Regents hold annual meeting

Luther welcomed its Board of Regents to campus for a full committee meeting Feb. 19-20. As Luther’s guiding decision-making committee, members of the Board met for a weekend of conferences and campus activities.

The 30-member board hails from 13 states and board member Steven Schaver, from Madrid, Spain. Also in attendance were four faculty representatives and one student representative.

Luther’s Board of Regents meets on campus three times throughout each academic year to discuss and act upon key issues within the school.

Faculty representative and Professor of Political Science John Moeller commented that holding the meetings on campus allows the regents to connect with campus.

“It is exciting for them to see what they are working for actually being played out,” Moeller said. “These people really care about and are committed to the school.”

The weekend’s agenda included meetings of specific committees within the Regents Board. Two full Board sessions were also held, one on Friday afternoon and the other on Saturday morning. During the full Board sessions several key topics were addressed.

President Torgerson and Jim Martin-Schramm gave a presentation on financing options for the proposed wind turbine to be purchased by Luther.

Eleven professors were granted tenure, and four other faculty members were promoted to full professorship.

The Board heard a presentation on interdisciplinary learning at Luther from a variety of the college’s professors.

Scot Schaeffer of Luther’s Admissions Office provided a report that included a demonstration of LogicAid, a data-modeling tool that helps with managing financial aid costs. The program uses a systematic approach to determine financial aid amounts granted to individual students. Also reported were the number of applications and deposits received for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Included in the general budget presentation was a discussion of renovating Towers.

Regents also had the opportunity to observe a class Friday morning, tour the CFL art gallery, featuring the works of the late Robert Porter, husband of Regent Emma Graeber Porter, and enjoy a dinner performance by the J-term Music 239 choir that traveled to South Africa.

The Board of Regents will reconvene in May.