Brief Report from 11 March Meeting

At Faculty Senate on Thursday, I promised to deliver my report on the blog, since our meeting was entirely taken up with discussion of the Constitution.

Obviously you can read the press release on the meeting here: http://www.moreheadstate.edu/news/index.aspx?id=53982

I will only make a couple of additional comments.

First, I am delighted in our new Board leadership. John Merchant and John O'Cull will do an excellent job in their respective roles as Board Chair and Vice Chair. Both are very experienced Board members and have my highest respect. I look forward to working with them both.

I also want to thank Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido for doing an excellent job with her sabbatical report. She articulated very clearly and enthusiastically why support for research and scholarly productions is so very important for the institution, our programs, and our students--as well as for our own professional development. She did a great job.

I am happy to report that the University was able to support a limited number of sabbaticals for next year (3 to be exact). I challenged the administration to try to find ways of funding sabbaticals on a firmer footing as we move out of these difficult fiscal times. Basically, there is no money in the budget for sabbaticals at present. Departments and colleges find creative ways of funding sabbaticals with existing resources.

Last, but not least, the Regents gave the President the authority to negotiate the purchase of the current Rowan County Library. Please note that the current Master Plan includes a Classroom to Community Project with a price tag of around 6 million dollars. Purchasing the Library building will come in WAY below that figure and thus should save the University several million dollars over the current plan. It should also be noted that the purchase will be funded with Little Foundation money and matching money from Bucks for Brains. All in all, it sounds like a win/win situation for the University and the community if all goes well.

Have a great spring break.

Ron