres for lease. The park-owned Lakeside Technology Center currently has 28,719 square feet (65%) available for lease. Payments totaling $1,187,870 were made to ASU in FY 2003 in repayment of previous advances. The current principal amount owned on advances from ASU, including interest, is $5,433,832. The remaining bonded indebtedness is $17,950,000.

The Board authorized the University of Arizona to enter into a multiple-year employment contract with Brendan D. Tobias as Soccer Team Head Coach on the terms as summarized below.

The period of the contact is October 1, 2003, through December 31, 2006. The salary is $80,000 per annum and will be paid entirely from revenue generated by the Athletics Department. In addition to salary, Tobias will receive additional compensation for specified accomplishments in athletics and academics by the team. The contact contains termination penalties.

The Board authorized the University of Arizona to amend its multiple-year employment contract with Andrew Lopez as Head Baseball Coach to extend the term of the contract through June 30, 2008. All other provisions of Lopez’ multiple-year employment contract shall remain in full force and effect.

Pursuant to A.R.S. §15-1635.01, the Board authorized the university of Arizona to permit Dr. David S. Alberts and Dr. Robert T. Dorr to establish and maintain a substantial interest in Topical Technologies, Inc., while continuing their employment at the University of Arizona.

Topical Technologies, Inc., intends to obtain the approved, but inactive, New Drug Application (NDA) for Actinex® cream in order to reduce toxicity and thereby re-establish commercial interest in the agent enabling it to be reintroduced into the market. Actinex® cream was developed to reduce sun damage and lessen the incidence and severity of skin cancer, a major health problem in Arizona.

The Board approved an amendment to Contract No. EEC9528813 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase funding and provide support for year three through year five of the joint project among the UA, the NSF, and the Semiconductor Research Corporation to create and sustain the “Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing.” The amount of the amendment is $1.6M with future proposed amendments to bring the total amount to $10M with the total anticipated life of the project going through March 31, 2006.

The Board approved an amendment to Contract No. EAR9876800 from the NSF to increase the funding and provide support for years four and five for the formation of a science and technology center to study and promote the “Sustainability of Water Resources in Semi-Arid Regions.” The future proposed amendments will bring the total amount of the award to $17M with the total anticipated life of the project going through December 31, 2004.

The Board approved an amendment to Contract No. 1236412 with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to support year two through year eight of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (National Aeronautics and Space Administration ) Project. The proposed amount of this amendment is $4,378,973 with future proposed amendments bringing the total anticipated funding to $40M with the anticipated life of the project going through January 31, 2009.

The Board authorized the University of Arizona to receive a grant from the NSF to support the Oryza Map Alignment Project, a plant genome project to develop an experimentally tractable and closed model system to globally unravel and understand the evolution, physiology, and biochemistry of the Genus Oryza bean. The proposed amount is $3,804,756 for the first year of the project. The proposed grant period is October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2007. Future proposed amendments would bring the total amount of this award to $9,749,546.

The Board approved the Fourth Amendment to the Arizona Board of Regents Health Care Plan, effective January 1, 2004, and authorized the Executive Director to execute the revisions to the Plan document. This amendment will raise the maximum amount an individual employee may deposit in the medical/dental flexible spending account from $3500 to $5000. The increase is based primarily on the fact that many employees have experienced a substantial increase in unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses for their health and dental coverages as a result of changes in the state’s health and dental benefits.

Dr. Tom Wickenden, Dr. Kathy Church, Dr. Elizabeth Grobsmith, Dr. Ray Woosley, and Dr. James Blagg joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Boice said this was the second update for the Board on the development of a statewide plan to address the extreme shortage of nurses in Arizona. The Board was being asked to review and approve the university portion of that plan.

Dr. Wickenden said the institutional plans had been combined into one university plan. This will be combined with community college and private sector plans into a statewide plan to address the nursing shortage. This statewide plan will be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature in accordance with the requirements of SB 1260.

Dr. Wickenden told the Regents they could see the individual university plans were quite different by reviewing the cost summary. The academic programs differ in size and vary from regular undergraduate programs to post baccalaureate undergraduate programs so the cost drivers vary. The budget strategies vary. However, the total number of nurses that can be produced by the new, accelerated programs, if funded at an approximate cost of $40.3M, could increase the number of nursing graduates by over 300, as required by SB 1260.

The income summary shows the universities have contractural commitments for funding of $10.1M. The remainder of the proposed expansion plan will be implemented “on demand” as funding becomes available to cover the remaining costs. Possible funding sources have already been identified for approximately $21M of the remaining $30M. Dr. Wickenden said possible funding sources differ among the universities, but they include general fund subsidies/decision packages, accelerated nursing program fees, and new/continued hospital partnerships.

Dr. Wickenden said the nursing plan, as presented, meets the requirements of SB 1260 The Board was asked for its approval to combine the university plans as part of the statewide plan to be submitted to the Governor’s office.

Dr. Wickenden reported the Health Sciences Input Group, Chaired by Regent Ulrich and consisting of hospital and healthcare system CEO’s have identified four additional action steps to implement the plan. First, they recognize the need to expedite approval for program approval for program expansion from the State Board of Nursing. Second, they are calling for an increase in partnership agreements between hospitals and the universities by developing and implementing an effective marketing campaign. Third, they recommend a coordinated effort to inform the legislature of the need for resources, and finally, they support the concept of a program fee to help capture more of the costs.

Regent Ulrich said the CEO’s from the healthcare industry believe this cooperation is the only one of its kind in the country and they are happy to be part of it. Now the academic aspects need to be integrated with the hospitals. As part of this issue, the UA Medical College should expand to become a statewide entity to be integrated with ASU and NAU. He thanked the people from the healthcare industry, everyone from the universities and the community colleges, and TGen for their participation. He said the economics will be hard as this is another unfunded mandate and he appreciated what the presidents had done to bring this to fruition.

Regent Ulrich said there would be a fee for some nursing programs, which the hospitals have agreed to pay, on a per student basis. Regent Boice thanked Regent Ulrich for his leadership in this area. Regent Kelling expressed concern about the fee and asked that when it came to the Board for approval, it be clear the fee would not be an additional fee for students to pay. Regent Ulrich said the fee would not come to the Board; under Board policy, a fee can be added to a statewide program if the fee is not paid by the students.

Regent Stuart said it appeared in the Executive Summary that enrollment growth funding had been committed to the nursing expansion. He asked who had made the commitment. Dr. Church said when ASU receives enrollment growth money, the portion related to the growth in the nursing program will be returned to the program. Regent Stuart asked if the work group was satisfied that doubling the number of nursing degrees over the five-year period would help significantly to decrease the nursing shortage. Dr. Woosley said tripling the current number of students per year for ten years will allow Arizona to reach the national median.

Upon motion of Regent Boice, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board accepted the university nursing plan and directed that it be combined with the community college and private nursing plans into a statewide plan for submission to the Governor and Legislature, pursuant to the Caregiver and Resource Expansion Program Act of 2002.

Dr. Terri Riffe, Dr. Anthony Gully, Dr. Melissa Fitch, Dr. Ron Trosper, Ms. Alie Barajas, and Ms. Stephanie Jacobson joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent McKay said last spring the Learner Centered Team (LCE), the oversight committee composed of Regents, provosts, and Arizona Faculties Council members, heard an excellent presentation by several faculty members about their work on a large tri-university LCE grant. Grants have been awarded to faculty for LCE projects for the past 2 years, but this was the first opportunity to hear what had been accomplished. She and Regent Ulrich were so impressed by the presentation that they thought it would be important for all of the Regents to hear it since the Board has invested significant time and resources over the last few years in LCE.

Ms. Jacobson said 38 LCE grants, totaling more than $1M, have been awarded over the past 2 years. The first grant cycle involved 95 courses and 188 faculty teaching 14,000 students. One way to assess the impact of this is to look at the numbers of diverse programs and courses which have incorporated LCE through grant activity. Examples include a learning community for incoming freshmen at ASU West, a high-enrollment introductory biology course at ASU Main, an on-line simulated elementary school for education majors prior to the student teaching semester at NAU, a hands-on business experience for music majors through the creation of a student-run record label company at the UA, and a joint ASU-NAU project to expand the Master of Social Work to underserved populations.

Ms. Jacobson said the LCE Team is beginning to review the final reports for these projects as the first grant cycle is ended. Faculty have reported that LCE grants are having a positive impact as the allotment of these grants recognizes the important role of teaching at the universities, especially since there are not many sources of funding specifically focused on learning in the classroom experience. The faculty have realized the need to do assessment of learning beyond what is required in the grants. Faculty participation with the grants helps create better links among faculty and the opportunity to learn from one another. The LCE approach has helped with student retention and classroom performance.

The Regents heard presentations that helped demonstrate some of the points made by Ms. Jacobson. In 2001, when the first grant cycle was announced, the LCE Team set a priority on tri-university projects focused on faculty development. One such project was accepted for funding at the highest level, $100,000, the “Faculty Development for Learner Centered Education/Creating Learning Communities Among Faculty and Students.” In addition to being a successful project, it is also reflective of a number of the individual course specific projects which were funded in the first round.

Dr. Riffe, Director of the University Teaching Center at the UA, said she was speaking on behalf of the all the faculty development units at the three institutions. She thanked the Regents for having the vision to dedicate funds for this purpose. She said this had been the most successful tri-university project she had been a part of in her 15 years at the UA.

Dr. Riffe said LCE does not just happen automatically as the tradition of “teacher-centered” is centuries old and the traditional practice is lecture, midterm, and final with note-taking in between. Because of this long-standing tradition, faculty take a big risk when they innovate in their classrooms. Also, faculty, as part of their training, have not studied motivational theory, instructional design, instructional assessment, or instructional practice. However, even in light of this risk, there were 90 faculty at the three universities who wanted to participate in this program. Only 45 total from the three universities were selected.

The LCE grants provided incentive for the faculty to step out of the traditional practices and be rewarded for their dedication of time and effort. It also made it possible for like-minded faculty to get together and to participate as members of a tri-university perspective.

Dr. Gully, Associate Professor of Art History at ASU, said he had been teaching at the university level for 35 years and this experience was the first time he had a chance to exchange pedagogical ideas with his peers. Getting together with his peers during the three workshops was very important because it gave him clues about ideas that might or might not work in the classroom.

The course Dr. Gully picked to restructure in terms of learner-centered education was “Versailles to Vietnam” which traces the way artists have responded to revolution since the French Revolution through the Vietnam conflict. The difficulty of the class was there were 38 students at ASU and 27 students at UA who received the course over television. It was important for the UA students to feel they were as involved as the ASU students. He demonstrated how he uses slides, literature, movies, and Internet discussions to allow the students to discover how and why politics has influenced art and how their own personal views color their interpretations.

Dr. Trosper, Professor and Director of the Native American Forestry program in the School of Forestry at NAU, teaches “Forestry 230, a Multicultural Perspective on Environmental Management.” He said the course had already been organized in terms of group learning based on literature from 10 years ago on collaborative learning and instructions from the political studies council with regard to defining learning goals.

Dr. Trosper said he discovered the literature has improved greatly in the past 10 years. He learned how to use rubrics in a better way and this led to better essay assignments. He had the students write rubrics for public speaking assignments that were evaluated by other students. Students wrote grant proposals and they scored themselves and each other according to scoring sheets taken from a federal program. He learned how to improve the use of teams. He learned how to check on the progress of the course during the term by involving the students and how to measure outcomes. Dr. Trosper read excepts from comment papers submitted by students that described how the class had been of major benefit to them.

Dr. Fitch, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UA, teaches a course called “Studies in Latin American Popular Culture,” an interdisciplinary general studies course. The students analyze dance, theater, film, and television mass media images. Students are required to attend a number of activities outside of the class as well as do a research project. She expressed gratitude, on behalf of the faculty and students who had been able to participate in the learner-centered classes, because of funding authorized by the Board.

Dr. Fitch explained various methods she had used to get students interested in activities outside the classroom. She introduced Ms. Alejandrina Barajas, one of her students. Ms. Barajas described how she had become interested in the course and encouraged to learn more about the subject than was required. She spoke of how she now plans to continue her education.

Regent McKay asked if the professors had been able to share what they were doing with their colleagues and how the others had reacted; in other words, had there been an outward ripple effect from the grants? Dr. Gully said there are some faculty who have been doing the same thing for years and are not interested in changing. However, he saw learner-centered as an opportunity for young faculty. Dr. Riffe said as the number of faculty using these grants grows, the impact on the campuses increases. One of the expectations of the faculty participating in these programs is to assist the faculty development centers on their campuses in facilitating greater learner centeredness in their own spheres of influence.

Dr. David Camacho said the Arizona Faculties Council (AFC) is very proud of the learner-centered programs and believes it is a very successful program. The AFC believes the close cooperation between the faculty and the Regents, especially Regents McKay and Ulrich, contributed to the accomplishments of the program. The AFC would like to see this model of cooperation extended to other areas.

Regent Stuart said he was impressed with the anecdotal evidence of the programs’ successes, but he believed the Regents also need to know the outcomes and the measurements of the programs. Ms. Jacobson said each of the grants has to identify their assessment mechanisms and anticipated outcomes as part of their review before they are funded. The final project reports for the first round of grants are just starting to be reviewed. Some will talk about the success rate of students such as was mentioned in the presentation.

Regent McKay said she was impressed with the high attendance rate in these classes as mentioned in the presentation. President Likins said one of the goals was to make life-long learners out of the students and that can’t be measured for about thirty years. Much of what is done at the universities defies easy measurement.

Regent Ulrich thanked the faculty that were willing to be pioneers in learner-centered education.

Dr. Fred Hurst and Dr. Tom Wickenden joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Boice said that one of the policy changes the Board approved last fall as part of the Changing Directions initiative was to eliminate geographic restrictions on the delivery of courses and programs to off-campus locations throughout the state. Because off-campus delivery of education is a significant part of the mission of NAU, President Haeger is requesting the Board also consider some of the other ways in which the current policy on off-campus courses and programs restricts the ability of a university to meet the unique educational needs of students who are not able to benefit from on-campus courses and programs.

President Haeger explained his request to change distance-learning education. He said distance education is merging with the use of the web; so it is difficult to determine whether the students are off or on campus. Also, in the last few years it has been learned that one program style does not fit all students. Many of the distance-learning students are non-traditional students–older students and students who have full-time jobs.

Dr. Haeger described elements of the current policy framework that do not work with the current student mix and the desire to service place bound students. This varies from allowing only courses authorized to be taught on campus to be taught by distance learning, defining a credit hour in relationship to the number of hours a student spends in a traditional classroom, and requiring the same admission and prerequisites standards as on campus-courses. Setting tuition and fees only once per year without flexibility for customized and convenient programs is also a problem.

Dr. Hurst said specific employers have specific needs which require custom programs and this is hard to do under current policies. President Haeger said there is no intention to undermine the role of the faculty in authorizing courses and programs and making faculty recommendations concerning hiring.

Regent Jewett asked for the Changing Directions Workgroup to be assigned the task of looking at the policies and recommending changes. Regent Stuart encouraged staff to look at all the policies to see what needs to be changed to make distance learning a reality. President Crow said these were important changes and he believed the Work Group would be the correct people to address the issues. Regent Bulla said he would like the changes discussed at the ARU meeting to be considered as part of this discussion as well as the issue of transferability with distance learning.

Dr. Wickenden said the provosts have been concerned about how to best differentiate between the administrative issues and the academic issues. This will be part of the review process, as well.

Ms. Cathy McGonigle joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Stuart said the Public Awareness Plan was being presented for adoption. The purpose of the Plan is to make all stakeholders and resource providers more aware of the initiatives and the resource needs of the entire system. The Public Awareness Plan is a working document and it will change.

Regent Stuart said President Herstam had recently formed a work group composed of President Herstam and Regents Stuart and Jewett. This group will try to enhance the Board’s oversight of legislative affairs by providing some guidance on the development of the FY 04 legislative budget, monitoring legislative activity, and making recommendations to the Board relative to positions on proposed legislation. This group will meet at least once a month with the government affairs group with specific questions concerning what is happening at the legislature and elsewhere.

Ms. McGonigle said most of the items on the Plan were ongoing activities that are done every year relating to media research, legislative affairs, and community outreach. It is hoped these items can be enhanced. The universities plan to have a big role, in concert with the Governor’s office and other stakeholders, in the campaign for the technology transfer ballot initiative. This will provide a good opportunity to educate people on the university system as well as the importance of the ballot measure to allow the universities to hold an equity ownership in companies in consideration of university technology.

Regent Ulrich said the healthcare industry group had expressed an interest in collaborating with the universities on legislative action. He believes this could be a strong advocacy group and suggested they be involved with the campaign. Upon motion of Regent Stuart, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board approved the Public Awareness Plan for FY 2003-2004.

Regent Bulla said Arizona State University was requesting the Board to consider its proposal to update the Comprehensive Development Plan for its four campuses. This plan is scheduled for completion in the Summer of 2004.

President Crow presented an interim review of the process being used at ASU to start rethinking its strategic directions. He walked the Regents through the conceptualization ASU is undertaking for the rethinking of ASU’s Comprehensive Development Plan. He said ASU’s goal was to build a university that is comprehensive in its nature and has no tiered structure except that based on the performance of the individual schools within the university. The phrase being used is “One University – Many Places.”

Dr. Crow said the current planning is based on four places–ASU Main, ASU East, ASU West, and the Downtown Campus. In the future that could be five places or remain four. He described what ASU hopes to become. ASU will be recognized as a force and not just a place. It will be unique. He said he was trying to illustrate the logic to the approach of the Comprehensive Development Plan.

President Crow said they would be looking at gateways and traffic patterns and altering the way the university fits into the community in all its places. He gave an overview of each campus and the problems ASU would face as it begins to build each campus to handle more students while serving the community and building its academic reputation.

Regent Bulla said this was presented for information at this time, but the Board would see it many more times as the planning process progresses.

Dr. David Camacho reported the Arizona Faculties Council (AFC) considered faculty salaries as its priority for the coming year. AFC believes faculty are not being valued.

The AFC appreciates that the budget request, to be presented later in the meeting, contains requests for money for faculty salaries, but the AFC does not know where those numbers originated. They would like to be a part of the faculty salary plans and requested a committee at the Board level to work with the them to establish accountability measures or other ways to value the faculty.

A second important issue for the AFC is diversity. He said the Action Plan to be adopted later in the meeting does not refer to diversity. He said the Latino and American Indian populations are growing, but cultural diversity also includes age differences and experience variations. The AFC requested the Board put together a group to plan and study how demographic changes--locally, statewide, and nationally--will be met.

The AFC would like a more formal relationship between the AFC and the Board. They would like to have faculty on the Changing Directions Workgroup.

The meeting recessed at 4:25 p.m. and reconvened at 9:20 a.m. on Friday, September 26. President Herstam welcomed Regent Designee Ernest Calderòn to the meeting.

Regent Bulla continued to chair the Strategic Planning Committee portion of the meeting.

Mr. Scott Cole, Dr. Mernoy Harrison, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said ASU was requesting approval of its 2004 Capital Development Plan consisting of 8 new projects at a total estimated cost of $211M. The Plan also includes $106.6M in previously approved projects for an overall total of $317.6M.

Mr. Cole said the Capital Development Plan for 2004 is a very aggressive plan. It is the beginning of ASU’s research infrastructure program. ASU will be working on approximately $187M worth of facilities between now and November 2005. They are the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences and Technology Building, the Geosciences and Materials Building, the ASU East Research Building, the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative, and the previously approved Arizona Biodesign Institute, Phase II. There will be a total annual debt service of $14.6M and annual operations and maintenance costs of $4,845,000.

The academic facilities being proposed are the New Business School Complex, the Instructional/Research Laboratory Renovations, Phase I, the ASU East/ASU West Extended Campus Capital and Infrastructure Upgrade, and the previously approved IT/Telecom Infrastructure Upgrades, Phase I, the Infrastructure Improvements, Phase II, and the ASU East Exercise and Wellness, Phase II.

Mr. Cole said the third-party projects include the Combined Heat and Power Project (formerly known as the Co-Generation Project) and the previously approved McAllister Academic Village and the ASU East PGM Driving and Practice Range.

Mr. Cole showed where all the projects would be built. He explained the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences and Technology Building is 180,000 square feet of interdisciplinary research space that will provide the core infrastructure for Life Sciences, Bioengineering, and Urban Environment. The project cost is estimated to be $74M and it is targeted for completion in November 2005.

The Geosciences and Materials Building will encompass 60,000 square feet of interdisciplinary research for Geological Materials, Engineered Materials, Thermal Sciences, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The project cost is estimated to be $18M and is targeted for completion in April 2005.

Mr. Cole said the ASU East Research Building is 37,000 square feet of interdisciplinary research space for the Applied Cognitive Science Institute, the Healthy Lifestyles Institute, the Applied Biological Sciences, and certain biotechnology components of the Arizona Biodesign Institute. The project cost is estimated to be $12M and is targeted for completion in November 2005.

Mr. Cole explained the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative is part of the master building plan being developed with the City of Phoenix, ASU, UA, NAU, and the Arizona Board of Regents. The facility will be integrated into the Tri-University Arizona Biomedical Collaborative campus to enhance cross-institution collaboration and maximize research synergy. The state-of-the-art 100,000 square foot joint research facility will provide clinical research, applied research, and biomedical education and training. The ASU portion is planned to be 37,000 gross square feet. This facility combines the $17M research infrastructure funding from the UA and the $10M Research Infrastructure funding from ASU for an estimated project cost of $27M. It is targeted to be completed November 2005.

Mr. Cole explained the research infrastructure debt financing plan. It consists of funding from state appropriations starting on July 1, 2007, and bridge financing through the state sales tax exemption for the contractors of these projects and capitalization of interest payment during construction. Total annual operations and maintenance costs will be covered by indirect costs recovered from research grants. President Crow said the university would let Regents know how operations and maintenance would be covered on all projects. Regent Bulla asked that the pro forma include more information on how the bridge financing costs would be covered.

Mr. Cole said the new Business School Complex will be a 330,000 square foot academic facility to house the W. P. Carey School Of Business. The total project cost is $80M and is targeted for completion in August 2007. The Instructional/Research Laboratory Renovation, Phase I, will include the renovation of approximately 33,000 square feet of physical and life sciences labs in the following buildings: Life Sciences Center A-Wing, Life Sciences Center C-Wing, Engineering Research Center, Bateman Physical Sciences Center Complex, Psychology Building, Anthropology Building, and the Schwada Class-room Office Building. The total project cost is estimated at $10M and is targeted for completion in August 2004.

Mr. Cole said the Extended Campus Capital and Infrastructure Upgrades would address significant infrastructure improvements for ASU East and West campuses: ASUE Roads, ASUE Underground Utilities, ASUE Lighting and Emergency Phones, ASUE Pedestrian Malls and Pathways, ASUE Recreation Field Development and Lighting, ASUE Abatement and Demo Building, ASUW Road construction, and ASUW Underground Utilities. The total project cost is estimated at $7M. He said the Combined Heat and Power Project will meet utility demands of continued growth. Financing will be provided through an Energy Services Contractor that ASU will bring to the Board at a subsequent meeting.

Regent Palacios asked if the cost for the light rail station would be shared and was told that is in the negotiation stage. Regent Bulla asked what would happen to the ratio of parking with the construction and was told they plan to replace it on a one-to-one basis. However, ASU hopes to encourage the use of public transportation and does not intend to provide parking in the same manner as is currently done.

Regent Bulla asked about the Motorola Flat Panel Display option. President Crow said ASU was studying the options relative to purchasing the facility, but the biggest problem is the millions of dollars a year it requires to keep it running. Upon motion of Regent Bulla, seconded by Regent Boice, the Board granted approval for the 2004 Capital Development plan, authorized ASU to proceed with: 1) ASUM Interdisciplinary Life Sciences and Technology Building (RI); 2) ASUM Geosciences and Materials building (N3); 3) ASUE Research building; 4) ASUD Arizona Biomedical Collaborative (ABC); 5) ASUM New Business School Complex; 6) ASUM Instructional/Research Laboratory Renovations Phase I; 7) ASUE/ASUW Extended Campus Capital and Infrastructure Upgrades; 8) ASUM Combined Heat and Power Project; and approved the revised Project Justification for 1) ASUM Arizona Biodesign Institute Phase II; and 2) McAllister Academic Village.

Mr. Scott Cole and Dr. Mernoy Harrison joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said ASU was requesting approval of its FY 2005-2007 Capital Improvement Plan. The first year of the Plan included four new projects at an estimated cost of $42M, a third-party financed South Campus Academic Village, and a building renewal request of $18.6M.

Mr. Cole said the first project was the second phase of the Research Laboratory Renovations with 30,000 to 40,000 square feet of research facilities in the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and the Engineering Research Center. It will address deferred maintenance issues as well as the adaptability of current research facilities. He said the second item is Academic Renovations and Deferred Maintenance, Phase I. Certain buildings, such as the art, music, and nursing buildings are targeted for deferred maintenance issues.

Mr. Cole said the third item is Infrastructure Improvements, Phase III, a collection of items that will be brought forward individually if they exceed $1M. The fourth item is the Light Rail Displacement/Parking Project as the Light Rail Project will displace several units of administration and finance and storage areas. Regent Boice asked what was being done to make the State and the ABOR debt ratio the same and was told it is possible a policy change will be ready for first reading in November.

Mr. David Lorenz joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said NAU was requesting approval of its FY 2005-2007 Capital Improvement Plan. Included in the first year of the Plan are three new projects at an estimated cost of $44M, a third party financed residence hall, and a building renewal request of $7.7M.

Mr. Lorenz explained the projects were research related. The three new projects are the Lab Facility, North Campus Cooling Infrastructure, and the NAU Yuma Science Building. There is also a New Residence Hall Replacement which will be a public-private partnership.

Mr. Joel Valdez and Mr. Dick Davis joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said UA was requesting approval of its FY 2005-2007 Capital Improvement Plan. Included in the first year of the Plan are four new projects at an estimated cost of $150.5M and a building renewal request of $29.5M. Mr. Valdez described the Residence Life Building Renewal: Phase II, the Arizona State Museum Renovation & Expansion, the UA Science Center, and the ENR II.

Regent Bulla explained that President Likins has requested time to present the plans for the University of Arizona Science Center. Dr. Likins introduced Mr. Bob Walkup, Mayor of Tucson, Councilman Fred Ronstadt, Assistant City Manager Karen Thoresen, City of Tucson Financial Consultants Mr. Jim Blandford, and Mr. Bill Davis, and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff Fred Hill.

President Likins said the UA had been running the Flaundrau Center on the university campus for over 25 years. It is at a modest scale because it is constrained by the physical size of the current planetarium in the current core of the campus and by access for parking. He explained that Dr. Alexis Faust, Director of the Flaundrau Center, has created a vision for a substantially elevated science center. She began by putting together a senior advisory board that engaged people from the community and the UA Science Board. Dr. Likins introduced Dr. Peter Eisenberger, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia, who is Co-Chair of the UA Science Center Advisory Board.

Dr. Faust showed the Board the proposed vision for a new science-based learning center in Tucson to be located across I-10 in the Rio Nuevo Area. The proposal would literally bridge the cultural plaza on the west with the civic plaza on the east with a pedestrian pathway. Along the bridge, one will encounter an array of programs and activities designed to encourage exploration.

The components of the bridge would begin along the west side with a butterfly bavarium. Next would be a partnership with the Desert Museum. Also, on the west side would be a one-meter telescope for both daytime and nighttime viewing. Across the Santa Cruz River would be the earthworks exhibit hall. Below that would be an agriculture and life sciences part. A changing exhibit gallery will host exhibits from around the world. One of the most important initiatives is a teacher resource center. There will be a state-of-the art planetarium. The architectural expression of the bridge in itself will become an exhibit and a destination for Tucson.

Dr. Faust said this will be a combination of forward-looking sustainable technologies and the timeless materials and forms of the past. There will be outdoor shading, climate controlled interiors, moving sidewalks, world-class exhibits, and seating along the way. The university’s mineral museum will be expanded and placed on the project’s eastside, near the Tucson Convention Center. Just north of that, a giant screen theater is proposed. A dark sky’s café, science store, and new restaurant will be places for people to shop and enjoy their time downtown.

Dr. Faust said when the average citizen reads in the newspaper about an environmental problem, the reality science exchange will be the place they can come to the next day to find out why those issues are important to people. This is the place where the community could meet a scientist or researcher. There will be a Center for Health and Wellness, a place to go for quality information on current health-care issues.

Dr. Faust asked Dr. Eisenberger to make a few comments. He said he had been involved with science centers since the 1980's. He explained why he is happy to serve as Co-chair of this science center with President Likins and its importance in the community and for the economy. President Likins explained how the financing would need to come together for the project to be implemented. Regents Jewett, Palacios, and Boice said they were very supportive of the project and hoped the City of Tucson would continue to be part of the plan.

Upon motion of Regent Bulla, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board granted approval for the FY 2005-2007 Capital Improvement Plans for ASU, NAU, and UA. Regent Ulrich left the meeting at this time.

Dr. Art Ashton joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said the Board was being requested to approve the 2003-2004 Action Plan which was reviewed and refined as a result of the input received at the August Retreat. The Board’s Action plan is the primary annual planning document for the Board. It currently has twenty objectives and additional objectives may be added at any time. The Action Plan is intended to be strategic.

Responding to an earlier comment about salaries, Dr. Ashton said compensation is mentioned in the Action Plan, is part of the budget process, and will be presented to the Board in the Personnel Report. Regent Bulla said it was expected the shortfall that had been calculated on compensation would be included in the 5-year planning process so the universities can get to a more competitive market place position.

President Likins said the gap has widened every year since the legislature had mandated the universities provide an annual description of the shortfall in compensation. Therefore, reporting on the gap has not been effective in convincing the state funds should be provided to compress the gap. This has left the universities no alternative but to reallocate resources which shifts salaries to research contracts, gifts, and endowments. President Crow said he did not believe it would be successful to ask for additional money to be able to match the salaries of the university peers; he believed it would be more successful to show what additional productivity and what community benefit would be gained by additional compensation.

Upon motion of Regent Bulla, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board approved the ABOR 2003-2004 Action Plan.

Dr. Art Ashton and Dr. Bill Lewis joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said the Board was requested to approve ASU’s $22M IT/Telecomm Infrastructure Upgrade Phase I project that had been previously recommended by the IT Subcommittee. Dr. Lewis said this was a new approach to try to get the fundamental infrastructure to an acceptable standard to support the needs of the university. He said the university could not continue to try to get by with “piece meal” fixes. Regent Palacios asked if this was based on a full assessment, broken into pieces, and was told this was based on trying to bring the current infrastructure up to what is considered acceptable to the university. Future updates will be based on technology and need changes.

Upon motion of Regent Bulla, seconded by Regent Boice, the Board granted approval to Arizona State University for its IT/Telecomm Infrastructure Upgrade Phase I project.

Dr. Art Ashton and Dr. Bill Lewis joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Bulla said the Board was being requested to approve ASU’s $1M project to outsource turnkey online services for MBA students. This project is currently outsourced and since there were concerns about the procedures that were followed, the project was coming to the Board for approval and would be rebid if the Board approved the project.

Regent Bulla said this item was discussed at length yesterday in the IT Committee meeting. Dr. Lewis told the Board the College of Business Administration has an international online MBA program that requires round-the-clock coverage, a level of service that cannot be guaranteed with the current ASU infrastructure. Changes have been made in the request as asked for by the IT Committee.

Regent Stuart said he believed outsourcing was a good solution for this particular problem, but he did not believe it is a good long-term solution in general and this is an issue that needs some study. Regent Bulla agreed.

Upon motion of Regent Bulla, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board approved the Online MBA Outsourcing Project submitted by the W. P. Carey School of Business with the following stipulations: 1) The award is for a 3-year period with two 1-year renewal options based on review of the needs of the School and performance of the vendor; 2) Includes a 30-day cancellation option with buyout provisions of the selected vendor; and 3) Before an award is made, a summary of the proposed contract will be submitted to Regents Bulla and Stuart for review.

Ms. Gale Tebeau, Mr. Dick Roberts, Mr. Alan Carroll, and Dr. M. J. McMahon, joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said the Board was being asked to review and approve the FY 2005 state operating budget requests. At the August meeting, the Board reviewed the universities’ preliminary budget requests. Since the agenda material was originally distributed, the Board received a revised request that included the 21-day enrollment numbers that were not available until after the mailing of the original material. The requests must be submitted to the Governor and legislature by October 1. Assuming Regent approval, they will be finalized by the universities for the October 1 submission.

Ms. Tebeau said the August requests totaled $124.8M in new money. The final request is about $21M less due to ASU withdrawing its decision package for the Arizona 21st Century Fund and adjustments to the universities’ 22 to 1 enrollment growth requests that reflects the 21st day enrollment numbers. The incremental system request now totals $103.5M, a 9.8% overall increase over the FY 2004 budget. Of the increase, 80% of that is for the continuation piece with the largest component being the 22 to 1 enrollment growth funding, nearly $44M. ASU enrollment grew by nearly 2300 full-time equivalent (FTE) students. The UA FTE enrollment grew by about 700 and NAU experienced a decrease of about 800 FTE.

President Crow said ASU is now focusing on providing core services to a diverse student body. President Haeger said NAU is focusing on the nursing program and the 21st Century Fund. President Likins said UA was also focusing on the 21st Century Fund as it is very important to be able to increase salaries to retain personnel.

President Herstam said the Governor had been the universities’ best friend during the last budget session. He believed it is necessary for the universities to convince the legislature the requests are for essential core services. Regent Jewett said the budget had an aspirational aspect and we should recognize the Governor and the legislature face fiscal realities, too, in trying to balance the budget.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board approved the FY 2005 state operating budget requests for submission to the Governor and legislature on October 1.

Ms. Gale Tebeau, Mr. Dick Roberts, Mr. Alan Carroll, and Dr. M. J. McMahon joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said the Board was being asked to review and approve the Arizona University System Annual Personnel Report. The salary requirements included in this report are not considered part of the state operating budget requests. However, a report will be submitted, as required by statute, to identify a projected unmet salary need of $179M by the end of FY 2005. If approved, the report will be submitted to the Governor and legislature on October 1.

Ms. Tebeau said the universities were required by law to submit this Annual Personnel Report. Employee compensation compared to market, turnover, and overtime pay are required elements of the Report. The information in the Report that commands the most attention is the amount of unmet need which is the amount needed to bring faculty salaries up to the 50th percentile of their peers and to raise average salaries of all other staff to the market average. The universities estimate that, if the salaries remain stagnant, by 2006 the estimated need will increase to $220M. Each university has also included a section on faculty retention.

Regent Boice said the universities should be very careful that the information provided to legislators and the public is accurate and complete and displayed so it can be understood. Regent Stuart said there is much information in this report that can be shared to help those who would like to help the universities secure funding. President Likins said who leaves the faculty is more important than how many leave. Regent Palacios said she thought it would be important to communicate both messages.

Dr. Camacho said the AFC is trying to bring attention to this matter. He thanked the Board for looking at this critical problem. He said, if the fundamental mission of the universities is to provide education, then the people that disseminate that knowledge are important to that mission. He believes the most important resource in an organization is the human resource which includes faculty and staff. He said the AFC is ready and willing to work with the Regents to approach the Governor and the legislature.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board approved the Arizona University System Annual Personnel report for submission to the Governor and legislature on October 1.

Mr. Dave Harris, Dr. Mernoy Harrison, and Mr. Scott Cole joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said Arizona State University East was requesting Project Approval to renovate the Exercise and Wellness Facility Project Building 505, including the addition of 700 square feet of new space. ASU East also requests a budget increase of $600,000 for a new total budget of $1.6M.

Mr. Cole said the budget increase was due to the facility being in worse shape than anticipated. The budget increase will allow the telecommunication, electricity and other essential needs to be met as well as an increase in the size of the facility. The cost is still relatively inexpensive. Regent Boice asked how many more facilities at ASU East were scheduled for renovation, rather than being replaced and was told the comprehensive development plan would address that issue. He asked that the original estimate be more carefully considered to reflect anticipated costs more accurately.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Boice, the Board granted Project Approval and a $646,147 budget increase to Arizona State University East for the Renovation of Building 505.

Mr. Scott Cole, Dr. Mernoy Harrison, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said Arizona State University Main was requesting Project Implementation Approval for the 172,000 square foot Arizona Biodesign Institute Phase II at an estimated cost of $73M. Mr. Cole pointed out this is the first building in the research infrastructure that was brought forward in January as part of the Capital Development Plan. The project is being brought forward on a fast-track basis and it is hoped construction can be started in January.

Regent Palacios asked about the financing plans and was told this is from the research infrastructure fund. The first two years will be funded by sales tax funds and capitalized interest will be matched to those revenues until the general fund appropriations become available in 2007.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board granted Project Implementation to Arizona State University Main for the Arizona Biodesign Institute Phase II Project.

Mr. Scott Cole, Dr. Mernoy Harrison, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said Arizona State University Main was requesting Project Implementation Approval for Instructional and Research Laboratory Renovations Phase I at an estimated cost of $10M. This project involves the renovation of approximately 33,000 square feet of various physical and life sciences labs located in ten buildings. Proposed funding is from the sale of System Revenue Bonds.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board granted Project Implementation Approval to Arizona State University Main for the Instructional/Research Laboratory Renovations Phase I Project.

Mr. Scott Cole, Dr. Mernoy Harrison, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said Arizona State University was requesting Project Implementation Approval for the Extended Campus Capital and Infrastructure Upgrades Project at an estimated cost of $7M. This project includes upgrades at both ASU East and ASU West. Proposed funding is from the sale of System Revenue Bonds.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board granted Project Implementation Approval to Arizona State University for the Extended Campus Capital and Infrastructure Upgrades Project.

Mr. Joel Valdez, Mr. David Duffy, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said the University of Arizona was requesting Project Implementation Approval for the Southwest Ceramic Preservation Project within the Arizona State Museum at an estimated cost of $2.5M. This project will renovate a first-floor section of the Museum to provide environmentally controlled storage for the 20,000-vessel Southwest Pottery Collection. Funding will be from gifts, grants, and local funds.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board granted Project Implementation Approval to the University of Arizona for the Arizona State Museum Southwest Ceramic Preservation Project.

Mr. Joel Valdez, Mr. David Duffy, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said the University of Arizona was requesting Project Implementation Approval for the completion of approximately 13,000 square feet of shell space at the William J. Parker Agricultural Research Complex. The estimated $4.5M project will be funded form the Agriculture Endowment Fund.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board granted Project Implementation Approval to the University of Arizona for the William J. Parker Agricultural Research Complex Finish Shell Space Phase I Project.

Mr. David Duffy , Mr. Joel Valdez, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said the University of Arizona was requesting Project Implementation Approval for development of the Alumni Plaza at an estimated cost of $4.9M. This project will construct a new central campus plaza to honor the university’s heritage and alumni, and will be funded entirely from gifts.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Bulla, the Board granted Project Implementation Approval to the University of Arizona for the Alumni Plaza project.

Mr. David Duffy, Mr. Joel Valdez, and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said the University of Arizona was requesting approval to sell up to $150.87M in Certificates of Participation to finance research buildings and infrastructure.

Mr. Valdez reported the Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR) had yesterday approved all the projects involving recent legislation. The UA is now proposing to sell bonds that will allow them to start construction next month. The UA is proposes to use bridge financing, like ASU, until the general fund financing begins in 2007.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent Boice, the Board authorized the University of Arizona to sell one or more series of COPs to produce sufficient proceeds to finance not exceeding $150.87M for the acquisition and construction of the Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology Building Project, the Medical Research Building Project, and the Infrastructure Phase VI Project, to pay capitalized interest on a portion of the COPs until FY 07-08, to pay the costs of issuance of the COPs, to take related actions, to enter into necessary agreements, and to execute documents as provided in a resolution approved by Board counsel and staff.

Mr. David Lorenz and Mr. Dave Harris joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said Northern Arizona University was requesting approval to sell $38M in System Revenue Bonds to fund several renovation and improvement projects. President Haeger said this had not yet been reviewed by JCCR as their schedule changed; so he asked if the project could be approved contingent upon JCCR approval.

Upon motion of Regent Palacios, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board authorized Northern Arizona University to (1) sell, contingent upon JCCR approval, system revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $38M for the purpose of financing several renovations and improvement projects and paying the cost of issuing the bonds and (2) take all related actions and enter into all necessary agreements related to the bond issue.

Ms. Kathy Bedard joined the meeting for this discussion. Regent Palacios said she chaired the Board’s Compensation Committee that had been asked to review the executive compensation at the universities. They were also asked to develop a statement of compensation considerations to guide salary decisions by the presidents and to develop a reporting process. The Committee met in August and recommended the proposed new Board policy. This was a first reading and required no action.

President Crow and his staff were thanked for their hospitality and the outstanding program presented the prior evening. The new Regents Designee were welcomed to the Board. The Regent Designees thanked everyone for their welcome.

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