Board of Trustees Highlights

Board of Trustees Highlights

The following is a brief snapshot of the regular meeting of the Rice University Board of Trustees, March 30 and 31.

Financial Affairs
• Vice President for Investments and Treasurer Scott Wise reported that the value of the university’s endowment stood at $3.53 billion as of Dec. 31, 2004, a new end-of-year high. In a comparison of private university endowments per full-time student, Rice placed in the top five at $694,377.
• The board approved funding for a project to replace the 12-year-old campus information technology network. The board also approved negotiations on the purchase of a secure off-campus data center for information technology

Building and Grounds
• The board approved a capital budget for 68 projects totaling $18.2 million.
• The board discussed the Collaborative Research Center proposed for Rice’s University and Main property and approved a pre-design budget of $2.24 million, with spending contingent upon letters-of-intent from potential collaborators. Also approved were the pre-design phase of a potential social sciences building, the fabrication and installation of new campus signage, the construction of a 3,500-square-foot greenhouse for use by the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and the location of the gift-funded Alice York Staub Liddell Garden on the south side of the O’Connor House.
• The board heard an update on the Fondren Library renovation, which included news that construction of a reading room on the sixth floor would need to be contingent upon obtaining sufficient donations to fund it.

Academic Affairs
• Ann Wright, vice president for enrollment, presented an enrollment update and noted that the number of applications to Rice would be the second largest in history. Last year, Rice received a record number of applications (8,109). Wright reported that out-of-state applications were up 1.1 percent from that high, while Texas applications were down 8 percent.
• The board heard an early report from a consultant studying ways to optimize Rice’s use of existing research space in engineering and natural science.
• Provost Eugene Levy reported on the successful conclusion of searches for a dean of undergraduates (Robin Forman) and a dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering (Sallie Keller-McNulty). The search continues for a new dean of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management.
• Addressing the board about his goals in the new position, Forman said, among many other things, that Rice needs to reinforce the residential colleges as communities of scholars and to bring intellectual life into them.

Audit Committee
• Janet Covington, director of internal audit, reported on the completion of four more in a continuing series or routine audits, these covering Student Tuition Equalization Grants and related federal grants, state research and technology grants, Cohen House operations and the Office of Technology Transfer.
• The board heard a status report on the Office of the Registrar, the work new registrar David Tenney already has done to address various issues in the office and opportunities for continued improvement.

Employee Recognition
The Board recognized Adria Baker, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, and the winner of this year’s Elizabeth Gillis Award for Exemplary Service, for her leadership and innovation.

Athletics Deficit Reduction Committee
The committee recommended and the board approved that university support of the athletics budget be no more than $11.5 million annually for the next five years. The board recognized that this was not enough of a reduction, but felt that at this time no more could be required without severely damaging sports outside of football. The board will review the situation from time to time as circumstances indicate, with a goal of minimizing the deficit.

Special Trustee Committee
The board approved in concept a change in the term of the chair of the Rice Board of Trustees from six years to four years, with eligibility for a second term of three years. Chair-elect Jim Crownover discussed additional ideas for Board operations and governance.