Board of Visitors summary of actions and discussions

The James Madison University Board of Visitors met Friday, Sept. 13, 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 April 18 and April 19, Board of Visitors meeting minutes and approved the BOV Executive Committee meeting minutes from Aug. 21. 

Accepted committee reports from Academic Excellence; Advancement and Engagement; Athletics; Audit/Risk and Compliance; Governance, Finance and Physical Development; and Student Affairs. 

Presentations to the Board of Visitors

Faculty Senate Speaker Kathy Ott Walter provided an update from the Faculty Senate and background information on the Faculty Senate’s roles. In addition, several faculty members were recognized. The upcoming priorities for the Faculty Senate are shared governance, Academic Affairs policy, AP position clarification, appeals and grievance procedures, the faculty involvement for the upcoming provost search, and faculty retention. 

Sydney Stafford, student representative to the board, provided the following updates:

• The upcoming goals of this position: participating on the presidential search committee, improving student engagement, educating and informing students, and working to collect student feedback on the JMU presidential search 

Warren Coleman, president and chief executive officer of the JMU Foundation, provided the following updates:

• The mission of the JMU Foundation is to support and serve the JMU community. As that is carried out, the vision is to provide an ever-growing and sustainable source of private support for the university community by promoting a prudent investment policy, stewardship and earning the trust of our constituents
• An overview of the endowment and observable trends was also provided 

The presidential search consultant was introduced by Kay Coles James, chair of the Presidential Search Committee. Jett Pihakis, Steve Newton and Joi Hayes, all with Russell Reynolds, introduced themselves. 

Sam Knehans, Sr., associate commissioner and chief communications and branding officer with the Sun Belt Conference, provided the media valuation for the 2023 season. Some of those highlights are:

• Total media valuation for the Sun Belt was $892M, which comes from live game sources and earned media sources both contributing to the metrics
• JMU is the highest performing brand with $112M in media value
• More than 35 million viewers watched Sun Belt Conference games during the 2023 football season; JMU had the 2nd highest live game viewership
• Among all Sun Belt schools, JMU is leading the online and print news mentions with 37.1K in 2023 and leading in social media valuation of $4.2M and social media mentions at 102.4K 

Brad Barnett, associate vice president for Enrollment Management and Financial Aid director, provided an update on the impact of FAFSA challenges:

• Two categories of challenges experienced: preparation and processing
• Identified non-need-based funds to provide a replacement award for prior “state grant” recipients with more than one in college
• Identified students who lost eligibility due to FAFSA changes and provided a replacement award upon review of their renewal eligibility
• Adjusted deadlines to help students and families
• Number of FAFSA’s at year’s end in 2023-24 = 13,139
• FAFSA challenges compressed the timetable for students/parents and subsequently JMU for loan processing
• Staff with Admissions stepped up to support the Financial Aid Office with data processing 

Myles Surrett, associate vice president for Career, Experiential Learning and Transitions, and Libby Westley, director of the University Career Center, provided an update on 2023 Career Outcomes.

• A career outcome is defined as full or part-time work, fellowships or service programs, military service or graduate school
• 4% of degree recipients have a career outcome
• Overall bachelor’s degree recipients have an outcome of 95.2%
• JMU’s career outcomes are significantly above the national average and among R2 institutions
• JMU advanced degree recipient career outcomes are 97.2%
• 66% of employed bachelor’s-degree recipients are working in Virginia
• 73% of employed advanced-degree recipients are working in Virginia
• 77.3% of JMU nursing majors who graduated indicated they are employed in Virginia
• 226 JMU graduates are teaching in Virginia
• The University Career Center reaches students through the following touchpoints: appointments, career fairs, career closet, classroom presentations, headshots, and programming 

President Charles King presented during his report:

• Some major university events were recognized to include the University Welcome with more than 1,100 faculty and staff in attendance. In addition, several employees were recognized for their significant contributions to the university through the Purple Star Awards. These award recipients are nominated by their peers. Senior leaders addressed approximately 5,000 incoming first-year and transfers at the New Student Convocation
• It has been reported from 2023 data that 95.2% of graduates with a bachelor’s degree and 96.4% of graduates with advanced degrees have reported career outcomes.
• JMU experienced a record number of applications for the fall 2024 academic year, 42,091. This is a 7% increase from 2023, a 25% increase from 2022 and an 81% increase from 2021
• The first-year application demographics include: 41% male and 59% female, 47% out-of-state, 23% first generation, 718 international applications, 53 states and U.S. Territories (minus South Dakota) are represented, and applications were received from 128 countries. A total of 2,280 transfer applications were received.
• The Class of 2028 is made up of the following: 3,583 in-state students, 1,431 out-of-state students, 43% males, 57% females, 28.5% out-of-state, 17% first generation, representing 37 states and includes 797 transfer students. This information is current as of Sept. 2, 2024
• Reengineering Madison is an initiative that includes implementing significant technology such as an enterprise constituent relationship management (CRM) system and new data solutions for managing and visualizing JMU’s data. An update was provided to cover the CRM implementation progress.
• ERP assessment and selection is beginning. The team is evaluating vendors and implementation partners, with a decision by June 2025.
• JMU ranked #27 best public university and #70 overall by the Wall Street Journal, out of 500 universities
• Moving up from #15 to #8 in the nation for best on-campus food by Princeton Review, JMU Dining has been consistently ranked within the top 20 for more than 20 years. This is based on student feedback.
• The only D1 school to be in the top 10 for all active channels, JMU social ranked #5 as a top D1 higher education institution for social media by RivalIQ
• Princeton Review also ranked JMU #1 in the nation for best athletics facilities.
• In August, Gov. Glenn Youngkin visited JMU to ceremonially sign the “Building Blocks for Virginia Families Initiative.” These bills boost the state’s early learning program and childcare options for working parents. The JMU Young Children’s Program is one of the largest local childcare providers, and by the fall 2025, it is projected to serve 120 children.
• Every incoming first-year and transfer student is working with the Constructive Dialogue Project and deliberative forums developing skills of dialogue across divides through the Madison Center for Civic Engagement.
• Raj Vinnakota, President of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, will speak at JMU as the Constitution Day speaker on Sept. 25 in the Wilson Hall Auditorium at 7 p.m.
• The following faculty were recognized: Dr. Laura Katzman, with the College of Visual and Performing Arts, is the 2024 recipient of Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery Director’s Essay Prize; Dr. Barbara Reisner, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, recognized by the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the academic field of chemistry; and Dr. Steve Reich and Dr. Rebecca Brannon, Department of History, were awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships.
• The annual fall move-in and Weeks of Welcome were successful. There are 6,532 students living in residence halls, including 4,959 first-year students living on campus. The total attendance for the Weeks of Welcome was 40,809.
• A total of $28.1M was raised in 2024, which is the second highest fundraising year since 2022
• JMU supporters, Stan and Rosemary Jones, have made a commitment of $2.5M toward the Carrier Library renovation and expansion project. A wing will be named in honor of their generous gift.
• An overview of the university’s policy updates was provided to include the policy changes and updates to the student handbook
• Athletics competed in the Learfield Directors Cup with the following results: ranked #77 in the nation, earned 292 points (seven sports contributing to the total), and earned the highest finish among Sun Belt Conference schools and the third highest among the Group Five programs.
• The following Dukes were recognized for their participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics:
  • Current JMU Director of Track and Field, Delethea Quarles, joined the USA coaching staff to head the U.S. jumps and multi-events;
  • Jackie Benitez, Class of 2020, played for the Puerto Rican women’s basketball team; and
  • Ongeziwe Mali, Class of 2020, played for the South African women’s field hockey team.
• JMU has worked to develop operational plans for the Thursday night football game on Oct. 10.
• The President’s Report will always conclude with future items. The following items are being considered for the next board meeting: standardized tests at JMU, student disability accommodations, NCAA scholarships and roster limits, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), and the pending enrollment cliff. 

The Board of Visitors voted and approved the Personnel Action Report and the purchase of 430 Eastover Drive in Harrisonburg.