TSU Board of Trustees passes resolution in response to Comptroller’s report

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The Tennessee State University Board of Trustees passed a resolution on Thursday directing the university’s management to take significant measures to respond to the Tennessee Comptroller’s report and improve operational effectiveness.

The action comes after the Comptroller’s Office delivered a scathing report, blaming the school’s management for its student housing issues.

The report concluded that TSU leaders’ lack of planning, management and sound decision-making exacerbated the need for emergency housing during the 2022-23 school year after the university admitted a record number of students.

The TSU Board of Trustees discussed the Comptroller’s report in-depth before adopting a resolution that implements a comprehensive plan to ensure greater accountability by the TSU management. The board also committed to actively engaging in an enhanced oversight of TSU’s operational and fiscal practices.

Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Deborah Cole said the resolution outlines specific action items for the TSU board and administration moving forward, including housing, enrollment and scholarship data reporting requirements and a personnel action plan.

Cole said that the resolution demonstrates how seriously the TSU Board takes the Comptroller’s report, including the report’s policy considerations.

The Comptroller’s special report included a number of policy considerations for the Tennessee General Assembly, ranging from replacing TSU’s Board of Trustees and management to enhanced reporting from current TSU leadership.

The board approved a 12-point resolution in response to the report. TSU management has already undertaken corrective measures and enhancements to address the report that was released in February, including housing-related measures.

The Board resolved to take and direct the following actions to address and correct the issues, conclusions and policy considerations reflected in the Comptroller’s February 2023 report:

1. The TSU Board of Trustees is committed to actively engaging in an enhanced oversight of TSU’s operational and fiscal practices, including working more closely with TSU management in operational and fiscal areas.
2. The TSU Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee will examine the Board’s current committee structure to ensure the appropriate number and focus of its committees and provide recommendations to the full Board if warranted.
3. To further strengthen the Board’s overall effectiveness, the Board will continue to work with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, including with its self-assessment process, to enhance the Board’s operational effectiveness.
4. The TSU Board of Trustees hereby directs the TSU administration to provide an annual scholarship plan to the Board and, commencing the Board’s June 2023 meeting, present reports at the Board’s regular meetings pertaining to the number and value of all scholarships offered and the number of signed scholarship acceptance offers, notwithstanding the fact that a scholarship presentation will be made at the March 2023 meeting. The TSU administration shall ensure that it provides a copy of the annual scholarship plan to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for the academic years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
5. The TSU Board of Trustees directs the TSU management to provide housing application and enrollment application data to the Board, commencing at the Board’s June 2023 meeting, and thereafter at its March, June, and September Board meetings, notwithstanding the fact that enrollment data report will be made at the March 2023 meeting. The TSU management shall also provide a copy of said housing and enrollment application data to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for the academic years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, and to the State Building Commission, upon request.
6. The TSU Board of Trustees directs the TSU management to provide enrollment classification data to the Board, commencing at the Board’s June 2023 meeting, and thereafter at its March, June and September Board meetings, notwithstanding the fact that an enrollment presentation will be made at the March 2023 meeting.
7. The TSU Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring that TSU management has sufficient and appropriate personnel to operate TSU in a productive and efficient manner, and to that end, hereby directs President (Glenda) Glover to conduct a review of personnel, including, but not limited to, organizational structure, performance, and staffing within units, and present a personnel action plan, which shall include a plan of action for filling all vacant and interim positions, to the Board at its June 2023 meeting.
8. The TSU Board of Trustees further directs President Glover to retain, in an expeditious manner, a chief operating officer, a Director of Construction Management or a similarly titled position, and conduct an in-depth review of Enrollment Management operations.
9. The TSU Board of Trustees directs TSU Management to present to the Finance and Budget Committee for its prior approval specified financial/budget changes that exceed 10%, including scholarships and directs TSU Management to present to the Board for its approval a policy consistent with this directive.
10. The TSU Board of Trustees, in concurrence with the Comptroller’s report, shall take all appropriate measures, including having its Board Special Committee on Housing work closely and expeditiously with TSU Management, to add at least two new residence halls to the University’s housing inventory.
11. The TSU Board of Trustees hereby directs the TSU Management to provide, for at least the next two fiscal years, a report at each Board meeting addressing the University’s practices and responsiveness regarding student-related communications, including in the areas of enrollment, housing and financial aid.
12. The TSU Board of Trustees, through its respective Board Committees, shall monitor and review adherence to the directives and matters contained in this Resolution, and directs TSU Management to present a report at its quarterly meetings updating the Board on TSU’s adherence to the directives contained in this Resolution.

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