The Board of Trustees held their regular winter meeting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 3 in the Susquehanna Room, picking up from where they left off in their previous fall meeting.

The meeting began with students and faculty presenting on the various student-athlete programs at Elizabethtown College. Among the programs discussed were the Student-Athlete Mentors program and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Students presented their experiences in these programs to the Board and the faculty members spoke of past and upcoming projects these programs are involved in throughout the year.

After the presentation on student-athletes, the topic of discussion moved to admissions, which was a major topic at the last Board of Trustees meeting. Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management George Walter debriefed the Board on the progress the Office of Admissions made since the last meeting, as well as new plans they have for increasing enrollment and interest in the College.

Recently, the Office of Admissions has reached an agreement with Reading Area Community College for a dual-admission program.

Walter stressed a new outreach program that focuses on recruiting community college students as transfer students for Etown. Additionally, Walter stressed how the Office of Admissions has been trying to make good investments in students to accept into the College.

As a result, many of the new programs and changes made are to appeal to students and to make them more interested in the College.

Walter reported that compared to Feb. 3, 2017, the number of students who registered for Accepted Students Days by Feb. 3, 2018 was double the previous amount.

Additionally, the number of students registered by Feb. 3, 2018 was still higher than the final number of registrants for 2017.

However, the Board of Trustees raised a few concerns with the Office of Admissions. A fear among the Board pertained to the transfer students, since the Board members previously heard of a case of a few students who were unable to transfer their credits to the College despite taking online classes at Etown.

Walter and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Elizabeth Rider explained that there are differences between the online curricula offered at Etown and the traditional College’s curricula, so credits do not always transfer over as easily.

They also explained how this affects mostly Professional Studies students, so it is not a widespread issue that most transfer students need to be worried about.

Lastly, Walter shared his estimates of the student yield for fall 2018, which he places between 360 and 420 students.

Once the Office of Admissions was finished presenting to the Board, the topic shifted to the new Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-being.

Most of the discussion covered the cost of the new Bowers Center, which broke ground Feb. 2. President Carl Strikwerda described the plans for construction as wanting the Bowers Center to look high-class but still be conservative in spending. The Board projects that most of the loan they are taking out for the Bowers Center will be repaid in five or six years.

In addition to Feb. 2 being the date of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Bowers Center, it was the date for the Trusteeship Committee meeting.

At that meeting, the committee members discussed possible nominations to the Board. The committee also expressed a desire to increase diversity on the Board in academic backgrounds, political backgrounds and other areas.

Another issue the committee discussed was the inclusion of Etown faculty on the Board, but no motion has yet been passed to approve or deny that request.

However, the committee would like to improve communication between faculty and the Board regardless. Nominations for the Board will be placed in April.

After the Trusteeship Committee reported on their meeting, Strikwerda gave the President’s Report to the Board. He presented new developments going on at the College, such as the hiring of a new engineering professor, the addition of a new occupational therapy (OT) lecturer, the search for a new Vice President for Student Life and the search to tenure one or two new OT professors.

One of the biggest topics in Strikwerda’s report was on the prospective physician’s assistant program the College is looking to add in the future.

Strikwerda said that the College is looking to hire a founding director for the physician’s assistant program to help get the proposal off the ground.

The program will be highly regulated, with only 30 students allowed to enter it initially until growths can be made with accreditation. In addition to a physician’s assistant program, the College is considering adding a nursing program.

Another large topic during Strikwerda’s report was the College’s involvement in the Landmark Conference. Members of the Board expressed concern for student athletes and their academic performance because of the long distances they have to travel for away games, which could interfere with their ability to study and complete work.

Strikwerda defended Etown’s involvement in the Landmark Conference, calling it a better fit for Etown academically.

He also said that the distances that the athletes must travel are roughly the same as what they had to do in the previous conference.

Many of Etown’s rival schools also made the switch to the Landmark Conference, so it made sense to switch. Strikwerda admitted that the Landmark Conference does cost the College more money, but there are more benefits than consequences.

He said that the Landmark Conference is a good way to publicize the College across state borders and throughout the area.

Strikwerda claimed that the Landmark Conference, in addition to being a place of good competition for the athletes, is also a worthwhile investment for the College to make to increase enrollment of student athletes.

Once the President’s Report was finished, the Board of Trustees moved to an executive session. The Board will reconvene sometime in the spring.