Behind all of the major decisions at Pacific University, there is the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees is built up of alumni, community members and President Hallick.
According to Chair of the Board of Trustees Mindy Cameron ’64, the purpose of the board is to operate at the policy level of the university.
The directive of the trustees is to ensure the stability of Pacific. Cameron said that from a student perspective the board is a mystery and just a bunch of old people that that maybe make decisions but that most students don’t really have a grasp on what the board actually is.
The Board met for it’s quarterly meeting March 5, where the finance committee proposed the budget for the next fiscal year and the board voted whether to approve it or not.
Cameron said that good boards are made up of successful people that can make good decisions.
Board members live across the country and all fly in for two days for each of the quarterly meetings. Board member Rebeca Graham said the meetings are split into two days.
Friday board members meet with their respective committees to discuss issues specific to their groups and Saturday the entire board meets together.
Board members are each assigned to multiple committees including Student Life, Academic Affairs, Finance, Investment and Enrollment Management.
One of the responsibilities of the board is to hire the president for the university and Cameron said she thinks they made a very good decision choosing Hallick.
Cameron mentioned that the board only works through the president, meaning that Dr. Hallick brings issues to the board and then the board would help in the decision-making.
“We work through Lesley and she’s so competent that it makes our job really easy.” Cameron said, “We don’t have a lot to correct and we have a lot of confidence in her.”
Board member Patrick Clark said that the board meets four times a year, but business about Pacific is happening all the time. He said that makes for a considerable amount a preparation Board member Patrick Clark said that the board meets four times a year, but business about Pacific is happening all the time. He said that makes for a considerable amount a preparation before board meetings.
Graham said that the board looks at things like enrollment when doing the budget and then project what the budget will be according to the enrollment.
After the enrollment is calculated and a new semester starts, the budget can be tweaked to accommodate for a different enrollment.
Cameron said that Pacific is one of very few colleges that have a student representative on the board.
This year, junior Josie Kokendorfer is serving as the student representative on the board. Cameron said she thinks that having student representatives is a great idea because the board has access to a student perspective.
Graham was Pacific University’s Audit Partner for eight years prior to joining the board and now she is serving her eighth year on the board and has been with Pacific for a total of 16.
Given her finance background Graham was the chair of investment for the board but is now slowly transitioning into the student life committee.
“We have student representatives [on the board] and they are good,” Graham said. “We try really hard to listen too but the more interaction we can have the better!”
Graham said the administration working with the board does a great job at making sure the board can meet and interact with students whether it’s hearing presentations, having lunch with athletes or meeting with student senate.
Graham said she is very open to continuing to improve and meet with students in different ways in the future.
The Board of Trustees will meet again at the end of the semester.
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