2023-24 Board Reports

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

Last week trustees were on campus for three days of fall meetings, and immersed themselves in the important work happening at Puget Sound. As I finish my first meeting as board chair, I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to serve the university in this capacity. I am honored to step into this role and eager to share our recent experiences with you.

Our time on campus has left us inspired and enthusiastic about the remarkable projects and initiatives in progress. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I offer the following overview of our activities during our visit.

Welcome to New and Returning Trustees. The board is enriched each year by the generosity, expertise, and perspectives of new members. This fall we are happy to welcome returning trustee Bruce Titcomb ’80, P’13, and Nicholas Vasilius ’07; and the following new trustees:

• Maria Arellano ’86
• Ryan Dumm ’07
• Betsy Campbell Stone ’79, P’14

More information about the Board of Trustees and our work in support of Puget Sound can be found on our website.

Campus Engagement. Trustees always appreciate the opportunity to meet informally with members of the campus community throughout our visit and experience the vibrant campus environment.

• Experiential Learning Showcase. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing from students about their internships, summer research experiences, study abroad trips, and community-based learning experiences and the ways these experiential learning opportunities helped them apply their classroom learning in hands-on environments and find and further their professional and personal interests. Many trustees considered this session a true highlight of the meetings and were impressed by the passion, dedication, and intellectual curiosity of the students in pursuing their interests.
• Reception and Breakfast. Trustees also enjoyed their one-on-one interactions with the experiential learning student presenters, experiential learning staff, faculty, staff and student members of our policy committees, and recently tenured and promoted faculty during the Thursday evening reception at the Wilson Welcome Center as well as conversations with members of the Faculty and Staff Senate at the Friday morning breakfast. These opportunities to foster meaningful connections and gain deeper insights into the heart of Puget Sound are another highlight of our meetings.
• Joint JSU-MENA Statement on the Israel-Hamas War. While on campus, trustees read the recent joint statement from the Jewish Student Union and Middle Eastern North African Student Association on the Israel-Hamas War that was published in The Trail. We were heartened by the unity in the message and its embodiment of our core values of self-expression, collegiality, courage, passion, diversity, and leadership as part of a liberal arts education and applaud our students for working together across differences in this way. It is also a reminder, that while it may seem distant, the impact of such events reaches far and wide, even into our own community.

Retreat. We participated in a half-day retreat focused on building a shared understanding of how trustees can best support the university within an evolving landscape for higher education, and also spent time deepening our understanding of the Student Success Plan, and how we can best engage in supporting this work, and acting as volunteers and ambassadors for Puget Sound. We appreciate the Plan’s emphasis on collaboration, first year experience, faculty engagement, staffing alignment, metrics and data analysis, and technology to assure we can provide the best experience for our students.

Workshop. In light of the growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI), trustees, ex officios, and members of the President’s Cabinet benefited from a workshop focused on “Opportunities and Challenges of Generative AI in Higher Education”, led by Provost Drew Kerkhoff. The workshop featured presentations by Sara Vaezy, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Digital Officer for Providence, one of the largest health systems in the nation, and a panel of fantastic Puget Sound faculty and administrators: Gareth Barkin, America Chambers, Kevin Kirner, Justin Tiehen, and Ariela Tubert. Through their presentations and Q&A, we explored topics such as:

• How generative AI can support the work of complex organizations, including higher education;
• Emerging opportunities, threats, and challenges regarding the use of generative AI;
• Considerations for an institutional AI strategy, and its intersection with governance, guardrails, and technology needed for responsible AI use; and
• How our faculty and academic technologists are preparing students to use their “actual intelligence” to harness and successfully utilize artificial intelligence.

Business Meeting. In advance of the meeting, we read reports submitted by President Crawford and ex officio representatives, including Faculty Senate Chair Elise Richman, ASUPS President Chloe Pargmann ’24, Staff Senate Chair Kevin Kirner, and Alumni Council President Ted Meriam ’05 who were in attendance at the business meeting. The trustees greatly value hearing directly from students, faculty, staff, and alumni about their work and their perspectives on issues facing the university and board.

Highlights of the business meeting include:

• Master Plan presentation. Trustees heard an exciting presentation on the progress of the Master Plan.
• Budget Parameters. Trustees approved the parameters for the 2024–25 fiscal year budget, covering tuition and fees, our first-time-in-college (FTIC) enrollment goal and discounts, and endowment expenditures.
• Total Compensation and Benefits Project. Trustees received an update on the Total Compensation and Benefits project.
• Endowment Report. Trustees received an update on our endowment investment fund. Since Agility was hired as Outsourced Chief Investment Officer in late 2013, the annualized return has outperformed the benchmark with lower volatility.
• Puget Sound Fund. The trustees affirmed goals for participation in and contributions to the university’s annual fund for the current fiscal year, including goals for trustee giving and renewal of our ongoing commitment to 100 percent participation.
• Unified Interpretation of the Faculty Code. Trustees and members of the Professional Standards Committee have worked together to reach a unified interpretation of the Faculty Code regarding consultation in the context of program discontinuation, and continue to work together on developing a second unified interpretation related to the basis for program discontinuations.

As always, we are impressed by all the remarkable individuals who make Puget Sound so extraordinary. The dedication, talent, and energy of our faculty, staff, and students are the driving force behind the university's excellence. Your contributions have been instrumental in shaping our institution's future. We are truly grateful and proud, and we look forward to seeing you again in February.

Warm regards,

Beth M. Picardo ’83, J.D. ’86
Chair of the Board of Trustees

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

In my message to you in October, I began by talking about the experiences that trustees deeply value when they come to campus – time to talk with students, faculty and staff; the opportunity to immerse ourselves in campus life and learn about the incredible creative endeavors, scholarship, and learning that happens here every day; and a chance to see the progress the university is making towards achieving the strategic initiatives and goals necessary to evolve and strengthen the University of Puget Sound in a changing world. This remains true. However, as part of this post-meeting message, I want to reflect on our particular experience related to the disruption and takeover of the Pierce Lecture that occurred concurrent with our board meetings last week.

All of the trustees have had long relationships with this university whether it be as alumni and/or parents of students or alumni, and as dedicated volunteers and friends. What draws us back to the university is its commitment to its values and principles as a liberal arts institution. I’m very proud to belong to an institution that offered its community an event featuring our elected congressional representative, who was scheduled to talk about successfully building bridges across differences. I’m equally proud that, despite objections by some, Puget Sound showed the courage to move forward with the event.

What we saw from the protestors who disrupted last week’s lecture was not in keeping with the university’s values and principles. While faculty, staff, and students certainly have the right to protest and express disagreement with issues that concern them, a right which is imperative to a democratic society, this right is not absolute. Protestors do not have the right to infringe on the rights of others to speak and be heard – on campus or anywhere else – nor do they have the right to create a hostile environment for other campus members. I’m disappointed that protestors put staff and attendees’ safety at risk as they forcibly entered Schneebeck Concert Hall and intentionally and substantially interfered with the event, prevented the speech from occurring, knowingly infringed upon the rights of others, and intimidated attendees. Their actions resulted in an evacuation of the building and a cancellation of a speech that many wanted to hear.

Our community is capable and committed to the ideals in our mission and the actions taken were inconsistent with that mission and are not reflective of our community as a whole. I am especially disappointed because our faculty and staff work tirelessly to advocate for our students, counsel our students, and give more time and energy than I think students realize – all in an effort to guide them to be productive, thoughtful graduates who can foster civic leadership.

It saddens me that the work of the people at our university was disrespected by the very people they are here to serve. People were adversely affected during the event and that is unacceptable at an institution of learning and ideas. Speech was stifled that night, but I’m pleased to see that the planned remarks were shared with the campus community.

I am hopeful that we can find a way to move forward together and discuss divisive issues in a productive and civil manner. I and other trustees are committed to reflecting our values as Loggers and supporting and strengthening our ties to one another as members of the shared community of the University of Puget Sound.

While our first day on campus was not representative of who we know the Logger community to be, we did enjoy having the opportunity to connect with staff, students, and faculty on a personal level at several gatherings, and were thankful to have been extended an invitation to join the following events:

• ASUPS Reception. Trustees enjoyed the opportunity to join the Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound (ASUPS) for a wine-tasting event at the Wilson Welcome Center.
• Celebration of Creative Inquiry. We also enjoyed talking with faculty and staff, as well as members of the Alumni Council Executive Committee, at the annual Celebration of Creative Inquiry. The evening included mini-Ted Talks offered by Professors Nicholas Brody, Pierre Ly, and Stacey Weiss, as well as an impressive compilation of recent faculty research, scholarship, and creative work.
• Class Visits. Trustees appreciated the opportunity to attend select undergraduate classes. Many thanks to Professors Brad Dillman, Priti Joshi, Douglas Sackman, and Seth Weinberger for inviting trustees into their classrooms.
• Workshop. It was inspiring to participate in an interactive workshop featuring the 2023-2043 Campus Master Plan, which highlighted the culmination of extensive collaboration, consultation, and thoughtful input from a wide cross-section of the campus community focused on ensuring that the university’s physical campus advances the realization of its mission and vision, Leadership for a Changing World Strategic Plan, and the associated strategies of A Sound Future.

In our business meeting, we heard from President Crawford and ex officio representatives to the board Faculty Senate Chair Elise Richman, ASUPS President Chloé Pargmann ‘24, Staff Senate Chair Kevin Kirner, and Alumni Council President Ted Meriam ’05, who also submitted written reports in advance of our meeting. As always, trustees appreciate this opportunity to hear directly from students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and the ways their diverse perspectives provide insight into the varied experiences of our campus community.

Highlights from the business meeting included:

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Strategic Plan. Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Lorna Hernandez Jarvis gave a presentation about the updated Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Strategic Plan, “Belonging: Choosing Equity and Engaging Inclusive Excellence.” We appreciate the collaborative work that went into rethinking and revising this plan to best meet the needs of our campus community and our goals for inclusion and belonging.
• 2024-25 President’s Initial Budget Recommendation. The board approved the president’s initial budget recommendation for 2024-25, and is grateful for the continuing work of the Budget Task Force to further refine the recommended budget in advance of the president’s final recommendation to the board in May 2024.
• Updated Campus Master Plan. The board adopted the proposed University of Puget Sound 2023-2043 Campus Master Plan, and looks forward to seeing the progress of the plan as it is implemented.

We were pleased to approve promotion and/or tenure recommendations for the following faculty members:

• Tenure: Andrew Kerkhoff (Biology)
• Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor: Regina Duthely-Barbee (English); Jairo Hoyos Galvis (Hispanic Studies); Hajung Lee (Religion, Spirituality, and Society); Jacob Price (Mathematics and Computer Science)
• Promotion to Professor: Nicholas Brody (Communication Studies); Shen-yi (Sam) Liao (Philosophy)
• 3-Year Assistant Review and Promotion to Clinical Associate Professor: Shelly Norvell (Occupational Therapy)

More information about the Board of Trustees and our work in support of Puget Sound can be found on our website. We look forward to returning to campus for our May meetings, and celebrating Commencement with the Class of 2024.

Sincerely,

Beth M. Picardo ’83, J.D. ’86
Chair of the Board of Trustees