Foundation Board of Trustees Spring 2021 Meeting

Highlights from the June 4, 2021 Meeting

Board of Trustees Spring Meeting

With restrictions regarding in person meetings being lifted in Virginia, our board was once again able to meet in person. While not all of our members could travel, we were glad to hold a hybrid meeting and see everyone’s smile. The term "flexible" became the word of the week as we gladly rescheduled portions of the meeting to accommodate our speakers who needed to be in Oklahoma City for the WCWS. We even stopped committee meetings on Thursday to watch our awesome women’s softball team take down the Number 1 team in the nation.  Way to Go Dukes!

The meeting began with a live report from Oklahoma by Cliff Wood, Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Development. Cliff shared great news and some highlights from the WCWS, as well as the challenges all the JMU teams experienced this year as they dealt with COVID protocol. He also made the Trustees aware that the Athletic Department was facing a $5 million dollar headwind due to less ticket sales, fundraising shortfalls and $1.2 million in COVID related expenses which includes $750,000 in additional scholarships granted for an additional year of eligibility. However, the department is being creative and capitalizing on the great run of the softball team and the demand for tickets going forward.

The great news related to athletics was the success of all programs. The winning percentage for FY21 is 68.5%, we had seven conference champions, nine Coaches of the Year, and, of course, the first appearance in the WCWS.

President and Mrs. Alger were also attending the WCWS so President Alger produced a video before he left for Oklahoma City which provided his annual spring update for the 2020-2021 academic year. He focused on the many challenges of the Pandemic for the students, faculty, and staff, but expressed his confidence that we will carry many of the creative ideas that helped address these challenges into the new school year. He praised the efforts of the University regarding their community support with testing and vaccination sites and clinics.

President Alger also highlighted several Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) events like the renaming of three buildings, the new AVP for DEI, and other hiring initiatives.

With more deposits than normal and more students from states not normally in our mix of out of state students, he looks for the fall to be a time of in person classes and efforts to make this a great introductory year for the freshmen. Efforts will also be made for the rising sophomore class to engage in activities they missed last year. View his complete video.

Dr. Langridge then shared that the Unleashed campaign had reached $211 million which has far exceeded the first goal of $150 million. The campaign has twelve months left, and this time will be used to focus on raising $11 million in scholarships. Dr. Langridge was very happy to report that BOV member Kathy Warden and her husband Eric jump-started this challenge with a gift of $1.25 million.

These presentations were followed by committee reports, with the main agenda item being the acceptance of the Governance Committee’s nominations for Trustees and Fellows for the upcoming terms. Heather Hedrick and Judge Owen Wilson were approved as Trustees, and Alpha Kiflu, Michelle Nelson and Nicole Williams were appointed to the new Foundation Fellows program. Please refer to our webpage for more details on these individuals’ bios.

Mrs. Lindsey, VP/CFO, reported that Assets under Management had grown to $225 million and the Endowment has experienced a growth of $29 million in market appreciation to approximately $145 million.

Mr. Coleman highlighted many of the goals achieved by the staff, including the transition to a new office building, the installation of Fundriver to aid the JMU Foundation and JMU in the management of scholarships, and the approval of a new Strategic Plan for the upcoming fiscal year.  In FY22, Mr. Coleman and the staff will focus on following the new Strategic Plan, increasing the engagement of the Trustees, realigning staff duties, closing new real estate deals, finding new licensing opportunities, and challenging the status quo in all areas of the organization.

The Trustees ended the meeting by recognizing Board Chair Linda Cross for her two plus years of service as the Chair and gave her a canvas print of the University to show their appreciation.

In the fall, J.Barry Purcell will begin his term as the new Board Chair and David Kay will serve as Vice Chair.

With no other business to discuss, Board Chair Ms. Cross adjourned the meeting.