Joint Strategic Planning Committee
Monday, February 6, 2006
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
President’s Conference Room, Green Hall


Attendance: Robert Carothers, M. Beverly Swan, Bob Beagle, Tom Dougan, Michael Rice, Celest Martin, Marilyn Barbour, Jim Kowalski, Barbara Luebke, Karen Ramsay, Roxanne Gomes, Vince Petronio, Patrick Mills, Abu Bakr, Ann Morrissey. Guests: Linda Barrett, Gary Boden, Carolyn Callahan and Cliff Katz.

Announcements: Provost Swan reported on the upcoming ten-year accreditation visit by NEASC in October 2007.  She explained that the University would undergo a self-study in preparation for the visit.  She said that Professor Kowalski and Associate Dean Beckman had agreed to coordinate the Self-Study and eleven committees will be formed to gather information for the NEASC standards.  Provost Swan said that a large number of members of the University faculty and administration would be involved in the work of the committees.
 
Student Senate President Mills reported that representatives of student government organizations from public and private institutions of higher education in Rhode Island had met as a group for the first time.  He said that the students had discussed a possible role for them within the state, but noted that the goals of students from public and private institutions differed significantly.  He said that the group did hope to work together on a community service event.

Strategic Planning:  Mr. Gary Boden from the Office of Institutional Research distributed two documents that had been prepared by his office relative to retention among competitive institutions. The first, dated January 9, 2006 was titled Outlook on New Freshmen at URI:  Trends for 2006 through 2012.  The second, dated February 1, 2006, was titled Our Primary Competitors:  A look at Institutions Where Students Enroll When They Don’t Choose URI.

Mr. Boden reviewed with the JSPC the data his office had collected and responded to questions from members of the committee.

Mid-Year Budget Updates:  Ms. Barrett reported on the Governor’s revision of the FY’06 Budget at mid-year. She noted that the Governor’s Budget included a 3.4 million dollar reduction in the higher education budget, $2,000,000 to come out of URI’s current budget.  She explained that the Budget was subject to legislative approval and the University would not know if the reduction is real until May or June.

Ms. Barrett said that the Governor’s FY’07 Budget was based on the reduced FY’06 Budget.  In addition, there were no funds for asset protection and the Governor expected the University to pay for asset protection through revenue bonds, which would add to the University’s debt.

The meeting adjourned at 2:25 p.m.