Winter 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting Summary
February 10, 2023
To: Grinnell College Community
From: Anne F. Harris, President
Subject: Summary of Winter 2023 Board of Trustees meeting
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,
We welcomed the Board of Trustees to campus February 2-4, 2023 for their winter meeting. Thank you to all who were part of preparing for their meeting. The theme of this meeting was “Strategic Preparations for Change” – the board engaged in discussion regarding Grinnell’s strategic preparations for significant changes in higher education within sectors ranging from the legal to the economic.
Prior to the start of the Winter 2023 meeting, board leadership (chair and vice-chairs) held their regular meetings with members of Executive Council, Staff Council and Student Government Association.
The board arrived in Grinnell on Thursday afternoon, February 2nd and opened their meeting at the Grinnell College Golf Course with an executive session followed by time with Monica Chavez and Caleb Elfenbein who led a unit-level discussion, like those to be held on campus across units this spring. The Board’s fiduciary responsibilities guided the process, with early planning on eventually connecting the strategic plan, to be reviewed for endorsement at the board’s June retreat, to the upcoming campaign. Thursday concluded with a dinner with faculty from the Social Studies division and then a dessert reception to which all students were invited.
Friday’s work began with an update from Chair Michael Kahn ‘74, President Harris and reports from board committees. After this session the board participated in the following discussions:
- David Strauss, of Art & Science, shared the work his firm completed to help the College better understand effective retention strategies for Grinnell students.
- Student leaders from IPOP, PCPOP, GSP and Accessibility and Disability services had lunch with the board so the board could learn more about the organizations they lead.
- Marc Reed and Leslie Bleichner ‘07 presented an interactive session delineating the four-quadrant model of DEI institutional change.
- Germaine Gross discussed the revenue planning workplan that will prepare the College for the changing financial outlook of a more volatile economy and markets.
- Adam Laug and Jayn Chaney ’05 led an interactive session mapping the timeline and early groundwork for our upcoming campaign.
- The day came to an end over dinner with members of the senior leadership team.
Saturday morning the board engaged with Ellen de Graffenreid as she shared fall highlights and achievements in communications and marketing, and strategic work positioning Grinnell College as a national leader. Before going into executive session, the Board heard from Chris Bair ’96, Liz Queathem and Tristan Davis ‘25 on the continuing sustainability work on campus.
The next meeting of the Board will be May 4-6, 2023.