Board Highlights

The following is a brief summary of the regular meeting of the Rice University Board of Trustees, March 8-9, 2006:

Audit Committee

Internal Audit Director Janet Covington reported on routine reviews of the Facilities Service Center and the Office of Student Financial Aid. She stated the internal audit office will undergo its own routine independent audit.

General Counsel Richard Zansitis reported on the conflict-of-interest review and stated that all potential conflicts are being handled properly.

Resource Development and Public Affairs

Vice President for Resource Development Eric Johnson discussed the comparative gift report for a 12-month period ending Feb. 28. Gifts to Rice were up by 40 percent over the same period from the year before.

Vice President for Public Affairs Terry Shepard gave his annual report on Rice’s visibility in the news media in 2005, which included a total increase of 2,000 media appearances.

Financial Affairs

Vice President for Investments and Treasurer Scott Wise reported that the value of the university’s endowment stood around $3.75 billion at the end of 2005 for a return of 6.7 percent in the first six months of fiscal year 2006.

The board received an update on the Collaborative Research Center. The design phase is expected to begin in a few months.

The board received a report on refunding of debt that, taking advantage of lower interest rates, will produce $1.25 million annual savings in Rice’s operating budget.

Buildings and Grounds

The board approved a capital budget for 81 projects totaling $15.3 million to foster the goals of Rice President David Leebron’s “Vision for the Second Century.”

The board discussed deferred maintenance and heard that the administration is moving to a more holistic maintenance assessment system.
After seeing the completed predesign and hearing a presentation by the architect, the board passed a resolution approving $10 million for the central quadrangle pavilion planning and project.

Academic Affairs

Provost Eugene Levy and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman discussed the competitive landscape for undergraduate recruitment. The group discussed expanding the scope of the Academic Affairs Committee to include broad campus-life and recruitment issues.

The Office of Admission reported that applications were up 11 percent from last year to 8,724. The committee also discussed efforts to increase applicant numbers.

The board heard a report on the reaccreditation process.

Information Technology

The trustees approved a new data center facility to be located at the Library Service Center on South Main St.The data center’s expected completion date of June 2007 will allow the facility to be brought online before the expiration of the downtown data center lease in September 2007. The new data center is designed to accommodate future technology changes. It will be used in conjunction with the data center space in MUDD to accommodate the network core, servers and redundancy for Rice information technology infrastructure and computing needs.

Full Board

The board amended its bylaws to clarify the process to remove a trustee (which has never happened in Rice’s history) to ensure it meets accreditation standards.

The board recognized Eusebio Franco as this year’s recipient of the Elizabeth Gillis Award for Exemplary Service.