Feb. 14, 2023: Winter 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

Dear Colleagues,

I write to share a summary of the winter 2023 meeting of the Board of Trustees, which took place Feb. 1-3 in New York City. While some of the Board's substantive discussions were held in executive sessions, most Board business was conducted in meetings of designated committees, as is customary. I wish to thank the following faculty members for participating in various committee meetings: Professor Margot Vigeant, acting faculty chair; Professor Alan Cheville, faculty secretary; and Professors Dustyn Martincich, David Mitchell, Brandon Vogel and Lucas Waddell. I offer special thanks to Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences Rich Robbins and Professor Ryan Snyder, faculty director of academic advising, for presenting an update on academic advising to the Academic Affairs Committee.

For decades, the Board has used its winter meeting to discuss and ultimately specify two very important line items for the subsequent fiscal year's University operating budget: the student comprehensive fee (comprising tuition, room, board and student fees) and the total allocation for employee compensation, with both typically reported as a percentage change from the previous year. Although these two line items are formally independent, they are certainly linked, given their magnitude and the fact that the overall University budget submitted for Board approval at its spring meeting must be balanced. Employee compensation represents about 60% of overall Bucknell expenses, while the net comprehensive fee (gross tuition and fees minus financial aid) comprises about 55% of the University's income.

The linkage between the comprehensive fee and our compensation allocation has been the primary impetus for setting these two budget items at the same meeting, and for typically setting the increase in compensation a bit below the increase in the comprehensive fee. While understandable, these practices stem from a different era, and I believe they are no longer warranted or appropriate. I thus presented a case for decoupling these figures, which the Board agreed to pilot for at least a one-year period. With this additional time, we have an opportunity to begin the collaborative work required to establish the components of a comprehensive compensation strategy that not only addresses the current market pressures but also begins to move us on a path to a longer-term strategy.

Accordingly, the Board set the comprehensive fee for the following academic year, but did not set the compensation allocation. Rather, in its review and approval of the overall budget in April, it will consider the administration's recommendation for compensation only indirectly as a key part of the overall budget — maintaining, of course, its authority to specify any changes it deems appropriate and to require a balanced budget. This is an important philosophical change that affords greater flexibility in building the overall budget. In particular, it allows us to consider changes to the compensation pool that are not algorithmically tied to the comprehensive fee, but only considered more holistically in the context of a balanced budget proposal. In a similar vein, we discussed moving to the fall meeting the comprehensive fee decisions, since a large fraction of each year's class is determined, via Early Decision, before the winter Board meeting.

Given this change, and after reviewing my request for a substantial increase, the Board approved a 4.91% increase in the University's comprehensive fee for the 2023-24 academic year, bringing the total to $80,890. This is a markedly higher increase than in recent years, when we made an extra effort to keep costs as low as possible for Bucknell families during the early part of the pandemic, in recognition of COVID's impact on jobs and health for many. As always, in keeping with our strategic priorities, we will continue to judiciously steward our resources and contain expenses while maintaining the high quality of our academic and residential programs.

On a topic directly related to Bucknell's continued excellence, I was pleased to make an important announcement at the meeting, which I will now share with you. As part of our strategic work to improve retention and graduation rates, we have created a new office, the Center for Access & Success, which will open in fall 2023. The center, which has already garnered philanthropic support, will serve students enrolled in Bucknell's five signature pathway scholarship programs, providing a system of mentoring and support during all four of their years on campus. These programs include the Gateway Scholars Program; the Charles T. Bauer Scholars Program; the Posse Scholars Program; the Langone and Langone-Walling Scholars Programs; and the Bucknell Community College Scholars Program. This move recognizes that enrolling students in these programs is just the beginning — consistent and highly personal support throughout their college experience is essential to their ability to succeed at Bucknell. The establishment of the center marks a significant step forward in our ability to welcome, enroll and retain the most talented students of all backgrounds — more details can be found in this web story.

Bucknell's commitment to diversity was an important topic at the winter meeting, as the Board welcomed representatives from the Posse Foundation, including its founder, Deborah Bial, who led an intensive interactive workshop for the trustees that explored their own identities, experiences and perspectives. The session built upon Posse's previous work with the Board, which focused on how the trustees can support a culture of inclusive leadership at Bucknell and examined broader issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In recent years, the Board has greatly expanded its engagement with these topics, including a commitment for an annual DEI education and training program for all trustees.

In a separate motion, the Board voted to amend its bylaws to establish the Equity & Inclusive Excellence (EIE) Committee, which will begin its work in fall 2023. A pillar of The Plan for Bucknell 2025 is building and sustaining a diverse community in which all students, faculty and staff experience a sense of belonging supported by a foundation of inclusion, equity and access. The EIE Committee will focus on University strategies to maintain an equitable working, teaching and learning environment to support inclusive excellence for all. It will review and make recommendations regarding EIE issues that impact students, staff, faculty, alumni and the Board.

The Board also voted to convert the Human Resources Special Committee, which was established in 2019, to a Standing Committee. This move recognizes the increased significance of matters pertaining to the University's recruitment, employment, and retention of faculty and staff. The committee will routinely review employment, compensation, and benefits philosophies and policies as they relate to competitiveness, serving as a collaborative partner to ensure continued effectiveness of our strategies in this area.

In a separate session, representatives from Graham-Pelton, the University's campaign counsel, shared with the Board best practices of such governance bodies during campaigns, and discussed how donor behaviors are changing and impacting philanthropy. Vice President for University Advancement Scott Rosevear updated the Advancement Committee on the progress of the comprehensive campaign, which began its quiet phase in July 2021 and has surpassed $125 million in gifts and pledges.

In other business, the Board reviewed and accepted the administration's recommendation to increase the design and construction allocation of the team building at the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex, to a cost not to exceed $8.6 million. It is important to note that despite the increased budget, which was due largely to a sharp rise in the cost of materials, this project remains fully funded by donations.

Finally, two trustees — Laureen Costa '90 and Garry Thaniel '04 — were nominated and approved for re-election for new terms, effective July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2028. On behalf of the Board, I thank them for their loyal service to their alma mater.

This is a time marked by exciting progress and momentum, thanks to the good work of our faculty and staff, and the dedication and counsel of our trustees. As we continue to pursue our strategic goals, I am grateful for all we have accomplished together, and I look forward to another fruitful semester of collaboration as we strive to ensure Bucknell's continued excellence for generations to come.

My best,

John C. Bravman
President