At its Dec. 2 meeting, the University’s Board of Trustees was briefed on a new initiative to recommend ways to strengthen the University’s engagement with the St. Louis region.
The trustees also voted to approve amendments to the constitution and bylaws of the Faculty Senate, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
Edward F. Lawlor, Ph.D., dean of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and the William E. Gordon Professor, briefed the trustees on a process that will engage the entire academic community in finding ways to continue the strengthening of relationships between the University and the St. Louis metropolitan area.
Wrighton recently appointed a University-wide committee, chaired by Lawlor, to review opportunities for greater engagement and will be receiving recommendations from the committee this summer.
The trustees approved amendments to the constitution and bylaws of the Faculty Senate on the recommendation of the Faculty Senate Council involving the composition of the Faculty Senate Council, increasing the terms of at-large members from two to three years to improve continuity and institutional memory for ongoing issues, and ensuring that at-large seats are distributed more widely among the schools.
Following a memorial resolution and moment of silence in memory of Trustee C. Ray Holman — who died Nov. 4 in a motorcycle accident — the trustees received a report from Wrighton on University progress.
Wrighton reported that admissions applications for the fall 2006 freshman class are ahead of last year’s record-setting pace, and he noted that the final application deadline is Jan. 15. He noted that the fall 2005 class was the strongest in University history, according to academic indicators.
The meeting of the International Advisory Council for Asia (IACA) in Shanghai and Beijing Oct. 23-28 was reviewed by Wrighton, noting that 25 council members from more than 10 Asian nations attended and that deans of the schools met with their counterparts on several campuses in China and other Asian countries. He noted that negotiations to extend Washington University’s Executive M.B.A. program with Fudan University were successfully concluded and that the new WUSTL-Fudan E.M.B.A. facility was dedicated as part of the IACA activities in Shanghai.
Wrighton also reviewed the successful launch of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, a program to encourage greater international graduate and professional education at Washington University through partnerships with 15 of Asia’s leading universities. The program is named in honor of John F. McDonnell, vice chair of the Board of Trustees and retired chairman of the board of McDonnell Douglas Corp.
Eight corporate sponsors are providing additional significant support for the first class of entering McDonnell International Scholars from these 15 partner universities. The scholars will study in the United States and then return for visits to their home campuses with Washington University “ambassadors,” who will serve as mentors for the students.
Wrighton added that at the conclusion of the IACA meetings in Beijing, a highly successful graduate scholarship conference was organized by Washington University and included 10 top U.S. universities and students from 20 of China’s leading universities. All together, about 600 of China’s best students attended to learn more about graduate study in the United States, Wrighton said.
In other action at the board meeting, the trustees received reports from the following committees: audit, development, educational policy, University finance, medical finance, research-graduate affairs, undergraduate life and the Alumni Board of Governors.