TCU’s Board of Trustees approved a $511.9 million budget at their spring meeting Friday, which will further support institutional goals and continue providing students an excellent educational experience. The budget continues to support the overall university experience with the next phase of the University’s Vision in Action, Academy of Tomorrow. This phase focuses on three key strategic areas: academic profile and reputation; size and balance; and campus environment.

This budget allows the University to focus on its priorities of maintaining TCU’s competitive advantage, intensifying the University’s momentum, and strengthening the student experience. The University will continue to move forward in a manner that maintains the quality of a world-class, values-centered university experience.
The budget will also provide a salary merit pool of 3 percent for faculty and staff, new faculty and staff positions and an increase in institutional financial aid, which includes a variety of scholarships including the addition of new Chancellor’s Scholars and new Community Scholars.

The Board of Trustees approved a renovation of Theodore Prentis Beasley Hall, which houses the Religion Department classrooms and offices. The project will include renovation of all academic space, as well as restrooms, a new elevator, a complete fire sprinkler system and will address accessibility issues. Construction on the $5.6 million renovation is scheduled to begin in May 2013 and will be completed over the summers of 2013 and 2014. The Upper Division Residence Hall project in Worth Hills will follow the Sophomore Housing project currently under construction and will add an additional 160 beds.

The Board also voted to approve an additional parking lot on the east side of campus, adding approximately 150 spaces, which will provide greater access for faculty, staff and students to the academic areas of campus and will compensate for the loss of parking spaces due to east campus construction. Work on the $1.3 million project will begin in July and is estimated to be complete in October 2013.

Trustees were informed that the Student Government Association has funded a student memorial in response to students’ requests to provide a place of reflection and solitude on campus. A single lily pad, identical to lily pads on Frog Fountain on campus, was chosen to symbolize the importance of the individual and the lack of running water through it will symbolize the quiet and stillness of campus without life. It will be located between the sidewalks of Jarvis Hall and Dave C. Reed Hall.

Additionally, the Board approved an earlier recommendation by the Executive Committee to confer honorary degrees on two individuals. Killed in action in Afghanistan, fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt will receive an Honorary Doctorate of the University posthumously. Additionally, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, a guest conductor in TCU’s School of Music, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Music. The honorary degrees will be awarded at a future commencement ceremony.

The Board passed a resolution honoring Dr. and Mrs. Boschini for their 10 years of service to the University. Under his tenure, the University has launched numerous new initiatives such as the Andrews Institute of Math & Science Education, the Schieffer School of Journalism, the TCU Energy Institute, the Institute of Child Development and the John V. Roach Honors College. TCU has been consistently been listed among the top 100 national universities and was recognized in 2010 by U.S. News & World Report and as one of 20 “Up and Coming” Universities. Under his leadership, enrollment has risen 17.5 percent to 9,725 and the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate has improved to 90 percent, undergraduate financial aid has doubled, and applications for admission have grown by 152.6 percent to more than 19,300. Boschini was also presented a resolution by the Student Government Association honoring him for his service to the University.

In other business, the Academic Affairs committee of the Board of Trustees was informed that Dr. Philip S. Hartman has been appointed dean of the College of Science & Engineering. Hartman will begin his role as dean June 1, 2013. He has served as TCU’s interim dean of the College of Science & Engineering since April 2012.

The Board also passed a resolution to honor Robert J. Wright, a devoted TCU Trustee from 1993-2013. A graduate of TCU, Wright had a significant influence on national medical care and public policy by serving as president of Medical Group Management Association, the American College of Medical Care Administrators, of which he is a Distinguished Fellow, and the Center for Research in Ambulatory Health Care Administration, as well as by serving on the board of the National Center for Policy Analysis. He is renowned for his generosity to TCU as a member of the Chancellor’s Council, a Founder of the Addison & Randolph Clark Society and a Gold member of the TCU Frog Club. He has also contributed to the Mary and Robert J. Wright Hall, Kellye Wright Samuelson Hall and the Mary Wright Admission Center and provided scholarship support for countless Wright scholars.

The Board also passed a resolution in memoriam of Ruth Carter Stevenson, a devoted Trustee from 1974 to 1986 and Trustee Emeritus from 1986 until her death earlier this year. She served on the faculty relations, building and grounds and nominating committees. She is credited with creating the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth and distinguished herself as president of the Board of Directors of the Amon G. Carter Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the South. Integral to Fort Worth history, she was the founding chairman of the Cultural District Advisory Committee, president of the Arts Council of Fort Worth, one of the original founders of the Streams and Valleys Committee, and the recipient of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 2007 International Award of Excellence in Conservation. Through the Amon G. Carter Foundation, she helped shape the TCU campus, particularly with the J.M. Moudy Visual Arts and Communications Building, and was recognized by the University with the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1973 and by the TCU Alumni Association with the Royal Purple Award in the same year.

The Board also elected two new Trustees to the Board, Elliott J. Hill and Jan Tucker Scully. The Trustees passed a resolution to move the following to emeritus status at the University: Jean Giles-Sims, Emeritus Professor of Sociology; Linda Guy, Emeritus Professor of Art; Kathryne McDorman, Emeritus Associate Professor of History; William Powers, Emeritus Professor of Communication Studies; and for the first time as a Cabinet position, Larry Lauer, Emeritus Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs.

The Chancellor reported that total enrollment for the spring is at 9,160 this year, up 2.5 percent over last year. Undergraduate enrollment is 7,980, up 3.1 percent, while graduate enrollment is 1,180, down 1.7 percent. He also reported 96.9 percent retention of Fall 2012 first-time, full-time students.

The next meeting of TCU’s Board of Trustees is scheduled for November 6-8, 2013.