Summary of the Winter ANC Board Meetings

Dear Friends,

The Academy Board of Trustees held a series of momentous meetings over the weekend of February 1 and 2, 2008. The Trustees approved:

• The spending of endowment for two transformational projects on the Bryn Athyn College campus -- the Grant Doering Center for Science and Research and the construction of a new gateway building (official name to be determined), for student life and admissions offices. [Clicking on the links will open a new window with architects' renderings of the proposed buildings.] These two projects add to the Academy's current indebtedness for the Dining Hall and student apartment projects and other campus improvements. The Board of Trustees expects these obligations to be repaid by a significant component in the upcoming capital campaign, increased enrollment, cost controls, and other measures to bring the Academy's payout rate back down to 5% within the next 15 years. With these improvements, the Academy's payout rate is expected to exceed 8% by 2010 and move potentially higher for several years thereafter.
  
  
• In another historic move the Academy and General Church Boards agreed in principle to cover the full tuition and living expenses for theologs during a 3-year period of study at the Academy Theological School. This frees theologs from the obligation to work while in school. The Theological School will introduce a new practical training program in subject areas such as counseling, conflict resolution, community service and basic administrative skills as a society leader. The Academy and General Church will also ramp up the continuing education support for new pastors to ensure that important skills are being developed after their graduation. New recruiting efforts and admissions criteria are being introduced. The General Church is also working on enhancements to its regional pastoral system to improve the support and feedback given to pastors in the field. Currently the General Church is experiencing a critical minister shortage. Many of these efforts will not bear fruit for several years, but the Boards were excited about the possibilities that some outstanding candidates will be able to attend the Theological School as a result of these changes. There is hope that within four to five years as a result of these changes, the minister shortage can be alleviated and we can begin to address the General Church's goal of meaningful contact with at least a million people.
  

These two significant developments are important components of the Academy and General Church's strategic plans. During the weekend, the Academy's Strategic Planning Committee met to review progress against the plan, including the marketing, recruiting and people strategies discussed later in this report. The Board of Trustees was brought up-to-date as well.

The weekend of meetings began with an excellent presentation to the Academy Education Committee by the Secondary Schools and College residence hall directors about residence life. This has always been a huge part of an Academy educational experience. By nurturing, guiding and setting appropriate boundaries and rules, the residence hall directors and staff make an incalculable difference in the lives of their charges. Former boarding students have powerful memories of dorm life that stay with them long after they have graduated. The committee saw a video of dorm life in the Secondary Schools and talked to current boarding students about their experiences in the College residences. They learned about some of the plans for the new College apartments coming on line this September. The meeting concluded with rousing affirmation of the important work of the residence hall directors and staff from the committee.

Admissions and Marketing: The Administration and the Heads of Schools affirmed that they are fully committed to growth of Bryn Athyn College and the Secondary Schools because it is consistent with our Charter and our mission, it supports the growth of the Church and "it is the right thing to do."

President Carswell said we have a more open admissions policy in our schools without compromising our doctrinal standards. He explained, "If we, as best we can, assess that a person is affirmative to worshipping the Lord, trying to live a good life according to what He teaches, and an affirmative attitude toward the other fundamental New Church ideas that are part of an Academy education, then we believe we should try to provide them that education and encourage them in the light and life of the New Church."

Eric cited "A Brief History of Urbana University," which he produced with Planned Giving Director Tom Brecht, to demonstrate how we have been and are fundamentally different from Urbana and that by adhering to the tenets and precepts of our Charter we can effectively welcome new people and be a strong institution of New Church education. (If you would like a copy, please contact development@anc-gc.org.)

The Board heard a presentation of the philosophy, rationale and guidelines for our admissions policy, plus an outline of the carefully thought out steps in the admissions process. Boys School Principal Scott Daum emphasized that at the Secondary Schools level we are recruiting families, not individual students.

As part of the presentation, the Board heard moving testimonials from Jeff Lites and Jeff Penecale, fathers of boys new to the Church and the Academy on how the Academy is transforming their sons' lives in very positive ways. Mr. Lites suggested that we think of them as "extended family," rather than "nontraditional." He also participated in a gospel music portion of the Sunday Contemporary Service.

Following are some of the key committee report developments and actions:

Glencairn Museum has recently completed a museum assessment process. One of the items that surfaced as a result of this work is a desire to have the Glencairn Museum recognized as a permanent integral component of the Academy of the New Church, serving its educational mission. Museum Director, Stephen Morley, led a discussion on this matter and the Trustees adopted this "Resolution of Permanence."

Academy Treasurer Dan Allen reported that we are progressing as expected with our budget for the current year.

The Finance Committee, in addition to approving the capital budget with the major construction projects mentioned previously, also approved fees for the Academy for next year. In general, fees will be increasing by 5%.

The Investment Committee chair, Dirk Jungé, reassured the Board on how the endowment is fairing in the current market turmoil caused by the problems in the credit market. At the same time, the New Church Investment Fund is looking for further diversification of the portfolio into hedge funds in the near future, in accordance with the best practices of college and university endowments. We are doing this to seek higher returns for our strategic plan initiatives.

The Development Committee reported good progress for the annual fund through December 31. Director Wayne Parker also outlined the upcoming capital campaign to be done in conjunction with the General Church. He announced that Mr. Edward Asplundh will be assisting as Honorary Co-chair of the campaign.

The Human Resource Committee chair, Jill Brickman, and the Joint Benefits Committee chair, Jamie Uber, updated the Board on the progress of PeopleVision. Recent communications have gone out to employees about the upcoming changes in the pension and investment savings plan, the change introduced last year with our retiree medical, and the new financial planning services from AIG Retirement for our employees. A compensation consulting firm, ORC, is assisting the Academy and the Church on a total compensation project as we look toward an employee component for our upcoming capital campaign. Finally, another employee survey will be conducted soon. The last survey was conducted in October 2006 and much has occurred since then.

Legal Advisory Committee chair, Phil Zuber, introduced bylaw amendments to be submitted to the Corporation prior to our annual meeting in May. These amendments primarily reflect the respective roles of the President and Executive Vice President in the new Academy leadership structure.

The Resource Committee wishes to remind the Board and Corporation that the Conflict of Interest request for the current year is about to be released.

The Board elected Dirk Jungé as the new Vice Chair to take effect after the spring meeting when current Vice Chair, Fred Fiedler, will complete his term on the Board of Trustees.

The Board Tenure Committee is in the process of transitioning the process of granting tenure to Bryn Athyn College faculty to a Bryn Athyn College Committee. The Board reviewed the guidelines and set expectations for continuing faculty review. Following this step the Board Tenure Committee will no longer have any responsibility for college tenure and the Board's remaining responsibility in this regard will be to establish the appropriate number of tenure slots at the College.

The Board also had a joint meeting with the General Church during the weekend. In addition to the important business of approving the Theological School changes mentioned above, the Academy Board was introduced to the major components of the General Church's strategic plan.

Rev. Eric H. Carswell President
eric.carswell@anc-gc.org
267-502-2579

Daniel T. Allen, Vice President/Treasurer
daniel.allen@anc-gc.org
267-502-2636