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February 16, 2009
Trustees meet, discuss priorities

By Nancy Seideman

The Emory University Board of Trustees met Feb. 11–12 to review and discuss the University leadership’s progress in fulfilling its strategic priorities in light of new economic realities, approve tuition and fee rates for the next academic year, and to acknowledge and celebrate recent achievements of the Emory community.

“Trustee meetings are a time for representatives of the university community to have an opportunity to share our collective accomplishments with the University’s governing group, but it also is a time for us to receive counsel, guidance and approval for the University’s direction,” says President Jim Wagner. “We had extensive discussion about how the new economic realities that we are dealing with will influence aspects of how we fulfill our mission, and the investments that we need to continue to make in providing a high-quality educational experience for our students.”

Action taken by the board included:

• Approval of the 2009-10 tuition, fees, room and board for all colleges, graduate programs and professional schools. The tuition for undergraduate students at Emory College of Arts and Sciences will increase 4.7 percent to $37,500.

“Emory is committed to meeting its top strategic priorities which includes attracting and enrolling the best and brightest students, recruiting and retaining a faculty of distinction, offering need-blind admissions and providing demonstrated financial need for continuing students,” says Earl Lewis, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

• Renaming of Crawford Long Hospital to Emory University Hospital Midtown (see story).

• Celebrating the naming of Emory’s School of Medicine building for Trustee Emeritus James B. Williams, retired chairman and CEO of SunTrust Banks Inc. (see story).

• Election of Bishop James E. Swanson Sr., resident bishop of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church, to a six-year term as trustee, bringing the total board membership to 40. An award-winning preacher, Swanson oversees the Holston Conference, which includes more than 900 churches in Tennessee, southwestern Virginia and northern Georgia.

Board activities included a panel presentation, “Internationalization: Per-spectives and Partnerships,” which included participation by a dean, faculty member, student and a member of the Emory International Advisory Council. The council, whose international membership includes alumni and leaders from varied professions and countries, is charged with supporting Emory in shaping its strategy for international engagement.