Attending: Valentino Bates, Myron Biddle, Henry Brown, Morris Hervey, Tyrona Johnson, Gregory McClain, Terrence McCloud, NicKia McMurtrey, Zebulun Nash, James Nicks, Linda Sims-Perry, Randy Shed, Claudia Tutt, Earl Wiggley, Ernest Banks, Gregory Skannal, Marvin Woods, Lindsay Bagnall, Mary Bird, Lawrence George, Martina Hahn, Floyd Harris, Ron Kohser, Bob Mitchell, John Park, Toni Scott .

I. Chairman Henry Brown called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m., welcoming everyone and starting self-introductions.

II. The minutes of the October 14, 1998, meeting were approved as distributed.

III. Campus Update:

Chancellor Park discussed the tragic Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity fire. He discussed the status of the renovation and addition to Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Hall, and the status of the renovations to the University Center. He commented that the UM system may pass a collective bargaining issue, and he is concerned about what that would mean for staff. St. Pat's is planned a little differently this year, with a St. Pat's Ball on Friday night where the coronation and knighting ceremony will be part of the Ball, and with a professional wrestling show on Saturday in place of the usual concert. St. Pat's has evolved into an event that is more representative of the campus.

MEP- Floyd Harris reported on the status and progress of the program. (see attached written report)

MESP- Toni Scott reported on the status of this program:

- Open house with cooked meals held last fall at finals; over 400 students were served

- Held an academic excellence program on Martin Luther King Day

- Sponsoring UMR Woman of the Year Banquet, to honor an outstanding woman faculty member. Will be held this year on March 8. Cindy Tang, a UMR alumna, contributed $2,000 per year for 5 years toward this program; $1,000 cash to the recipient and a $1,000 piece of jewelry. A representative from the Board of Curators is also slated to attend the banquet.

- Seventh-grade girls program still successful, with 40 participants each semesster

- Are working to keep Multicultural Center open until midnight each night

- Toni has established Onyx Narragansett Jeffrey Memorial Scholarship in memory of her granddaughter, to benefit African or African-American students

- Suggestion box is available in her office now; has had only three suggestions.

Ernie Banks thanked Toni for providing the luncheon with the students. The committee discussed the seventh-grade program and it was announced that Kappa Alpha Psi students are going into the local elementary schools to tutor; NSBE and ABS students are also tutoring through the NAACP Rolla branch.

Capital Campaign - Mary Bird reported for Connie Eggert, stating that the campaign is over $48.8 million as of 12/31/98, toward the goal of $60 million. She discussed leadership giving and percentages, as well as campaign goals.

Admissions- Martina Hahn reported that this year she bought PSAT names for African-American students separately, so she could report on this. She also bought ACT names broken out into African-American and other, so she can more easily see the composition of the pool. In response to a question about what committee members should tell high school students when they ask what ACT score they need for admittance, she commented that ACT is only one of the criteria evaluated for admittance. She commented that we reject less than 3% of applicants, and the best advice committee members can give to younger students is to take challenging high school courses to be prepared for UMR. She reported that UMR is attending NSBE and NSFNS events; doing regional recruiting in St. Louis and Chicago and would like to focus also on Kansas City and Houston. She was questioned about using alumni assistance in those areas, as alumni would likely be very willing to help out. As to email recruiting, it does seem that African-American students have less access to email than other students, and for this reason, traditional recruiting efforts will continue in addition to the email approach. Retention information for UM campuses is on the web at www.missouri.edu. Committee members from St. Louis requested more lead time on scheduled recruiting events in their area so they can be sure to attend.

Web Site Maintenance- Lawrence George reported that he needs a student to help on an occasional basis, and Toni Scott has volunteered to provide student labor as needed and she will be reimbursed appropriately.

IV. Sub-committee Appointments and Guidelines

Guidelines were passed out for the Fund Raising sub-committee, and other committees were encouraged to establish guidelines using this format by the next meeting in October.

A. Zeb Nash recognized the members of the Fund Raising sub-committee: Ernie Banks, Tyrona Johnson, Greg McClain, Robert Morrison, and Walter Reed. His sub-committee will focus on increasing funds in the MLK Scholarship Endowment to $200,000 by 1/1/2000; in the George Scholarship Endowment to $200,000 by 4/27/2000, and in the MEP Endowment to $300,000 by their 30th year celebration in 2004. Leaders have been assigned for each fund as follows: Tyrona Johnson for the MLK fund; Bob Morrison for the George Scholarship; and Ernie Banks for the MEP endowment. MEP is anticipated to be the most challenging of the three, and Ernie will need the full support of the committee. Tyrona Johnson reported that her strategy includes email solicitation, with Marianne Ward in Annual Giving accepting faxed responses, followed up by a direct mail campaign. Lawrence George commented that personal contact will be more effective than either approach mentioned and may need to be used as well. Ernie Banks reported that his strategy will be to talk to former MEP students first, then work for corporate support. Zeb Nash reported that the George Scholarship fund will probably be the easiest challenge, and the amount to be raised is smaller.

B. Lawrence George discussed Legislative Recognition Day recently held in Jefferson City and encouraged participation by all Missouri residents in this event each year. Henry Brown will identify individuals to help out with legislative relations and will personally contact them to ask their help. James Nicks consented to head the Legislative Relations sub-committee.

C. Earl Wiggley consented to head the Public Relations sub-committee.

D. Valentino Bates consented to head the Recruiting sub-committee.

E. Myron Biddle consented to head the Retention sub-committee.

F. Greg McClain consented to head the 4.0 System sub-committee.

V. Old Business

Toni Scott reported on the success of students who took the 4.0 System course. It seemed to be a bad semester all around, for a variety of reasons, with only 35% of African American students who participated increasing their gradepoint, and 50% showing a decrease. Some reported they didn't study as hard as they should, some had family problems. There is no data on whether or not they are actually using the system. Comparison to the entire campus gradepoint change would be helpful next time. Toni Scott and Carol Durk offered an additional seminar, Academic Excellence, last semester similar to the 4.0 program. It was announced that Greg McClain will donate some funds for the Academic Excellence program.

Terrence McCloud and NicKia McMurtrey reported on the Student Survey Focus Group, designed to assess baseline for need to change. They had both minority and white students in the focus group, with white students in the majority. The group discussed possible reasons why minority students don't participate more in multicultural or AACRC events.

VI. New Business

Lawrence George discussed committee appointments, reporting that Philip McNeal cannot continue, but all others whose terms are expiring would be willing to continue. Greg McClain nominated Darryl Moore, and Ernie Banks nominated Sean Huggans. Lawrence pointed out the list of nominees he handed out, stating that those who do not respond to his calls will be dropped from the list. Chancellor Park thanked everyone for their willingness to serve on this committee. Zeb Nash asked if it would be appropriate to have an African student in addition to the two African-American students currently on the committee.

Lawrence George also encouraged committee members to recommend any African-American or other minority applicants for positions on UMR faculty or staff.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.