Smith, attending his first regular board meeting as president, reported on five areas of the university’s operations, including student health and safety, academics, organization and talent search, legislative update, and his listening tours, which are a continuing series of meetings with constituents across the university and community.
Smith said the university’s COVID numbers are declining and that, while too early for a definitive forecast, some enrollment indicators for the fall seem to show a return to pre-pandemic levels. He also said faculty and staff have been working on an enrollment strategic plan for the future that will be shared in the coming months.
After an intensive search, the president said a new athletic director will be named in the coming weeks. A fourth and final candidate will be on the Huntington campus Friday for interviews. In terms of the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost search, the application period is closing Feb. 15, with off-campus interviews scheduled early next month and on-campus interviews to occur after the university’s spring break.
The board acted on a number of policy updates ranging from an employee catastrophic leave policy to staff development.
Members also approved the renaming of two separate degree programs. The M.S. in Environmental Science degree will now be known as the M.S. in Environmental Safety and Health degree. The B.S. in Digital Forensics and Information Assurance will now be called the B.S. in Cyber Forensics and Security. The name changes more accurately describe the contemporary understanding of the disciplines. One other degree program was revised to reflect curriculum changes and another program, the master’s degree in Latin, was deleted.
Members accepted the investment earnings update and the six-month financial report, and approved a policy regarding the waiver of fees for third-party sponsored courses at the university.