Curators to meet, discuss several issues

By Elliot Njus

Published Nov. 27, 2007

The UM system Board of Curators will meet Thursday and Friday at UM-Kansas City, but the open meetings, usually spread over two days, are being held on Thursday to accommodate meeting participants who are headed to the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship football game, according to a UM system news release.

The board will meet in committees starting at 9 a.m. and the regular board meeting will take place later.

The agenda for the meeting will be released today.

The board is expected to see a report on UM system endowments, MU Deputy Provost Kenneth Dean said in a previous Maneater report. At their October meeting, Board of Curators Chairman Don Walsworth and Curator John Carnahan expressed concern about UM system endowed chairs that are going unused.

"They're saying, 'I gave you X amount of dollars, now put someone in those chairs,'" he said.

Endowed chairs are professorships paid for with interest from an invested donation.

Each of the UM system chancellors prepared a report on the schools' centers and institutes, and their financial impact on the campus for presentation to the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, according to documents obtained on the UM system Web site.

Another document contained a presentation on the UM system's capacity for debt to finance capital improvements. The report was prepared for the Physical Facilities and Management Services Committee. The Web site also displayed a request for the board to approve the schematic designs for the renovation of Hudson residence hall, Gillett residence hall and Rollins Commons.

These documents were later password protected.

UM system spokesman Scott Charton declined to comment on the meeting agenda.

The release also stated that there would not be an announcement on the UM system presidential search and that the board would vote on a new chairperson.

The meeting will close with a press conference with UM system interim President Gordon Lamb, Walsworth and the new chairperson, according to the release.

The board will also meet from 9 a.m. to about noon on Friday in closed session, the news release stated.