The James Madison University Board of Visitors met on Friday, February 9, 2018 at 1 p.m. in the Board Room of the JMU Festival Conference and Student Center. 

The following is a summary of key areas of discussion at the board meeting:

• Received the president’s report from Mr. Jonathan Alger during which the board was told:
  • 770 undergraduate and 149 graduate degrees were conferred at the December commencement exercises;
  • In-state applications for fall 2018 admission were up 6.9 percent and out-of-state applications were up nine percent;
  • JMU received an award for Sustained Excellence in Assessment from the Association of American Colleges and Universities;
  • The president participated in a panel discussion on free speech issues for the Council on Foreign Relations;
  • A delegation of higher education leaders from Kosovo will visit campus;
  • Faculty, staff and students have received training in preventing and reporting sexual misconduct;
  • Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, will be the next Madison Vision series speaker on February 13;
  • The JMU School of Music will host a concert at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., on February 18 at 4 p.m.;
  • Giving Day is March 13;
  • The Stewardship Luncheon and Alumni Awards Dinner is March 16;
  • CNN’s senior White House correspondent and JMU alumnus Jim Acosta will speak on campus on Thursday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m.;
  • Searches for the vice president of student affairs and the deans of the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Business are progressing on time;
  • JMU received a $3.49 million gift from the estate of Betty Coe Cinquegrana (’64). $1 million each will go to establishing an endowed chair for Ethics and Leadership in Business and a Presidential Chair for Teaching Excellence.  $749,000 each will go to College of Education scholarships and entrepreneurship, ethics and leadership scholarships;
  • Dr. Thomas Moran, associate professor of kinesiology, and Dr. Mark Gabriele, professor of biology, have been named recipients of the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Awards for 2018;
  • Five JMU students and alumni have been named Fulbright award semifinalists;
  • JMU’s Tax Token team won second place at the North American Bitcoin Conference;
  • JMU’s College of Business was named #1 for return on investment after five years by Poets and Quants magazine;
  • Received a General Assembly update from Mr. Charles King, senior vice president for Finance and Administration;
  • Received a report on JMU X-Labs from Dr. Nick Swayne, executive director, and students Christian Caruso, Nahom Fissaha and Sally Todd;
  • Received a presentation on the 10-year update to the university master plan from Mosely Architects.

The Board of Visitors took the following actions: 

• Approved the minutes of the November 10, 2017 meeting;
• Approved two easements to the City of Harrisonburg for traffic signal upgrades;
• Approved a 10-year update to the university’s master plan;
• Approved the purchase of real property located at 88 Maplehurst Avenue for $380,000.