The Cornell University Board of Trustees Executive Committee held their quarterly meeting on Thursday in New York City. Among the items presented in the Committee’s open session were reports on $363 million dollars the University received in donations this past fiscal year, the most the University has ever collected in a single year. The record-breaking gifts were the third highest in the nation, and were exceeded only by contributions to Harvard and Stanford Universities.
“$363 million is up seventeen percent from last year’s $109 million,” said Henrik N. Dullea ’61, vice-president for University relations. “It’s really extraordinary given what’s happened in New York in the aftermath of 9/11,” he added.
In addition to finance reports, the Buildings and Properties Committee presented a report on the status of various utilities and renovations in progress affecting the University’s contract colleges.
Among those discussed were the renovations and construction projects taking place in Bailey Hall, the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, and plans for the replacement of North Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.
The Committee also approved new rules and regulations for traffic and parking procedures. While no substantial changes were made to the proceedings as they stood, the committee reviews and re-approves parking and traffic regulations on an annual basis.
In addition, the Executive Committee presentation included a report from President Hunter R. Rawlings III who, among other announcements, briefed the Committee on administrative changes in the relationship between the Dept. of Computer Sciences and the faculty of Computer and Informational Sciences.
Rawlings also updated the Committee on the status of the Workforce Planning project. He established The Workforce Planning Team last November to conduct reviews of nonacademic staffing requirements within the University.
Since its establishment, the Workforce Planning Team has implemented and lifted a hiring freeze to document the effects of the post-Sept. 11 recession on the Cornell campus.
According to Dullea, all members of the Executive Committee attended Thursday’s meeting. Among the attendants were Peter C. Meinig ’62, chair of the Board of Trustees, Samuel C. Fleming and Barbara B. Friedman, vice chairs of the Board, Rawlings, and chairs of other subcommittees that report to the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee, which meets every three months in New York City and each May in Ithaca during the general Board of Trustees meeting, is in charge of creating an annual plan of financial operation for the University with the exception of the Medical College and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences. The Committee also fixes the presidential salary and periodically evaluates his performance. In addition, the Committee oversees various Cornell policies including retirement, affirmative action programs and employment practices for University personnel.
The Executive Committee will convene again in New York City this winter.
Archived article by Ellen Miller