MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES
CLARION UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
JULY 17, 2008
ROOM 204 CARLSON LIBRARY, CLARION CAMPUS
CLARION, PA 16214
7:00 P.M.
I. RECORDING OF ATTENDANCE
The meeting was called to order by Mr. James, Chairperson, with the
following Trustees present:
Dr. Syed Ali-Zaidi
Mrs. Susanne Burns
Mr. Richard Hilinski, Secretary
Mr. R. Lee James, Chairperson
Mr. James Kifer
Mr. Jeffrey Szumigale – via conference phone
The following trustees were absent from the meeting:
Mr. H. John Drayer
Mr. Howard Shreckengost, Vice Chairperson
The following 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 Grunenwald, President
Dr. Valentine James, Provost and Academic Vice President
Mr. Harry Tripp, Vice President for Student and University Affairs
Chairperson James indicated that since Trustee Szumigale was participating
via phone, the agenda would be reordered to consider all Action Items first.
He further indicated that since one of the Action Items concerned a matter
of property acquisition, the Council would enter into executive session for
that discussion and return to public session to vote on that and the other
Action Items.

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______________________________________________________________________________
The Trustees entered into executive session at 7:05 p.m. to discuss a matter of
property acquisition and returned to public session at 7:22 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________________
II.

ACTION ITEMS
A.

Approval of Property Acquisition
A motion was made by Mr. Szumigale, seconded by Mrs. Burns,
that the following resolution be approved. A roll call vote was taken.
The motion carried unanimously.
WHEREAS, the property owned by Mr. J. W. Bartley and located at 957
Corbett Street in the Borough of Clarion is available to Clarion University
of Pennsylvania to provide opportunities for expansion, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees of Clarion University of
Pennsylvania authorizes the President to pay $114,400 for the purchase
of above named property, subject to the approval of the Chancellor, and
the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education, and all
other necessary conditions, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees authorizes the President to
proceed with obtaining the approval of the Board of Governors.
WHEREAS, the property owned by Rebecca Beerbauer of Clarion,
Pennsylvania at 961 Corbett Street in the Borough of Clarion is available
to Clarion University of Pennsylvania to provide opportunities for
expansion, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees of Clarion University of
Pennsylvania authorizes the President to pay $119,900 for the purchase
of above named property, subject to the approval of the Chancellor and
the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education, and all
other necessary conditions, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees authorizes the President to
proceed with obtaining the approval of the Board of Governors.

B.

Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 8, 2008
A motion was made by Mr. Hilinski, seconded by Mrs. Burns,
that the minutes of the May 8, 2008 regular meeting of the Council of

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Trustees be approved as distributed by mail. A roll call vote was
taken. The motion carried unanimously.
C.

Approval of Hazard Mitigation Plan
Mr. Bylaska indicated his desire to postpone the vote on approval of
the Clarion University Hazard Mitigation Plan to allow the trustees
more time to review the full document in addition to the executive
summary that had been attached to the Council’s agenda. Mr.
Bylaska reviewed the need for the plan and noted that Clarion’s
document, which followed the format recommended by FEMA and
PEMA, would serve as a model for the State System. Mr. Bylaska also
reviewed various hazards addressed by the plan and noted that
additional information would be included to better address the unique
characteristics of the Venango Campus. Summarizing the plan, Dr.
Grunenwald noted that it was a general assessment of risk to the
university, given its location and history of risk. He further noted that
the plan was one of three response plans that the university had
developed, the others being the Emergency Response Plan and the
Pandemic Response Plan.
A motion was made by Mr. Hilinski, seconded by Dr. Ali-Zaidi,
to postpone the vote on approval of the proposed Hazard Mitigation
Plan until the Council of Trustees’ September 18, 2008 meeting. A
roll call vote was taken. The motion carried unanimously.

D.

Approval of Finance Committee Report
A motion was made by Mr. Hilinski, seconded by Mrs. Burns,
that the following resolution be approved. A roll call vote was taken.
The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees, Clarion University,
approve the Finance Committee report for the period ending May 10,
2008.

E.

Approval of Facilities Committee Report
Facilities Committee Chairperson Burns reported that she and trustees
Hilinski and Kifer had participated in a review of 11 university facilities
on July 8, 2008, as outlined in the printed 2008 annual report of the
committee attached to the Council’s agenda. She reviewed the
buildings that had been toured and commented on the overall
condition of each, noting renovations and improvements that had been

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made. She recommended the Council’s acceptance of the
committee’s report.
A motion was made by Mr. Hilinski, seconded by Mr. Kifer, that
the following resolution be approved. A roll call vote was taken. The
motion carried unanimously.
RESOLVED, that the Council of Trustees, Clarion University,
approve the 2008 Annual Report of the Facilities Committee.
At the conclusion of the voting on the Action Items, Mr. James
thanked Mr. Szumigale for his participation and dismissed him from
the meeting.

III.

COMMUNICATIONS
A.

Public Comments - None

B.

Report of Student Senate - None

C.

Report of Faculty Senate - None

D.

Council Chairperson’s Report
Mr. James introduced Mr. Kyle McMunn, Clarion’s student trustee
candidate who is awaiting formal appointment by the Governor. Mr.
James noted that Mr. McMunn was a Knox, PA native and a Junior
Chemistry/Pre-Pharmacy major. The Council looks forward to Mr.
McMunn’s participation in Council proceedings.
Mr. James indicated that the Council had not yet received word from
the State System about this year’s workshop for trustees on the
System Accountability Plan (SAP) performance indicator data.
Trustees should expect to receive information via mail from the
Chancellor’s Office.

IV.

REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT
A.

President
Information Items

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1.

Enrollment Update
Dr. Grunenwald reported that applications for Fall 2008 were up
while deposits continued to be down, possibly due to economic
factors and uncertainty about financial aid. He added that the
university expected to make its budget projection of a 1.5%
increase in overall enrollment. Discussing enrollment patterns,
he noted a decline in the number of traditional 18-year olds in
the university’s market that was being offset by an increase in
the number of graduate students.

2.

State System News
Dr. Grunenwald reported that the Board of Governors had
approved a 3.5% increase in tuition for 08-09. He reviewed
factors affecting the budget, including a decrease in overall
employee benefit costs, increase in utility costs, and a $10
million unfunded expense across the System related to the
implementation of the Student Life Cycle Management (SLCM)
module of the SAP software system. He noted that Clarion’s
share of the SLCM costs was projected at $800,000 for FY0809.
In further discussing the SLCM project, Dr. Grunenwald noted
that the System Presidents had proposed an alternative plan to
the Board of Governors. He further noted that Chancellor John
Cavanaugh had been given 60 days by the Board to put
together a recommendation on whether to move ahead with
SLCM or some other alternative.
In other System news, Dr. Grunenwald reported that new
contracts with the SCUPA and OPEIU bargaining units had been
reached.

3.

Sidewalk Project
Dr. Grunenwald noted that $50,000 in one-time funds had been
allocated to address tripping and other safety hazards
associated with sidewalks across campus.

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B.

Academic Affairs
Information Items
1.

Welcome to Provost Valentine James
Dr. Grunenwald introduced Dr. Valentine James who assumed
duties as the university’s new Provost and Academic Vice
President on July 1. Dr. James was formerly Dean of the
College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Full Professor at
Fayetteville State University. His research interest is in
sustainable environmentalism.

2.

New College of Business Administration Dean
Dr. Grunenwald announced the Dr. James Pesek had been hired
as the permanent Dean of the College of Business
Administration, effective June 9. He indicated that Dr. Pesek
brought a strong record of academic leadership, teaching,
scholarship, and service to the deanship. He further indicated
that for the first time since 1982, the university had a full
leadership team in place to support the efforts of faculty.

C.

Finance and Administration
Information Items
1.

Budget Update
Mr. Bylaska indicated that he had no further information to
report on the university’s FY08-09 budget beyond that shared
by the President. A workshop on the current year budget will be
held for the trustees prior to their September 18th meeting at
Venango Campus.

2.

Status of Facilities Report
Mr. Bylaska reviewed facilities projects outlined in the Status of
Facilities Report attached to the Council’s agenda. He noted
that while the report had indicated that the South Campus
Parking Lot would be completed in November, 2008, the lot
was expected to be available for the Fall Semester. He also
noted that the Department of General Services (DGS) had
recently assured the university that the Science and Technology

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Center would be available for full occupancy by May, 2009, vs.
June, 2009, as noted on the Status of Facilities Report.
In response to a question from Mrs. Burns about the time line
for razing the old science building, Mr. Bylaska indicated that
the demolition would occur in June, 2009. Mr. Bylaska added
that the pendulum inside the old building and the science
symbols on its exterior walls would be preserved. Dr.
Grunenwald noted that while the new Science and Technology
Center was available for naming, the planetarium and
auditorium in that facility would continue to bear the name of
“Peirce,” in honor of former faculty member and Physical
Science Department Chair Dr. Donald Peirce, for whom the
1968 science center had been named.
D.

Student and University Affairs
Information Item
1.

Fund-raising Report
Mr. Tripp reported an unaudited grand total of $5.5 million in
private support to the Clarion University Foundation, Inc., for
FY07-08. Of that amount, he indicated that $1.08 million
represented payments received on prior-year pledges while
$4.46 million had been raised through 07-08 campaigns. Dr.
Grunenwald and Mr. James commended Mr. Tripp and the
Advancement staff for their good work.

VI.

REPORT OF COMMITTEES
A.

Executive Committee
Mr. James reported that the Executive Committee had met on July 8,
2008, and that copies of the minutes from that session would be
mailed to trustees.

VII.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None

VIII.

NEW BUSINESS - None

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IX.

ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Mr. Hilinski to adjourn the meeting. The
meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted

_________________________
Richard Hilinski, Secretary
Council of Trustees

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