Highlights of July meeting minutes:

[Regular minutes]

Mr. Roy Klumb was absent. (p. 1)

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Ms. Newton announced that the Board Retreat that was scheduled for August has been cancelled. The Board will conduct a regular meeting on August 18, 2005. Due to time constraints, some of the items on the July agenda may be deferred to August. (p. 1)

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[System Administration]
8. b. USM
i. Information item. - At its April 2005 meeting, the Board was informed of the discontinuance of the Center for International and Continuing Education (CICE) in order to allow for tighter academic controls to insure compliance with SACS and other accrediting bodies as well as to insure academic rigor in all for-credit offerings. Since that time, the University has made additional changes to the offices formerly housed in the CICE as follows:
(1) Placed International Programs, International Student and Scholar Services, and the English Language Institute under the Office of International Education within the College of Arts and Letters;
(2) Placed the Office of Independent Studies within the Office of the Provost and administered by the Coordinator of Distance Learning Support; and
(3) Renamed the Office of Non-Credit Programs to the Office of Non-Credit Programs and Conferences within the Office of the Provost.
ii. Information item. - The Center for Applied Research and Evaluation is being renamed to the Center for Research, Evaluation, Assessment, and Training Services and moving the Center from the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development to the College of Health. (p. 5)

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[Real Estate]
10. USM - Approved the construction documents and authorized the advertisement for the receipt of bids by the Institutions of Higher Learning, for IHL #210-233, Aquaculture Visitor Center, Cedar Point Campus. Funds are available in the amount of $1.5 million from NOAA Grants. (p. 10)

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[Real Estate]
22. USM – Approved the granting of a road right-of-way and utility easement to the City of Hattiesburg for the upgrade/construction of roadways and utility extensions on USM property. Plans and legal descriptions for the right-of-way and easements are on file in the Board Office. (p. 11)

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[Legal fees -- lion's share of non-patent-filing expenses this month again from USM]

Payment of legal fees for professional services rendered by Adams & Reese (Statements dated 4/22/05, 4/22/05 and 4/20/05, 5/10/05, 5/13/05, 5/16/05, 6/10/05, 6/10/05 and 6/13/05) from the funds of The University of Southern Mississippi. (These statements represent services and expenses in connection with the following cases: DePree $3,369.70; Brewer - $7,639.35; Servedio $9,564.75; Servedio - $4,001.60; Brewer - $3,651.25; DePree - $1,212.40; DePree $3,888.54; Servedio - $2,643.50; and Brewer - $11,694.91, respectively.) TOTAL DUE.....................................................$47,666.00

Payment of legal fees for professional services rendered by Gore, Kilpatrick, Purdie, Metz and Adcock (Statement dated 4/27/05) from the funds of The University of Southern Mississippi. (This statement represents services and expenses in connection with the Williams v. USM case.) TOTAL DUE.....................................................$11,835.76 (p. 13)

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[Governance]
401.0102 DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY [approved]
Acting under appropriate statutory authority, the Board of Trustees hereby empowers the Commissioner and the Institutional Executive Officers of the several institutions to make all appointments and promotions of faculty and staff except as otherwise noted below:
a. Board approval shall be required for creation, appointment, elimination, or significant modification of the position of Vice Chancellor, Provost, Vice President, Dean, or Associate/Assistant Provost, Vice President or Vice Chancellor who supervises Deans. Board approval shall also be required for the appointment of any employee making a salary of {delete}$50,000{/delete} {add}$75,000{/add} or more. (pp. 17-18)

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[Legal -- see Exhibit 6 below]
3. Amendment to Board Policies and Bylaws
A motion was made by Ms. Whitten, seconded by Ms. Robinson, to recommend that the Board approve the proposed amendments to policy 1102.01 Retention of Outside Counsel and 1102.02 Payment of Outside Counsel for first reading. No vote was taken.
A substitute motion was made by Ms. Robinson, seconded by Ms. Whitten, to recommend that the Board approve the amendment to 1102.01 Retention of Outside Counsel and the amendment to 1102.02 (D) Payment of Outside Counsel which reflects a cap of 25% instead of $250,000 for first reading as referenced by committee agenda item #3 in the Board Book. The motion passed on a 4 to 1 vote. The following committee members voted for the motion: Dr. Stacy Davidson, Mr. Bob Owens, Ms. Robin Robinson, and Ms. Amy Whitten. Mr. Scott Ross voted against the motion. (p. 33)

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[Governance]
5. Amendments to Board Policies and Bylaws
A motion was made by Mr. Blakeslee and seconded by Dr. Neely, to recommend that the Board approve the proposed amendments to Board Policy 901.03 Facilities Staff Responsibilities for first reading as referenced by committee agenda item #5 in the Board Book. The motion passed on a 4 to 1 vote. Committee members voting for the motion were: Dr. D. E. Magee (Chair), Mr. Ed Blakeslee, Dr. Bettye Neely, and Mr. Aubrey Patterson. Mr. Scott Ross voted against the motion. (p. 35)

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[Strategic Planning]
1. USM’s Strategic Plan On motion by Ms. Whitten, seconded by Mr. Blakeslee, and unanimously passed by those present, the committee recommended that the Board approve the FY 2007-2011 System Strategic Plan, as referenced by committee agenda item #1 in the Board Book. (p. 35)

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[Exceptions to 124-hour rule]

Of the 53 requests for exceptions:
1. Eighteen (18) are in engineering (27%) – all institutions with programs asked for exceptions and all were recommended for exceptions though not all at what was requested.
2. Thirteen (13) are in music education (20%) – all institutions with programs asked for exceptions and all were recommended for exceptions though not all at what was requested.
3. Five (5) were in nursing (8%) – all institutions with programs asked for exceptions and all were recommended for exceptions though not all at what was requested.
4. Three (3) were in school of engineering’ computer science (5%) – all institutions with programs asked for exceptions and all were recommended for exceptions as requested.
5. Two (2) were in music (4%) – all institutions with programs did not ask for exceptions; however, exceptions were recommended for all of the programs.
6. Two (2) were in theatre (4%) – all institutions with programs asked for exceptions and all were recommended for exceptions as requested.
7. Seven (7) were single institution programs (11%) – all institutions with programs asked for exceptions and all were recommended for exceptions though not all at what was requested. (p. 41)

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[Accreditation report]

USM

Institutional Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Commission on Colleges) Monitoring Report submitted in 08/05 Results pending

Mass Communications Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication 02/05 Continuing accreditation Results pending

Library and Information Science American Library Association 03/05 Continuing accreditation Continuing accreditation for 7 years (2012)

Medical Technology National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science 10/04 Continuing accreditation Continuing accreditation for 7 years (2011)

Baccalaureate and Graduate Education, Educational Leadership Mississippi Department of Education 04/05 Continuing State approval Approved for 1 year (2006) (p. 43)

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[Exhibit 6 -- for first reading]

1102.01 RETENTION OF OUTSIDE COUNSEL

C. Approval by the Commissioner/IHL Board of Trustees. Following approval by the Attorney General, the University should prepare and submit an agenda item to the IHL Board of Trustees {add}through the Commissioner{/add} for approval. {add}Board approval includes approval of hiring the outside counsel and approval of paying the outside counsel. The agenda item shall include the specific hourly rate to be paid to the attorney(s) for which approval is requested, as well as the maximum amount budgeted for payment to the attorney/firm in the current and succeeding fiscal years.{/add} (p. 47)

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1102.02 PAYMENT OF OUTSIDE COUNSEL

B. Approval of Invoice. The invoice will be reviewed and compared to the contract authorizing the services and fees. Upon approval by the Attorney General, the invoice will be forwarded to the {delete}Commissioner of Higher Education for review and approval. Following review and approval, the Commissioner of Higher Education will notify the{/delete} Attorney General’s Universities Division. The Attorney General’s Universities Division will forward an approval letter to the University.

{add}D. The Board hereby authorizes the Commissioner, on the Board’s behalf, to approve an increase in the Board approved maximum amount budgeted for payment to outside counsel, up to $250,000.00 and subject to approval by the Attorney General’s Office, in the event the original Board approved maximum amount for payment is subsequently determined by the Commissioner to be insufficient to complete legal representation. Any increase in the maximum amount budgeted for payment which would exceed $250,000.00 requires Board approval.{/add} (p. 48)

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[Exhibit 10 -- for first reading]
403.0105 APPEALS OF FACULTY TERMINATIONS AND DENIALS OF TENURE TO THE COMMISSIONER OF HIGHER EDUCATION

403.0106 APPEALS OF FACULTY TERMINATIONS AND DENIALS OF TENURE TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
(pp. 59-60 -- many changes to current policy and worth reading in full)

http://www.ihl.state.ms.us//admin/downloads/BdJuly05.pdf

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[Minutes of Commissioner Search Committee]
[Vote on new commissioner]

On motion by Mr. Blakeslee, seconded by Ms. Whitten, with Mr. Klumb, Mr. Owens, and Mr. Ross absent and not voting, the Board approved the Commissioner Search Committee’s recommendation to appoint Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, to the position of Commissioner of Higher Education.

Ms. Newton introduced Dr. Meredith and his wife, Susan. Dr. Meredith thanked the Board and expressed his excitement over working with the members in the near future. An exact start date for Dr. Meredith has not been determined yet. Ms. Newton thanked Dr. Richard Crofts for his effort as interim Commissioner. Dr. Crofts will continue through the transition period.

THE BOARD RECESSED FOR A PRESS CONFERENCE AND THEN RECONVENED.

On motion by Mr. Ross, seconded by Dr. Davidson, with Mr. Klumb and Mr. Owens absent and not voting, the minutes record Mr. Ross as voting “aye” on the appointment of Dr. Meredith as the new Commissioner. (p. 2)

http://www.ihl.state.ms.us//admin/downloads/BdJuly05 - interim.pdf