• Regent Bearden resumed the chair and opened the nominations for Vice Chairperson.
  • Action: Regent Elgie McFayden made a motion for Regent Whitehead to be Vice Chairperson. The motion was seconded by Regent Henry. Regent Whitehead was unanimously re-elected as Vice Chairperson.
  • President Burse recommended that Gordon Rowe be elected as Secretary of the Board.
  • Action: Regent Bearden accepted the recommendation and put the recommendation to a vote. The Board voted unanimously to elect Gordon Rowe as Secretary.
  • President Burse also recommended that Curtis Creagh be elected as Treasurer of the Board.
  • Action: Regent Bearden accepted the recommendation and put the recommendation to a vote. The Board voted unanimously to elect Curtis Creagh as Board Treasurer.

President Burse turned over the secretary duties to the new Board Secretary, Gordon Rowe.

IX. Reports:

Academic Affairs Update:

2009 Cohort Report: Dr. Beverly Downing reported the 2009 Cohort as 409 students. As of July 31, 2015, 97 of the 409 students were projected to graduate, yielding a projected 23.7% graduation rate.

Regent Guarnieri recommended that the University should take a closer look at strategies that were successful to get the 97 students to graduate and try to ascertain what factors were determinative in relation to whether students graduated or not. Regent Farris emphasized the need to focus on graduation throughout each student's academic career and expressed concern that for the 2009 Cohort, the focus on graduation was not apparent until the end of the Cohort period.

President Burse reported to the Board that part of the strategy to improve retention and graduation rates going forward will be the consolidation of all academic support programs under one director and for the incoming class, the University will track student progress much earlier to identify students who are experiencing difficulty and implement strategies to help those students. He