President’s
Cabinet Meeting
Tuesday, September
22, 2009
9:00 a.m.
MINUTES
ATTENDEES: President Ivory V. Nelson, Interim Vice President
Jerryl Briggs, Vice President
Michael B. Hill, Vice President Howard E.
Merlin,
Vice President Grant D. Venerable, Dean John O. Chikwem, Dean Gladys J.
Willis,
Dean Judith A.W. Thomas, Ms. Diane M. Brown. Mr. John Thompson and Dr. Debbie Bullock were
in attendance for a portion of the meeting.
MINUTES
September 16, 2009, Cabinet
minutes were approved.
PHYSICAL
PLANT BRIEFING
Mr.
Thompson provided an update on the status of capital projects in
progress. The Wright Hall, Grim Hall and
Langston
Hughes Memorial Library renovation projects are scheduled to go out to
bid in
early December.
PRESIDENT
President Nelson expressed his appreciation for the
extraordinary efforts of DGS personnel in securing permits and readying
the
International Cultural Center (ICC) for the Board of Trustees meeting
on
Saturday, September 19, 2009. Many
positive comments about the facility were received.
Academic Excellence
– President Nelson reiterated his commitment and that of the
administration to
achieve the goals established by the Board of Trustees in the areas of
retention, graduation and rankings. They
are:
85%
Retention rate by 2012
48%
Graduation rate by 2012
Rank
among the top 10 HBCUs by 2012
The deans and faculty have been charged with working with
the admissions staff to provide a monthly report on what has been done
to meet
the objectives. Additional funds will be
earmarked for efforts to retain current students and a Summer Bridge
Program
will be implemented at the Graduate Center
and possibly on
the campus. A compliment to these
efforts is the implementation of the Advisory Boards for the Centers of
Excellence by January 2010.
An increased emphasis will be placed on sharing information
across the campus. In this regard,
President Nelson’s Reports to the Board of Trustees will be posted on
the
University’s website.
President Nelson is also requiring a monthly report on
campus maintenance and clean up activities.
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Dean Chikwem informed the members
of Cabinet that the Science Fair will take place October 21, 2009 in
the new
science building. The schools of
Humanities and Social Sciences will be included this year.
President Nelson will earmark $1000 from the
President’s Discretionary Fund to support two prizes of $500 each for
one male
and one female student.
The LEAPS program ended August
31, 2009. Lincoln will be able to resubmit an
application for funding in December.
Dean Willis presented a proposal
for the implementation of a “Portfolio Fee” to be assessed to all
students as a
student fee in partial fulfillment of the Writing Proficiency Program. The proposal is based on the fact that
beginning with the Class of 2013, all graduating Seniors will be
required to
have successfully completed a portfolio of work in their major. The proposal includes a reduction in cost to
the students compared to the current fee charged for the purchase of a
portfolio. President Nelson expressed
concern over the assessment of an additional fee requirement for our
students
and asked that more review be undertaken before coming to a decision on
this
recommendation.
DEVELOPMENT AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS
The academic deans were asked to
review the school brochure drafts and provide any necessary revisions
to Mr.
Hill’s office by Friday, September 26. There
is an immediate need for the brochures as recruitment efforts have
already begun. The deans will be able to
make additional
revisions, if necessary, before additional copies are printed.
FISCAL AFFAIRS
The RFI for the new residence hall has generated 15
submissions.
STUDENT AFFAIRS AND ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
Mr. Briggs reported that the
second shift for housekeepers has been implemented.
Currently, eight (8) housekeepers are working
the 11 PM - 7 AM shift.
Student body headcount (As of 09.21.09)
Undergraduate:
2,059
Graduate:
609
Total
2,668
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further
business, President Nelson adjourned the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
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