The Slippery Rock Council of Trustees held a formal meeting Friday afternoon in the Smith Student Center Theater to discuss committee reports and offer their praise for the successful presidential search. Trustee Jeff Smith offered his admiration for all those involved in the search process and his excitement for the future of SRU.
“I gave a brief update during our committee meeting about the presidential search that concluded yesterday with the big celebration of Dr. Behre,” Smith said. “I just want to take the time to thank everyone involved in the search process. We put in so much time and effort and we ended up with a great outcome with Dr. Behre. it was a day for celebration yesterday and that level of excitement should continue for months and months.”
This sentiment was shared by Smith’s fellow trustees, who also were quick to thank members of the search committee for their hard work selecting the right candidate for SRU.
Dr. Joseph Cali gave a presentation on some of the innovations within the safety management program. Renovations taking place at Strain Safety Management building are set to be completed during the summer. Dr. Cali, the department chair, is excited about what these renovations will allow students in the program to experience before they head out into the workforce.
“We have an excellent program here. More companies will come to campus to recruit students in safety management than any other program,” Cali said. “A total of 99 percent of our internships are paid. I send out 8 to 10 possible job opportunities to safety majors every week.”
SRSGA Vice President of Finance Riley Keffer gave a progress update in place of President Rachel Lawler who could not attend due to an illness. Keffer and his finance committee recently finished sorting out their budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year. In total, 115 clubs and organizations are receiving approximately $2.3 million starting next fall.
A motion was approved for the College of Business to offer a Masters of Science in Hospitality Management. This degree will become available starting in the 2018-19 academic year.
The minutes from the December 8 and February 21 meetings were approved by the council. All financial motions were voted on unanimously with no dissenting votes. There was nothing to report from their executive session and interim president Dr. Philip Way was not present to give his report. Dr. Way’s report is available to read on SRU’s website under the administration tab.
The SRU Council of Trustees will meet again summer on June 7 and 8 in executive session.
