THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
February 21, 2003
University of Maryland University College
EXECUTIVE SESSION WITH CHANCELLOR
Chairman Kendall moved, Regent Larson seconded and the Board
of Regents voted unanimously to convene in closed and
Executive Session with the Chancellor on Friday, February
21, 2003, at University of Maryland University College
beginning at 11:15 a.m. Those present were: Chairman
Kendall, Vice Chairman Larson, Regents Billingsley, Canter,
Johnson, Nevins, Tydings, Wood; Regents Finan, Josey and
Rosapepe participated by phone; Chancellor Kirwan and Vice
Chancellors Martin and Vivona; Assistant Attorney General
John Anderson and Ms. Ryan. The Board of Regents reviewed
items on the agenda that were exempted under the Open
Meetings Act for consideration in closed and executive
session. The meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.
PUBLIC SESSION:
Chairman Kendall called the public meeting of the Board
of Regents of the University System of Maryland to order
at 8:39 a.m. on Friday, February 21, 2003 at University
of Maryland University College. Those present were:
Chairman Kendall, Vice Chairman Larson, Regents
Billingsley, Canter, Johnson, Nevins, Tydings, Wood;
Regents Finan, Josey and Rosapepe participated by phone;
Chancellor Kirwan, Vice Chancellors Martin and Vivona;
Mr. John Anderson, Assistant Attorney General;
Presidents Burnett, Dudley-Eshbach, Gira, Heeger,
Hrabowski, Hunter-Cevera, Lowe, Ramsay, Thompson, Vice
President Ron Legon (UB); Vice President Gary Rubin (TU);
Vice President Wilson (UMCES); Assistant to the President
Anne Wyile (UMCP); Dr. Parker (CUSF), Mr. Hill (CUSS),
Mr. Patton (USMSC), Ms. Ryan, USM staff members, members
of the press and other observers.
Chairman Kendall recognized Mr. Richard Hug, Regent-nominee,
who was attending the meeting.
A. President Heeger presented an update of UMUC.
Enrollment for fall is up 8% and continued growth is
forecast.
1. New collaborations with Montgomery College to
offer new degree, Bachelor of Technical and
Professional Studies and Biotechnology studies to be
offered at the Germantown Campus of Montgomery College.
Similar conversations are ongoing with College of
Southern Maryland, Prince George's, Harford and Anne
Arundel Community Colleges.
2. An award of $2 Million in federal dollars has been
granted to MSDE, UMUC, UMBC and Prince George's County
to fund Maryland Alternative Route to Certification
Options - a fast track way to create new teachers. The
first class of students are hoping to move into
teaching in Prince George's County by fall.
3. April 22, 2003, Dr. Heeger will be in Hong Kong
initiating a new graduate relationship with Hong Kong
Polytechnical University. Agreements with Helsinki
University of Technology and Monterey Institute of
Technology from Mexico will soon follow, joining
existing relationships with other international
institutions. The goal is to use technology to carry
international programs to the next level where faculty
and students can share courses.
B. Committee of the Whole
1. The minutes of the December 6, 2002 meeting were
unanimously approved.
2. Report from Chancellor Kirwan: (Full report on file
with the minutes) The Chancellor presented an overview of
the legislative session to-date as well as the Grassroots
Initiative. This initiative is working to communicate
across the state, as well as to the legislature, the
necessity of continued funding for the USM. Much support
has been received from businesses and associations
statewide. Chancellor Kirwan commended the presidents for
the excellent testimony in Annapolis and thanked Regents
for their support testimony.
Regent Kirwan announced that Regent Andrew Canter was
recently recognized by USA Today as a member of their
All Academic Team.
Regent Kendall said that the Regents, Presidents and
Chancellor have done an outstanding job of getting the
message out regarding funding concerns. It is
important not to let up and continue to work together
to present our case.
3. Resolution for Appreciation of Calvin Burnett
Regent Wood read the resolution of appreciation for Dr.
Calvin Burnett, retiring president of Coppin State
College, into the record. Regent Wood moved for
approval; seconded by Nevins and unanimously approved.
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF
THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND
CONCERNING THE EXEMPLARY SERVICE OF
CALVIN W. BURNETT
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND BOARD OF REGENTS
WHEREAS, Calvin W. Burnett has been President of Coppin
State College since 1970, and in that time, has served his
campus and community with honor, grace, and equanimity; and
WHEREAS, he has led with both his head and his heart,
exercising sound judgment and unselfishly placing the needs
of Coppin State College above his own; and
WHEREAS, he has witnessed mammoth changes during a
tenure that has spanned more than three decades, yet has
been steady in the face of change and consistently spirited
in advocating for his institution; and
WHEREAS, he has positioned Coppin State College for
great success and is therefore leaving a campus that is
strong and prepared for all that the future may hold; and
WHEREAS, his commitment to providing educational access
to students, many of whom have been the first in their
families to attend college, has never wavered, even in the
face of budgetary and other challenges;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of
Regents of the University System of Maryland gratefully
acknowledges Calvin W. Burnett's efforts on behalf of the
students of Maryland;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Board of Regents
extends to Calvin W. Burnett its sincere gratitude and
appoints Dr. Burnett as President Emeritus of Coppin State
College, a lasting tribute to his commitment to the Coppin
family.
February 21, 2003
Dr. Burnett thanked the Regents for the resolution and
thanked his colleagues for all of their assistance over the
years.
4. Capital and Operating budget 04: Vice Chancellor
Vivona presented an overview of the Capital and
Operating Budget. Last year a request to cover 5 years
was $900M for the Capital Improvement Program. The
governor proposed a $757M budget. For FY 2004, we
requested $178M; we received $159M + $8M for property
adjacent to Coppin - total of $173M for 2004.
Operating Budget request at this time stands at $800.0M
pending further reductions to be decided by the House
and the Senate; furloughs and layoffs are contemplated
to help meet the funding shortfall.
Areas of attention and concern: Enrollment growth;
workforce shortages; tuition affordability; OCR
agreement; research budget; one-time savings to
strengthen the balance sheet, funding guidelines
attainment.
The legislative staff has suggested additional
reductions including eliminating tuition waivers for
employees and families.
Regent Tydings asked the meaning of tuition remission.
Mr. Vivona: Tuition remission is an employee benefit
extending tuition waivers to employees, children, and
spouses. It is a major hiring incentive for faculty
and staff. Loss of this benefit would have long term
effects on our competitiveness in terms of recruitment.
Regent Kendall: This is very important to faculty and
staff and the loss would handicap institutions greatly.
It's not a big item in the budget and very important
that institutions have this recruiting tool.
Regent Nevins then presented a motion authorizing the
presidents of the USM institutions to implement
employee furloughs, only if necessary, with one
suggested change. There is a provision listed in the
second item C: "Employees may not be permitted to be in
their work areas or to perform official duties during
the period of furlough." Mr. Nevins questioned why
individuals such as the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors,
Presidents and others, if they so choose, would not be
permitted to perform their official duties.
John Anderson proposed a modification: "As a general
matter, employees should not be permitted to be in
their work area or to perform official duties during
the period of furlough."
Regent Nevins: If presidents choose to recognize their
official duties during their own furlough periods they
should be entitled to do so.
Regent Kendall: With that change, I offer this motion:
is there a second
Second: Regent Rosapepe
Regent Wood: There are employees who are loyal who
would want to come back to work - want to make
contribution. Is there some kind of agreement that you
could prepare that would solve the legal problems and
allow employees who want to volunteer their time; who
want to stay on their job, who don't want to be a week
behind when they return to work? It seems if there is
way to provide a free voluntary option for workers in
that category, that we should give it to them.
John Anderson: People have to understand that this
isn't because we are trying to keep them away, but it
really is a matter of Federal labor law. It's
difficult to come to agreement on what all would see as
voluntary. Given the less rigid language that David
presented we could work with them. But I'm not
confident of that
Regent Larson: I like less restrictive language; I
think we need to be careful that we don't have subtle
pressure for people to come in on furlough; we need to
be careful that we have a balanced approach that those
that want to can, but no one is pressured to be a
voluntary worker.
Regent Canter: I am concerned for lower income
employees. I would like to see a commitment that
higher paid employees would put in more individual
furlough days than the lowest paid in the state.
Regent Kendall: We have to leave it up to the
presidents to manage their affairs.
Chancellor Kirwan: We will of course report back to
the board the distribution of furlough days, and I
think in that way you will be able to see that Regent
Canter's sensitivity was taken into account.
Regent Canter: If we are all behind it and the
presidents are going to do it anyway, we should express
our public commitment to that philosophy. I think it
would be important just for the message it sends.
Regent Canter recommended that the Board insert a new
Guideline - G: Wording for proposed Guideline G:
"Presidents should be encouraged to be increasingly
sensitive to the needs of their lower income
employees."
Regent Kendall: I would take that as an amendment.
Seconded: Regent Tydings
John Anderson: You are either saying that the regents
would like presidents to give consideration to a
progressive furlough program or you are saying they
must do a progressive furlough programs.
Regent Kendall: Consideration is enough; Second holds
with change.
Vice Chancellor Vivona: I want to remind the Board
that, for most of the employees you are speaking about,
this item is a subject of collective bargaining, so
guidance from the Board on a collective bargaining item
should be considered seriously in terms of whether you
say "should" or "that you prefer," because that
establishes a new base line when we talk to the
representatives of the membership
Regent Josey: When I was reviewing the materials that
I received, I was unsure what we did previously. Are
we doing anything differently this time than we did the
previous time?
Dr. Gira: On average it was 3 days of furloughs, but
it was graduated on most of the campuses.
Chancellor Kirwan: Across the System it was an average
of 3 days but implemented progressively as we've just
been talking about with this resolution.
Regent Josey: Were there issues related to people
wanting to come in but could not because we may be
violating federal fair labor standards act?
John Anderson: Not that I heard about so I can just
say that it didn't become a matter of any litigation or
serious legal dispute.
Regent Kirwan: I do recall that many people chose to
come in on a voluntary basis; I know I did and Dr. Gira
did and I'm sure that many of the other presidents and
senior administrators did as well.
Regent Kendall: I might point out that we did not have
collective bargaining.
I am going to speak against the amendment. I think the
feeling is that the Board of Regents supports it. We
add complexity to our lives and I think if we would
just leave that feeling with the presidents that we
might be better off. If there are no other comments,
I'll going to ask for a vote on the amendment.
Regent Johnson: I think the simpler that we keep the
amendment the better off we will be in the long run. I
think Joe's point is good regarding the base line of
information you establish when you start to deal with
collective bargaining. If we have an idea that is
clear among all the presidents what we would like to
see, I think the less documentation will pretty much
put us in a stronger position from a bargaining
standpoint. Also I think the spirit of what we intend
to do is going to be evident from past experiences as
well. I am in support of your position and will not go
with the amendment.
Vote: all in favor of amendment: Canter, Billingsley,
Tydings, Rosapepe
Opposed: Wood, Nevins, Larson, Kendall, Johnson, Josey,
Finan
Regent Kendall: The amendment fails. Although this
amendment fails, I would encourage the presidents to do
this and it will report back to the board. Now we
will go back to the original amendment:
Amendment: Item C: "As a general matter, employees
should not be permitted to work in their areas."
Unanimously approved with one dissenting vote by Regent
Canter.
C. Advisory Councils:
1. University System Council of Presidents: President Gira
reported that Presidents have been spending much of
their time on the legislative session and the budget.
The USM message seems to be getting through from the
presidents to the Appropriations and Budget and
Taxation Committees.
The Presidents have not met since the Legislative
Analysts raised the issue of eliminating tuition
remission. Dr. Gira stated that tuition remission is
an important recruiting tool for faculty and staff.it's
not a revenue stream; there would be no savings by
doing away with tuition remission.
Dr. Gira stated that the impact of budget cuts and
layoffs in the rural areas are particularly disastrous.
There are no other jobs for those laid off in depressed
areas.
Regent Tydings stated that was an incredibly important
point that should be included in all of the
testimonies.
Dr. Gira stated that the presidents worked closely with
System Office to oppose the bill for a community
college to offer BA degree; Chancellor Kirwan was able
to build a coalition for a presentation with MICUA and
MHEC, all opposing the bill. The coalition was also
evident at the recent press conference.
Presidents are also working with their alumni and
business groups to get the word for no more cuts to
higher education.
Regent Tydings: We must start hitting the economic
part of the lowering the USM budget and get the boards
of visitors involved. It is necessity to get across
the message of the economic impact especially to UMB,
UMBI, Towson, UMBC, and UB and the affects to the City
of Baltimore should these deep budget cuts continue.
Regent Kendal stated that UMMS is also greatly affected
by these cuts - if we don't have the faculty, we don't
attract patients, we lose economically. We should make
everyone else understand the full implications.
Regent Wood: The UMMS Shock Trauma Center is also at risk.
2. Council of University System Faculty: Dr. David Parker
stated that the tuition remission benefit is a real
benefit to secretarial and maintenance staff - their
children are able to come to college who would not have
been able to get an education otherwise.
Dr. Parker stated that the faculty sees the budget
crisis as demoralizing and are worried about being
pushed back into mediocrity. CUSF will not be able to
meet with Governor Ehrlich until May to express their
concerns.
Regent Larson suggested trying to set a meeting with
the Lt. Governor.
3. Council of University System Staff: Chairman Hill
expressed concern with negative impact of layoffs,
furloughs, and potential loss of tuition benefit. Many
employees have counted on these benefits for their
children to be able to go to college.
CUSS has provided a letter of support of Maintain the
Momentum; initiated grass roots programs and is
available for Chancellor, Regents or Presidents as
needed.
University System Student Council: Regent Canter
presented the report stating that they will host an
event in Annapolis during the second week of March
D. Report of the Committee on Finance: Regent Nevins
presented the report of the Committee on Finance
1. Minutes of the January 22, 2003 meeting.
Motion by Regent Nevins to place Items 2 through 6 on a
consent agenda; seconded by Regent Larson
2. UMCP: Funding for the Alumni Center
3. UMCP: Research Park Building 1
4. USM: Deferred Compensation Plan
5. USM: Grievance Policy for Exempt and Nonexempt
Employees
6. USM: Policy for Exempt and Nonexempt Employees on
Disclosure of Misconduct
For the record, Regent Billingsley stated that he serves on
the Board of Governors of the UMCP Alumni Association.
"This is a consent agenda and I do intend to vote."
Consent agenda unanimously approved.
Item 7: Enrollment Projections:
Mr. Vivona presented a brief overview of enrollment
projections.
Regent Nevins: There are major public policy questions that
have to do with enrollment projections.
I move that the Board affirm the Chancellor's recommendation
that "the institutions should analyze the impact of the
current budget condition and further potential funding
reductions, on enrollment and work with the Vice Chancellor
on formulating alternatives." A report will be brought back
to the Finance Committee meeting on March 20, 2003.
Seconded: Regent Rosapepe
Regent Josey: Will USM continue conversations with
legislators during the summer?
Chancellor Kirwan: Excellent suggestion; we will develop a
schedule so that we can have ongoing dialog with legislature
on these issues.
Motion unanimously approved
Regent Nevins: We recognize the seriousness of budget cuts;
once this legislative season passes, the Finance Committee,
in conjunction with the Chairman, Chancellor, staffs and
presidents, need to look at the way we do business; we can't
claim that we are operating at 100% efficiency, and I think
what the Governor and the legislature want to see from us is
that our house is in order; we need to be looking at ways to
be more efficient and effective; approvals of academic
programs need to be looked at seriously.
Items 8 and 9 presented as Information only
8. USM: Financial Date Report
9. USM: Report on Procurements between $1 Million and
$5 Million for FY 2002
E. Committee on Education Policy - Regent Orlan Johnson
presented the report of the Committee for Chair Florestano.
1. Minutes of the January 22, 2003 meeting.
2. New Program Proposals
a. FSU: Bachelor of Technical and
Professional Studies in Information
Technology Management (BTPS): moved for
approval by Regent Johnson; seconded by
Regent Billingsley; unanimously approved.
b. UB: BA in Community Studies and Civic
Engagement
UB: BA of Technical and Professional Studies
(BTPS) in Simulation and Digital
Entertainment: moved for approved by Regent
Johnson; seconded by Regent Billingsley;
unanimously approved.
c. TU: Bachelor of Science in Forensic
Chemistry: moved for approval by Regent
Johnson; seconded by Regent Billingsley;
unanimously approved.
d. UMCP: Post Baccalaureate Certificate in
Critical Theory
UMCP: Master of Information Management (MIM):
moved for approval by Regent Johnson;
seconded by Regent Tydings, unanimously
approved.
3. Modification of the USM Policy on Solicitation and
Acceptance of Sponsored Projects: moved: Regent
Johnson; seconded: Regent Tydings, unanimously
approved.
4. Proposed addition of the Title: Senior Lecturer
to the USM Policy on the Appointment, Rank, and
Tenure of Faculty: moved by Regent Johnson;
seconded by Regent Wood; unanimously approved.
Items 5-though 9 were presented as Information Items:
5. Community College Issues
6. Middle States Review of USM Institutions: 2002
7. Minority Achievement Reports: Baseline Data
8. Teacher Education: Status Report
9. Campus Crime Reports
F. Committee on Technology. Regent Wood presented the
report of the Committee.
1. Minutes of the January 10, 2003 meeting.
2. Digital Divide Initiative Report: Regent Wood
presented an overview of the Report.
G. Adjournment
The meeting of the Board of Regents was adjourned at
11:03 a.m.