September 20, 2006

President Wilson convened the first SPBC meeting of 2006-07 at 3 p.m. Members introduced themselves, and the President extended a special welcome to new members Provost Beth Cunningham, Vice President for Public Relations Matt Kurz, and student representative Patrick McFadden.

The President addressed the role of the Committee now that strategic planning goals and strategies have been officially adopted by the Board of Trustees. He identified three primary responsibilities for the group: (1) tracking progress on the plan; (2) advising him and Vice President Klotzbach on budgeting/resource allocation; and (3) reviewing the plan as a "living document" to determine when additional goals are warranted. (He added that it is unlikely that we will need to add new goals this year.)

The group then received copies of a brochure summarizing the plan's goals and strategies that had been designed by Interim Vice President Pat Bass during Spring and Summer 2006. The innovative design allows for efficient and inexpensive updating of the brochure each year to record recent achievements. It is intended primarily for use with potential donors and other external constituencies. Members were extremely complimentary of the document.

Vice President Klotzbach provided an update on the Financial Resources goal, beginning with a review of financial results from Fiscal Year 2006, which had ended on July 31. He noted that the additional draw from the endowment necessary to cover all costs and expenses for the year was lower than had been budgeted due both to higher retention (thus, higher revenue) and to lower expenses. He also distributed a draft copy of the budget for Fiscal Year 2007 (the current year) which is not yet finalized. It will be finalized, however, at the Board of Trustees meeting in late October. SPBC members were asked to comment on this not-yet-final document, and they raised several questions about the importance of energy efficiency as a cost-containment measure. Vice President Klotzbach reported on several specific ways we are attempting to address energy consumption both in this fiscal year and in the future (more efficient boilers, "green"construction approaches to new facilities such as the Welcome Center, more cost-effective use of buildings in the summer, and more technologically sophisticated controls on heating and cooling systems).

Vice President Klotzbach then presented a strategy-by-strategy review of progress on the Financial Resources goal of the strategic plan. That report consisted of the following points:

 -Revised fund-raising approaches under the leadership of Vice President Marty Smith

-Better endowment performance in FY05 and FY06 due to diligent work by the Investment Committee and our investment advisors

-Benchmarking of our financial results against the US News list of Top 60 liberal arts colleges (more on benchmarking below)

-Use of a financial aid consultant to help us determine how to manage the aid budget most effectively to meet University goals (greater diversity, maintaining a low discount rate, etc.), including appropriate allocations between need- and merit-based aid

-Reduced expenses by exploring a purchasing cooperative through the Associated Colleges of Illinois, negotiating more favorable rates for rental vehicles used by the University, and better cash management

-Greater attention to energy efficiency (as outlined earlier)

-Continued open budget forums and other information-sharing approaches

One member asked the President if he had any idea yet of the costs of implementing the strategic plan. President Wilson noted that it was probably too early to make that judgment. He noted, however, that not everything will necessarily cost more; some strategies may be implemented by reallocating the resources we have now.

The remainder of the meeting consisted of a review and discussion of benchmarking efforts that Professor Gardner is undertaking at the President's request to allow us to measure our progress on a wide variety of indicators against our own history as well as against peer and/or aspirational institutions. The Committee was enthusiastic about the materials developed thus far and agreed to continue the discussion of benchmarking, including identification of an appropriate peer group, at its next meeting on October 23.

Distributed to all faculty and staff: Oct. 24