Board of Visitors summary of actions and discussions

The James Madison University Board of Visitors met Friday, November 19, 2021 in the Festival Conference and Student Center. 

The following is a summary of actions taken by the board and key areas of discussion at the board meeting: 

Approved the September 24, 2021 Board of Visitors meeting minutes and the personnel action update; 

Accepted committee reports from Academic and Student Life, Advancement, Athletics, Ad Hoc Governance, Finance and Physical Development, and Executive; 

Tim Miller, Vice President for Student Affairs, led an update to COVID-19; 

Melinda Wood, Associate Vice President for Access and Enrollment and director of Admissions, provided an update on Admissions; 

Nick Langridge, Vice President for Advancement, and Warren Coleman, Executive Director of the JMU Foundation, reported on the JMU endowment; 

Brian Charette, Special Assistant to the President, and Chris Orem, Director of Institutional Research, gave an update to the BOV dashboard;

A racial equity and diversity, equity and inclusion update was provided by Rudy Molina, Vice Provost for Student Academic Success; and,

The BOV voted to rename the CISAT A1 building to King Hall in honor of Charles King, senior vice president for administration and finance, upon his retirement, dedication and commitment to JMU and as this was his first capital project at JMU.

President Alger shared during his President’s Report:

• Sami Nuristani, Triple Duke, was recognized for his work after graduation in the Office of the President of Afghanistan and for the work of JMU faculty and staff to coordinate his evacuation;
• JMU continues to lead in the area of civic engagement highlighting increases among campus voting, registration and yield rates, in addition to new partnerships being pursued across the state;
• University partners have played a leading role in community engagement through the development of the Shenandoah Valley Collective Action Pact, which was recognized by Virginia Business for their collaboration;
• Newsweek named JMU as one of the top 150 schools in the country for online learning, with a ranking of 50^th;
• JMU ranked #27 out of 422 colleges listed on The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges, which is the highest ranked university in the commonwealth;
• Ashleigh Baber was named a 2022 Rising Star by the Women Chemists Conference of the American Chemical Society and her research utilizes a home-built surface analysis chamber to run temperature programmed desorption and Auger electron spectrometry experiments;
• Numerous awards and scholarships were recognized from the Office of Fellowships and Awards;
• JMU reopened the Mineral Museum to showcase the recent gift of the Peter L. Via Mineral Collection, in addition to past gifts;
• Homecoming 2021 was an exciting time to include in-person and virtual events with great success;
• The College of Business hosted a grand reopening for the new Learning Complex and integration of Showker and Hartman Halls;
• In an update from Athletics, Football finishes the regular season tomorrow, the Atlantic Union Bank Center is an incredible experience for fans and players, JMU is excited about the future with the pending move to the Sun Belt, and an update was provided on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics; and,
• 2021 December Commencement will take place on Dec. 18, where there will be a combined graduate and undergraduate ceremony, and Dr. Sheary Darcus Johnson will serve as commencement speaker.