Youngstown State University’s Board of Trustees held a special meeting on campus to discuss, consider and act upon a number of items.
Board members met yesterday afternoon to address the election of a new global trustee, the election of new officers, provide direction for the 2024 fiscal year budget and the presidential search process.
The Board instigated the search for YSU’s next president by passing a resolution to establish the Board of Trustees Presidential Search Guidance Committee and setting a timeline for the Presidential search.
Trustees Chuck George, Anita Hackstedde, Joe Kerola and Laura Lyden will serve on the committee, with George serving as the convener of the group and Trustee Molly Seals as an alternate.
The committee will recommend a search firm to the Board in June, 2023, with the search commencing in Summer, 2023. The Guidance Committee, in consultation with the full board, will down-select candidates to be considered as finalists. Campus constituencies, as well as a Finalist Consideration Committee composed of multiple constituencies, will provide input on the finalists as determined by the Board. The Board intends for the president-designee to begin in the role no later than Fall 2024.
The board also approved a resolution to elect officers to the Board of Trustees. With the term of office commencing immediately upon the conclusion of the special meeting, three new officers were nominated and elected. Trustee Michael Peterson will serve as chair, Trustee George will serve as vice chair and Trustee Hackstedde will serve as secretary for the board.
The Board also approved a resolution naming Jocelyne Kollay Linsalata to a three-year term as a National/Global Trustee. Linsalata is a Youngstown native, two-time graduate of YSU and a longtime member and former chair of the YSU Foundation. She also served as chair of the Foundation’s “We See Tomorrow” fundraising campaign. A recipient of YSU’s Friend of the University Award and the Williamson College of Business Administration’s Outstanding Alumni Service Award, Linsalata has provided significant philanthropic support to YSU.
The Board also passed a resolution that provides guidance to the administration in proposing the budget for the 2024 fiscal year. As part of the Board’s sustainability strategy, the Board directed the administration to include action steps in the FY 2024 operating budget to enhance academic effectiveness and to base the FY 2024 operating budget on the planning assumption of a declining enrollment.
In closing the meeting, Trustee George amongst other comments, stated, “For a vibrant future-state, it must no longer be business as usual, we must implement bold and innovative strategies and tactics to distinguish YSU in an increasingly hyper-competitive higher education future-state.”
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held Thursday, June 22, 2023.
