Winter 2024 Board of Trustee Meeting Summary
Dear Grinnell community,
The Board of Trustees gathered for their winter meeting on campus February 1-3, 2024. This meeting was dedicated to retreat topics and focus was placed on decision-making processes both in principle and practice. Board leadership arrived early to meet in person with Executive Council, Staff Council and Student Government Association leadership. Connecting with these groups is an important part of the Board engaging with campus.
On Thursday the Board, joined members of the Division of Social Studies for dinner and had the joy of listening to Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant, Louise R. Noun Chair in Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies. After dinner, Grinnell College Dining Services served delicious desserts for students to enjoy with Trustees.
On Friday morning, Trustees kicked off their day having breakfast with staff from the Office of International Student Affairs and the Center for Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice, followed by updates from President Harris, Chair Kahn and committee chairs.
The Board then turned their focus to the Collective Equity objective of the Strategic Plan, specifically Objective 3 - financial stewardship that is prepared to meet the needs of the educational mission and those of the faculty, staff and students who sustain it. The Board considered the institutional revenue outlook and discussed fiduciary questions for the long-term financial sustainability of Grinnell College.
On an annual basis the Board receives a Sustainability Update and this year Haileigh Steffan ’26 produced a video as the update. The video is available for anyone to watch at About Sustainability at Grinnell. In addition to watching the update video, Trustees were pleased to have lunch with students from a variety of student groups who have an interest in sustainability on campus.
After lunch, the Board spent time with Leslie Bleichner, assistant chief diversity officer, and Marc Reed, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, continuing their work, focused on
STRATEGIC PLAN - objective 1 — The College makes changes that foster the thriving and success of individuals of BIPOC, FGLI, LGBTQIA+, religious and disability identities. In concert with Leslie and Marc, the board worked to advance their intercultural competency work at the committee level.
Bernadine Douglas, vice president of development and alumni relations, talked with the board about Belonging and Connection in the STRATEGIC PLAN: specifically, objective 3 — alumni experience more communal and philanthropic engagement with Grinnell. Douglas shared an update on the recently selected campaign firms and the upcoming plans for the feasibility study, and how Trustees will be able to engage with these processes.
Trustee Tobi Marcus, chair of the Governance committee, led a session based on the work of the Board Excellence Group, whose membership includes, Christina Cutlip, Bruce Koff, Anne Harris, Michael Kahn and Meg Jones Bair. During this session, board members discussed a range of issues including deliberation and decision-making and made personal commitments to fulfill their fiduciary duties in a variety of ways. Their work in this area relates to Belonging and Connection in the STRATEGIC PLAN, objective 2 —…more effective partnerships, and inclusive and sustainable governance. Additionally, the board operates under a set of fiduciary duties, from the Association of Governing Boards (AGB). This session specially relates to their duty to ensure that its business is conducted in an exemplary fashion, that its governance policies and practices are kept current, and that the performance of the board, its committees, and its members are periodically assessed.
During the final session of the day, Germaine Gross, vice president for finance and treasurer of the College, shared the resolution passed by the Facilities and Finance committee, regarding Loose Hall (Construction Documents, Guaranteed Maximum Price and source of funds) and answered questions in advance of the vote on Saturday. Gross also shared during this session the resolution regarding pre-funding the Amortization Fund with respect to the 2021 Taxable Bond Issue. Both resolutions passed on Saturday morning.
After a marvelous dinner prepared by Chef Scott Turley and his team, the board went to HSSC for dessert in the Marcus Family Global Kitchen. Professor Todd Armstrong, faculty director of the global kitchen and David Stanley, global kitchen culinary coordinator, along with the global kitchen peer mentors, Jane Hoffman ‘25, Alexander Petroff ‘25, Michael Lozada ‘24, Nora Leahy ’25 and Kylen Turner ‘26, made beautiful desserts for the trustees to enjoy. The Trustees left HSSC extraordinary impressed with the students and how the kitchen is integrated into so many parts of campus and the curriculum.
Saturday morning the following votes were taken and passed:
- Approval of minutes from Fall 2023 board meeting
- Annual review and approval of the Investment Policy Statement
- Loose Hall renovations
- Pre-funding the Amortization Fund
- Candidates for Honorary Degrees (pending Faculty vote on 2/5/24)
Thank you to everyone involved in the planning and execution of this meeting. Special thanks to the Department of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation (PEAR) for accommodating a change of meeting venues and sharing classrooms with the Board. If you have any questions please email me, jonesme@grinnell.edu.
Meg Jones Bair. M.Ed
Director of Board Relations and Secretary of the College
she/her/hers (why I share)
Grinnell College
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Grinnell, IA 50112
Office: 641-269-3209
Cell: 641-821-5679