By Matt Day

The Board of Trustees approved a tuition increase and conducted primarily financial business during their January conference. Macalester will announce the specific details of the budget and tuition increase after President Brian Rosenberg releases the change in a letter mailed to the parents of current students. “The Board decides every January what the comprehensive fee will be,” Student Board Liaison Blythe Austin ’08 said. “It’s not being announced publicly until President Rosenberg tells parents and lets them know.”

President Rosenberg will send out the letters the week of Feb. 4.

The Board approved the tenure recommendations of the Faculty Personnel Committee granting tenure to five professors. It also briefly discussed the letterwriting campaign in support of Professor Scott Morgensen, Austin said.

After the FPC denied Morgensen tenure, he notified the Administration of his intent to appeal the decision.

According to Austin, the Board itself has little influence on matters of tenure and approved the recommendations of the FPC without much debate.

“The autonomy of the faculty is something the Board very much believes in,” Austin said.

A large first-year class and fewer than expected requests for financial aid led to a substantial operating budget surplus, with the Board approving a motion allocating more than $475,000 to “special projects.”

One ongoing project includes replacing all light fixtures on campus with more energy efficient models. The Board allocated half of the project’s cost, $35,000, with the other half coming out of a specifically dedicated environmental fund.

A student committee researched the cost of the project and made the recommendation to the Finance Committee. During the meeting David Wheaton, vice-president of administration and finance, commended the students on their active role, Austin said.

The largest single use of the surplus is $150,000 for completion of a system conversion project, which will integrate the systems and data from Admissions and Res Life’s room draw with the rest of the campus network.

Other commitments made by the board include funding for bike enclosures and a bike lock program, ITS improvements and remodeling for the chapel and theater buildings.

The motion also allocated funding for a consultant to work with the campus bookstore, emphasizing the board’s commitment to explore alternatives to the current bookstore located in the second floor of the Lampert Building.

During the meeting Steve Euller ’74, General Counsel of the Minnesota-based Cargill Corporation, was approved as the board’s newest member. He will be present at the Board’s March 6-7 meeting.

Austin said local Board members will continue their transparency campaign by hosting a Student-Trustee Dinner Feb. 18 at Café Mac.

The Board finalized its January decisions through three separate conference calls; one each between the Audit and Finance Committees, and a final one that included the entire board held Jan. 15.

The Board will approve the college’s Fiscal Year 2008/09 operating budget at its March meeting.

At its May meeting the Board will choose a successor to current Interim Chair Rev. Timothy Hart-Andersen, who has served since the resignation of Jeffrey Larson in July.