The JMU Board of Visitors meets Thursday and Friday with a retreat on Saturday of this week. As we approach the first board meeting since the founding of the Madison Cabinet, we wanted to recap some of the points and topics we've discussed over the last 3 months and consider some follow up questions the Board members should consider.
Will there be an investigation or review into the actions of the Provost and her office for their role in the JMU Holocaust Remembrance Event?
Will the Provost face any consequences or disciplinary action as a result of the recent vote of the faculty senate to condemn her actions?
What, if any, action is being taken to ensure student evaluations won't be eliminated in the name of racial equity?
Will the Board members request an update on the activities of the Task Force on Racial Equity, which was previously a topic at a number of board meetings prior to the Youngkin appointees joining the BOV.
What actions can be taken to reverse or scale back the massive new DEI centric and bureaucratic hiring procedures implemented by the Provost and the Associate Provost for Inclusive Strategies and Equity Initiatives?
What caused the JMU Giving Week "Reaching New Heights" to be a failure compared with recent years one day totals?
How many donors have walked away from the University and no longer contribute financially since the "oppressors" training? How many have way in the last decade?
Why is the $84K Rankin Campus Climate Report still unavailable to be viewed by the public on the JMU website?
How is JMU implementing the consensus theme in the Climate Report to get politics out of the classroom at JMU?
What is the purpose of the "cohort" hires in various departments that clearly have a political and ideological bias.
How is the university going to ensure Liz Wheeler is able to speak on campus without being cancelled?
How will the university continue to educate students on free speech?
Why should the Board vote to increase tuition and fees? What is the justification to the parents and students?
Will increases in tuition and fees result in additional administrative and staff hires?
Can the Board see a line by line breakout of how much each department is funded?
Is JMU still conducting calls with Board members in small groups to skirt FOIA as outlined by former BOV member Ken Bartee?
Will JMU consider streaming the committee meetings, since the carefully scripted full board meeting contains no real dialogue among board members?
Why is the JMU nursing school lessening entrance requirements?
Will JMU share the academic standards and quality of the entering freshman class?
How is JMU prepared to weather the pending enrollment cliff while maintaining academic standards?
The Madison Cabinet has communicated to the Board of Visitors directly and requested that all committee meetings also be streamed, especially given the interests of parents and students in the conversation around tuition. And the conversation regarding the Provost and her recent condemnation. All of this should happen with the public in the room.
The James Madison University Board of Visitors will meet on Friday, April 21 at 8:30 a.m. in the Festival Conference and Student Center. The meeting will be available on YouTube at this link: https://youtube.com/live/HJqVGv2DiWc?feature=share
If you should have difficulty connecting to the meeting, please contact Mary-Hope Vass at vassmg@jmu.edu.
The following committees of the Board will meet on Thursday, April 20:
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Governance Committee – Meeting Room 2
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Academic Excellence Committee - Highlands Room
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Student Affairs Committee – Ballroom B
2:45 pm – 4:15 pm Advancement and Engagement Committee - Allegheny Room
2:45 pm – 4:15 pm Athletics Committee – Ballroom B
2:45 pm – 4:15 pm Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee - Meeting Room 1
7:00 pm – 8:15 pm Finance & Physical Development Committee – Board Room
Friday, April 21:
8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Full Board Meeting – Board Room
The agendas for the committee meetings and the full board are located on the Board of Visitors website: https://www.jmu.edu/visitors/meetings.
Saturday, April 22:
8:30 am – 3:00 pm Board Retreat – Dynamic Aviation, 1675 Airport Road, Bridgewater, VA 22812