The below message was sent to faculty, staff, and students on November 8, 2024.
Dear Bryn Mawr Community,
We write, following the College’s October Board of Trustees meeting, to update you on the conversations and decisions that took place. We plan to do this after each of the three Board meetings (in October, February and April) as we learn together more about how the College works and the important roles each of us play. Each of the three annual Board meetings are actually a series of meetings of the Board’s committees as well as the full Board coming together in various executive and plenary sessions. In October, this culminates in the Annual Meeting of the Board, which includes campus community representatives to the Board. In October, some of the committee meetings took place by Zoom before the Board arrived on campus. We were thrilled to have 29 out of 30 voting trustees on campus for these meetings.
The Board typically votes on a number of items at the Annual Meeting. Items for voting are first shared with the relevant Board committee who then recommend whether to bring them to the full Board for a vote. Items voted on at this meeting included the following with their results:
- Election/Re-election of Trustees, Special Representatives, and Emeriti Trustees – Passed
- Trustees elected: Judith "Judy" Calhoun '82 M.A. '85 and Anita Ntem Thomas '18
- Trustees re-elected for a second term: Cynthia Chalker M.S.S./M.S.L.P. '98 and Thabani Clemens Sinkula '99
- Special Representatives elected: Linda Hill '77 and Nanar Yoseloff '97
- Election of Emeriti Trustees: Stephanie Brown '75, Cecilia Conrad, and Janet Steinmayer '77
- Election of Slate of Officers – Passed
- Chair of the Board of Trustees – Cynthia Archer '75
- Vice Chairs – Amy Loftus '90 and Patrick McCarthy Ph.D. '81
- Secretary of the Board of Trustees – Teresa Wallace '79
- President of the College – Wendy Cadge
- Provost – Tim Harte
- Interim Chief Administrative and Financial Officer and Treasurer – Tijana Stefanovic '99
- Secretary of the College – Millie Bond '05
- Interim College Counsel – Susan L. Kraus
- Election of Kimberly Wright Cassidy as President Emerita – Passed
- Approval of the Minutes from the April 27, 2024, Annual Meeting of the Board – Passed
- Approval of the October 2024 Report to the Board on Funds – Passed
- Approval of Audited Financial Statements Fiscal Years 23 and 24 – Passed
- Approval of Revision of the Bryn Mawr College Corporate Seal – Passed (details below in External Relations Committee highlights)
- Approval of GSSWSR Tuition for FY26 – Passed
- Approval of Amendment to the Retirement Plan – Passed (details below in Finance Committee highlights)
In addition to these votes at the Annual Meeting on Saturday morning, each of the Board’s committees, subcommittees, and working groups shared with the full Board and campus representatives the work that took place at their meetings earlier that week.
The Board has formed two new working groups this year focused on Academic Affairs and Student Experience respectively. These groups were set up to build stronger relationships between the Board, senior staff, faculty, and students on the central components of our mission – academics and student experience. Each group met for lunch and discussions about charters and priorities for the year. Members of the Faculty Advisory Council, who traditionally meet with trustees during Board meetings, divided themselves to join each of these two new groups. The student representatives to the Board from the Undergraduate College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research joined the Student Experience gathering. This was an opportunity for learning together and beginning to set collaborative priorities. The traditional "liaison to faculty" and "liaison to students" roles on the Board have been folded into these groups.
Highlights from the Board Committees
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee is responsible for assisting the Board of Trustees in fulfilling its responsibility for the oversight of the quality and integrity of the financial reporting of the College, including the selection of an independent audit firm. The Committee also assists in reviewing the effectiveness of the College’s procedures for monitoring compliance with appropriate laws and regulations, including its conflict-of-interest policies and its complaint reporting procedures. The Audit Committee reviewed the college’s financial statements and received the audit from the new college auditor, Grant Thorton.
Building and Grounds Committee
The Building and Grounds Committee provides oversight on the stewardship of the College’s buildings and grounds. The committee discussed emerging national trends in space on college campuses and then focused on the space inventory recently completed on campus at Bryn Mawr, along with plans for a space utilization study and campus master plan to begin this spring. The committee also reviewed plans for a student space flash project that will begin this fall and support students, through an outside consultant, in identifying and renovating three to five existing spaces on campus to best meet student space needs. These spaces will be available at the start of the fall semester 2025. Additional details will be provided to the community in the next few weeks. The committee also discussed plans to accelerate sustainability and climate justice work on campus.
External Relations Committee
The External Relations Committee provides strategic counsel to build philanthropic support for the College, to strengthen alumnae/i engagement and the alumnae/i network, to shape the College’s strategic communications plan, and to enhance the College’s visibility and reputation.
The committee considered an expanded approach to their work this year that will include building out a strategy for external relations at the College alongside expanded work on foundations and government relations.
Samara Sit, Chief Communications Officer, reported on the college’s positioning work and presented an updated college seal. You can read more about the positioning work and how the College community participated in the development of updated visuals for the College on the Communications Project Blog. Our revised college seal draws heavily on the original historical Bryn Mawr seal, which officially came into being in 1903. It contains many unique and ownable elements that speak to what Bryn Mawr stands for and its legacy of academic excellence. The revision became necessary because the intricate details of the historical seal do not reproduce easily in smaller sizes. A simpler version will allow the college seal to be used more often in conjunction with the college wordmark as our official college logo moving forward. The committee ultimately supported the new seal design and submitted it to the Board for a vote.
Bob Miller, Chief Alumnae/i Relations and Development Officer, offered context related to campaign readiness and fundraising.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee has general supervision over the finances of the College with the goal of ensuring long-term fiscal stability for the College. The committee reviewed, led by Interim Chief Financial and Chief Administrative Officer Tijana Stefanovic, the fiscal year 2024 budget performance and the fiscal year 2025 budget to date. They also reviewed and supported proposed annual changes to tuition at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, received an update from the Investment Subcommittee, and heard a proposal related to a small change to the retirement plan. The retirement plan proposal allows the College to cash out balances of less than $1,000 in the 403(b) Retirement Plan for employees who have separated from the College. These small balances are inefficient for both the holders and for other plan participants. Currently, the annual fees to maintain many of these accounts exceed their balances and have resulted in increased fees for other plan participants. The College will follow all regulatory guidelines to notify affected participants, allowing them time to make alternative arrangements for their balances.
Committee on Trustees
The Committee on Trustees advises the Board of Trustees on all matters related to Board governance and Board composition. The Committee oversees the identification and recruitment of trustees and nominates individuals to serve. During their virtual meeting they focused on goals for the year, which include updating anchor documents, refreshing the cadence and increasing transparency of the committee’s work, and considering the process for identifying new trustees.
They also spoke briefly about pipelines to trusteeship as well as a draft document President Cadge prepared to review the current titles (not responsibilities) of the senior staff.
In addition to committee meetings, President Cadge offered reflections to the Board based on her first few months at the college and outlined her approach for the year, shared with the community in her October update. On Friday night, the Board, campus representatives to the Board, and three former College presidents enjoyed dinner and a conversation with inaugural speaker, Barbara Savage, Geraldine R. Segal Professor Emerita of American Social Thought and Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, about her book, Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of a Black Woman Scholar. On Thursday evening, members of the Board who arrived early joined campus community members to cheer on fellow Board member Kiki Jamieson '88 as she appeared in competition on Thursday night’s JEOPARDY! Kiki shared thoughts about her JEOPARDY! experience and answered questions from our campus audience.
We are grateful for the opportunity to work together this year.
-Wendy and Cynthia
Wendy Cadge
President and Professor of Sociology
Cynthia Archer '75
Chair, Board of Trustees
