To:                   The St. Lawrence Community
From:              William L. Fox, President
Date:               February 20, 2010
Subject:          Actions of the Board of Trustees

While I will be sharing a more complete report of the Winter Meeting of the Board of Trustees within the next few weeks, I write today to provide information about the comprehensive fee for 2010-2011, the plans for capital investments for efficiency and improved student experiences, and next steps in our strategic thinking process.

The Board of Trustees voted to raise our comprehensive fee for 2010-2011 by $1,845, which at 3.7% is the lowest rate our current students have known.  Tuition itself will rise by 3.5%, room and board will rise 4.5%.  This decision to limit our increases signals to our students and their families that they can rely on us to uphold the mission and values of the University, even as we work extremely hard to respond to the economic challenges that remain in front of us.

Meanwhile, our plan for campus investments will include projects to improve student life and campus sustainability.  Next fall, we will have 65 more student beds on campus, allowing us to re-open many student lounges for common space use.  Renovations, especially for energy conservation, to over 15 residence halls and theme cottages will provide greater comfort and efficiency.  We will meter all campus buildings so we can monitor and adjust peak use of electricity in ways we’ve never been able to do before, again saving utilities and money. The new Peterson-Kermani Performance Hall, donor-funded, will open this fall as a premier facility for music performance.  The Board also heard the good news that we will be selecting members of the Class of 2014 from the second-highest total number of applications in St. Lawrence history and of a retention rate that is holding as one of our strongest. We have many good things to anticipate.

Much of the meeting, in plenary session and in committee, was devoted to discussion of the Recession Response Planning Task Group.  Trustees share my gratitude to the Task Group members for the thoughtful and solid work.  We will continue to evaluate for viable implementation all the suggestions made.  Our next steps for our strategic thinking together will include these activities:

*A plan to complete the campaign Momentum St. Lawrence to a successful conclusion;

*Completion of the market research study and the development of our new enrollment plan for the next decade;

*Completion of a comprehensive, position-focused workforce assessment of the University this spring;

*Review of some academic program areas as Dean Lehr has asked the Faculty Council to assist.

In my forthcoming Community Letter, I’ll provide greater detail.

Thank you.