MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES
CLARION UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
ROBERT W. RHOADES CENTER AUDITORIUM
VENANGO CAMPUS, OIL CITY, PA 16301
7:00 P.M.
I. RECORDING OF ATTENDANCE
The meeting w as called to order by Mr. Kif er, Vice Chairperson, w ith the
follow ing Trustees present:
Dr. Syed Ali-Zaidi
Mrs. Susanne Burns
Mr. James Kif er
Mr. Kyle McMunn
Mr. Larry Pickett
Mr. How ard Shreckengost, Secretary
The follow ing trustees w ere absent from t he meeting:
Mr. Ross Cioppa
Ms. JD Dunbar
Mr. R. Lee James, Chairperson
Ms. Donna Oberlander
Mr. Jeffrey Szumigale
The follow ing members of the University administration attended the
meeting:
Mr. Paul Bylaska, Vice President for Finance and Administration
Dr. Jocelind Gant, Assistant to the President for Social Equity and Assistant
Vice President for International Programs
Dr. Joseph Grunenw ald, President
Dr. Valentine James, Provost and Academic Vice President
Dr. Christopher Reber, Executive Dean, Venango Campus
Mr. Harry Tripp, Vice President for Student and University Affairs
II.

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF July 16, 2009
A motion w as made by Dr. Ali-Zaidi, seconded by Mr. Shreckengost ,
that the minut es of the July 16, 2009 regular meeting of the Council of
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Trustees be approved as distributed by mail. The motion carried
unanimously.
III.

COMMUNICATIONS
A.

Public Comments - None

B.

Report of Student Senate
1.

Venango Student Senate
Venango Student Senate representative Cheyenne Kuzma
reported on activities of her group, including programming for
new students, a Phi Theta Kappa leadership program,
establishment of five new special int erest clubs, and the
development of a new intramurals, recreat ion, and club sports
program.

2.

Clarion Student Senat e
Clarion Campus Student Senat e President Heather Puhalla
review ed activities of her organization, including elections held
to fill seven slots on Senate, a planning ret reat in Cook Forest,
and ongoing planning for a Day of Service and the Senate’ s
new Good Neighbor program.

C.

Report of Facult y Senate
1.

Venango Facult y Forum
Reporting for Venango Faculty Forum Chairperson Dr. Ellen
Foster, Assistant to t he Executive Dean Kay Ensle highlight ed
new s of the campus, including progress in achieving
accreditation of academic programs, the creation of a Venango
Campus Department of Arts and Sciences, and the granting of
promotion and/or t enure to Venango facult y.

2.

Clarion Faculty Senat e
Clarion Faculty Senat e Chairperson Dr. Laurie Occhinpinti
reported that her organization had been busy making
appointments to several university searches and councils and
filling vacancies on Senat e committees. She noted also t he
participation of Senat e in mentoring new faculty and in t he

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upcoming 2008-2009 performance evaluation of President
Grunenw ald and f ormation of the Presidential Search Committee
to conduct a national search for his replacement.
D.

Council Chairperson’ s Report
On behalf of Council Chair James, Mr. Kifer thanked trust ees Ali-Zaidi,
McMunn, Pickett, and Shreckengost for their participation in the
August 30th Freshman Convocation. He also reminded Council
members that the Fall 2009 Conference of the Pennsylvania
Association of Councils of Trustees (PACT) w ould be hosted by
Bloomsburg Universit y on October 14-15. Mr. Kif er call the trustees’
attention to PACT surveys at their places and asked them to complete
the surveys and return them w ith tw o w eeks to Ms. Linda Min in the
Chancellor’ s Office per survey directions.

V.

REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT
A.

President
Information Items
1.

Enrollment Management
Dr. Grunenw ald reported that the universit y’ s overall
headcount for Fall 09 w as 7,391, an increase of almost 4%
over the prior year’ s record total. He indicated that FTE had
risen over 3% to 6,108, an important figure for budget
preparation. In breaking dow n the enrollment grow th, Dr.
Grunenw ald report ed a 6% increase in new students for a
record new class of 1,460, 1% increase in graduate enrollment,
and 15% increase in distance-only student s. He thanked
Admissions and Financial Aid staff and, in particular, faculty for
their contributions tow ard the enrollment success.

2.

State System Updat e
Dr. Grunenw ald not ed general frustration over the lack of a
state budget and uncertainty about the size the cut in
appropriation to the State System. He indicated that the budget
the trustees w ould review this evening w ould be t entative
pending an agreement on the st ate budget.

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3.

Venango Campus Update
Dr. Grunenw ald turned the podium over to Executive Dean Chris
Reber, w ho noted that Venango Campus had been pleased to
host a visit by PASSHE Chancellor John Cavanaugh earlier in
the day. Dr. Reber also provided an updat e on progress at the
Venango Campus, including the completion of tw o new student
apartment buildings, restoration of West End Pond, and
renovation of Rhoades Center locker rooms and Frame Hall
restrooms; successful accredit ation site visits for Industrial
Technology, Respirat ory Care, and the A.S. in Rehabilitative
Services; new cohort s and grants in Nursing; availability of the
Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies at Venango through a
combination of traditional and online coursew ork; new faculty
and administrators; creation of the Venango Department of Arts
and Sciences; and a number of community outreach endeavors.
Dr. Reber announced that enrollment at Venango Campus had
increased 9.9% over the prior year. He then introduced Mrs.
Libby Williams, President of the Venango Campus Advisory
Council, w ho discussed the 2009-2010 Venango Campus
Cultural Series, Harvey Cent er lecture, Cahal Dunne holiday
concert, and other planned events.

B.

Academic Affairs
Action Item
1.

Approval of Proposed 2010-2011 Academic Calendar
A motion w as made by Mrs. Burns, seconded by Mr.
Pickett, to approve the follow ing resolution. The motion carried
unanimously.
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees, Clarion
University approve the 2010-2011 Academic Calendar pending
review by APSCUF at the Sept ember 18, 2009 Meet and
Discuss session.

Information Items
1.

Program Review s
Dr. James report ed that five-year program review s had been
completed for Academic Enrichment and Advising, Admissions

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and Financial Aid/Scholarships, Allied Health, Honors Program,
International Programs, Psychology, and Theatre.
2.

Memorandum of Understanding
Dr. James indicated t hat MOU’ s or affiliation agreements had
been signed during 08-09 w ith Sanda University of Shanghai,
China; Beijing Forestry University of Beijing, China; and
Dongguk University of Seoul, South Korea.

3.

Exploring Study Abroad in Africa
Dr. James distributed brochures on the Nat ional Summit on
Africa, an effort to explore opportunities for cooperation and
mutually beneficial relationships betw een t he U.S. and African
countries and on study abroad in sustainable development in
w estern Africa. He asked Dr. Jocelind Gant, Assistant Vice
President for International Programs, to discuss study abroad
opportunities in Africa for Clarion student s and faculty. Dr.
Gant explained that f or the current year, the focus w ould be on
the country of Ghana. She not ed that study in Africa w ould
have particular relevance for minority students and for scholars
of slavery.

4.

Approval of New Programs in Education
Dr. James noted that the Pennsylvania Department of Education
(PDE) had approved t he university’ s new programs in Special
Education, PK – 8 t h Grade; PK – 4 t h Grades; and Mid-Level 4 t h –
8 t h Grades.

5.

New s from the Colleges
Dr. James highlight ed new s from the Colleges of Arts and
Sciences and Business Administration. He cited new programs
in Women and Gender Studies and Public Relations, the
renovation of the Still Hall comput er lab and trading room and
installation of financial trading syst em and Compustat softw are,
and the scholarly efforts of College of Business faculty w ho had
32 articles published or accepted for publication in peer
review ed journals and w ho produced 90 other peer review ed
intellectual contributions during the period of January 1, 2008
through June 30, 2009.

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C.

Finance and Administ ration
Action Items
1.

Annual Budget
In follow up to the presentation of detailed information at an
afternoon budget w orkshop for trustees, Mr. Bylaska
highlighted elements of the university’ s FY09-10 budget. In
discussing assumptions on w hich the current -year budget had
been built, Mr. Bylaska noted that t he budget, designed t o
address an expected $1.3 million deficit, w as tentative pending
passage of the Commonw ealth budget .
A motion w as made by Dr. Ali-Zaidi, seconded by Mr.
Pickett, that the follow ing resolution be approved. The motion
carried unanimously.
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees, Clarion
University, approve the annual budget for 2009-2010 and its
submission to the State System of Higher Education.

Information Items
1.

Status of Facilities Report
Mr. Bylaska review ed elements of the Stat us of Facilities Report
attached to the trust ees’ agenda. He noted that the renovation
of Becht Hall into a st udent success center had moved into the
design phase, a chiller w as being replaced in Gemmell Student
Center, a f easibility st udy on the renovation or replacement of
Tippin Gymnasium w as underw ay, and that projects at Venango
Campus related to improvement of the main campus entrance
and the expansion of the Nursing lab w ere in design.

D.

Student and Universit y Affairs
Information Items
1.

Fall Semester Opening

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Mr. Tripp thanked the over 200 volunteers w ho assisted w ith
the move-in of 2,150 students at t he beginning of the Fall
semester.
2.

Fund-raising Report
Mr. Tripp announced that the university had met and exceeded
the fund-raising requirements to receive a Kresge Challenge
Grant. He also report ed a total of $570,000 in privat e support
to the university f or t he fiscal year to dat e.

VI.

REPORT OF COMMITTEES
A.

Executive Committee
Mr. Kif er reported that the Executive Committee had met on
September 8, 2009, and that copies of the minutes from that session
w ere at the trust ees’ places.

B.

Finance Committee
A motion w as made by Mr. McMunn, seconded by Mr. Pickett ,
that the follow ing resolution be approved. The motion carried
unanimously.
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees, Clarion University,
approve the Finance Committee Report for June 9 through August 11,
2009.

VII.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None

VIII.

NEW BUSINESS
A.

Election of Trustee Representatives to the Presidential Search
Committee
Mr. Kif er not ed that per Board of Governors’ policy guiding
Presidential Searches, the Council of Trustees needed to elect three
members to serve on the Presidential Search Committee. He reported
that Chairman James had been in consultation w ith Council members
to determine their w illingness to serve on t he committee and that, as a

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result of those discussions, Chairman James had put for a
recommendation that the follow ing members be elect ed to the 20092010 Presidential Search Committee:
Sue Burns
Lee James
How ard Shreckengost
A motion w as made by Mr. McMunn, seconded by Dr. Ali-Zaidi,
that the Council of Trustees accept the recommendation of Mr. James
regarding the appoint ments to the Presidential Search Committee. The
motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Kif er relayed that Mr. James had asked Mrs. Burns to serve
as Chairperson of the Presidential Search Committee and that she had
agreed to assume those duties. On behalf of Mr. James and the
Council, Mr. Kifer thanked Mrs. Burns for her leadership for the search
process.

IX.

ADJOURNMENT
A motion w as made by Mr. Shreckengost , seconded by Dr. Ali-Zaidi,
to adjourn the meeting. The meeting w as adjourned.

Respectfully submitted

_________________________
How ard Shreckengost ,
Secretary
Council of Trustees

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