With the advance of this academic year comes the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee. The committee’s meeting on Thursday is open to the public.
Discussions over the controversial proposed football stadium will continue this year, but the topic is not expected to be addressed at the upcoming meeting, said Brandon Lausch, a university spokesman.
The Board is broken into a number of committees that address specific items throughout the university. With 14 committees, the Board focuses on anything from academic affairs and athletics to budget and finance.
The Executive Committee is one of these branches and meets during the months that the full board does not meet. The primary function of this committee is to receive and address information on various topics.
“The meeting of the Executive Committee is not to be confused with ‘executive session,’ which is a term to describe a private meeting among members of a governing or legislative body,” Lausch said. “Temple board committees meet in an executive session before the public portion of the meeting.
“For the upcoming meeting, the Chair of the committee has asked for an update on philanthropy” and on the Faculty Senate, Lausch said.
He described philanthropy as “the fundraising from private donors.” Temple recently announced the results of fundraising from last year, surpassing its goals for fundraising and raising $79.1 million.
The Faculty Senate is a meeting of faculty from all university schools and colleges. Together, they voice their collective vision for Temple, as stated in their website. The Faculty Senate and its committees have the responsibility of acting as advisors to the administration of the Board of Trustees.
The president of the Faculty Senate, Michael Sachs, could not be reached for comment.
“Dr. Sachs had written a presentation for the meeting and had it advised by the other two Senate officials: Vice President Elvis Wagner and past president, Tricia Jones,” said Susan Dickey, the secretary of the Faculty Senate.
“All members of the senate were sent an invitation to the upcoming meeting and are expected to be there,” Dickey added.
Those who will be in attendance are all sitting members of the Executive Committee, which is comprised of elected members and those that are appointed by officials of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The committee is chaired by H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, who played a part in the reinstatement of the rowing program in 2014. Daniel Polett vice chairs the committee and Patrick O’Connor, chairman of the BOT, acts as an executive official.
“Most members typically attend the meeting,” Lausch said. “President [Richard] Englert is also invited to attend all meetings of the board and its committees.”
The public is invited to attend the portion of the meeting that is open to community members, students and teachers. The duration of the meetings vary based on the number of items on the agenda, how long any presentations will last and how much discussion takes place.
Patrick Bilow can be reached at patrick.timothy.bilow@temple.edu.
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