Feb. 13, 2015: Winter 2015 Board of Trustees Meeting Update

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

I write to share with you a summary of the Board of Trustees meeting that took place in Marina del Rey, Calif., from Thursday, Feb. 5, through Saturday, Feb. 7. Thank you to Prof. Kim Daubman, chair of the faculty; Prof. Gary Steiner, secretary of the faculty; and Profs. James Baish, Karen Castle and Bastian Heinsohn for participating in the meeting.

Among its foremost priorities, the Board addressed the financial matters it tends to during every winter meeting, including faculty and staff compensation. The Board accepted the recommendations of the Finance Committee, which were consistent with the recommendations of the University Planning and Budget Committee, for an increase in faculty and staff compensation in the coming fiscal year. I am pleased to share with you that the Board has agreed to establish a 3.5% salary increase pool for faculty and staff. The increase includes 3.0% for the annual faculty and staff distribution pool and 0.5% that will be reserved for promotional or market-driven adjustments. As is done every year, the merit portion of the staff wage pool provides resources to be allocated by different percentages to each staff member by supervisors for implementation July 1, 2015.

I am also pleased to report that the Board accepted the administration's recommendation that an additional 0.75% of the faculty wage pool be set aside to address the outcomes of the Total Faculty Compensation Study. The analysis of the first and second generation of this study will be available in summer 2015 and will be used to inform the distribution of this board investment.

Immediately following its regular business meeting, the Board adopted an amendment that allows a Board Chair to be elected to a third term upon the recommendation of the Trusteeship Committee.

On Saturday morning, during the plenary session, we held a spirited discussion with Stanford University President John Hennessy about the ever-evolving role technology plays in higher education. A computer scientist who sits on the board of several industry giants including Google and Cisco Systems, John discussed the waning enthusiasm for Massive Open Online Classes (MOOCs), what is to be learned from the early years of MOOCs and similar efforts, and the challenges and opportunities technology presents to higher education in general and, specifically, institutions such as Bucknell. I'm grateful that John was able to join us and share some of his experiences on this important topic.

I would like to close with a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved with making Saturday night's WE DO Campaign event a great success. Thanks to the generosity of CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves '71, we hosted more than 200 people at CBS Television City Studios in Los Angeles on the set of The Price is Right. It was a wonderful night, featuring captivating presentations by Profs. Beth Capaldi and Eric Faden, several interactive spaces hosted by other faculty colleagues, and engaging conversations with Bucknell alumni, families, friends and students, including a handful of incoming Posse students who are members of the Class of 2019. You can read more about the event here.

Here's to a successful spring semester. Stay warm,

Sincerely,

John

Bucknell University