After serving as the head of the Penn State Board of Trustees for two years, Steve Garban said he will step down from his position as chairman.
His announcement came at the Board of Trustees meeting Friday inside a packed ballroom at the Nittany Lion Inn. Hundreds of media and onlookers watched as the board met for the first time this year to discuss matters ranging from building projects to legal reports.
Nearing the end of the meeting, Garban broke the news that he would not seek a third term as chairman of the board during his scheduled report. First named to the board as a trustee in 1998, Garban has been chairman of the board since 2010.
"During these days I've had some regrets," Garban said. "But one I don't have is this board has been together, never forgetting their responsibilities and acted decisively and unanimously."
Minutes later, Karen Peetz was elected as the new chairwoman after a nomination from trustee Joel Myers.
Peetz has been on the board since 2010 when she was appointed as a trustee representing business and industry.
She is currently the vice-chairwoman and CEO of Financial Markets and Treasury Services at the Bank of New York Mellon.
Peetz took to the lectern following her appointment and listed three areas the board will focus on under her leadership: change, reform and transparency.
"I'm extremely confident that we can continue on the path that we have been on," Peetz said. "And that working together, we will absolutely have that as the outcome."
John Surma, former vice chairman of the board, also announced he would not purse another term. Surma, a trustee since 2007, had been vice chairman since 2010. He is currently the chairman and CEO of United States Steel Corporation.
Surma said the demands of his position with U.S. Steel meant that he could not fulfill his leadership role on the board any longer.
Keith Masser was named vice chairman in Surma's wake. Masser, a trustee since 2008, currently serves as the president of Sterman Masser Inc.
Penn State President Rodney Erickson also addressed the board early in the meeting with a report about the state of the university.
Erickson said that he has been exploring the option of creating an ethics officer position within the President's Council. This officer will have direct access to the board, and a nationwide search for someone to fill this role will be conducted in the near future, he said.
The number of undergraduate applications was also touched upon in his report. Erickson said the university has received nearly 61,000 applications as of last Monday, a three percent increase over last year's total.
The state spending freeze, and its resulting 5 percent -- or $11.4 million -- appropriations cut to the university was also addressed by Erickson.
"We are about to enter what appears to be a very difficult budget cycle for the commonwealth," Erickson said to the board members in attendance, one of which was Gov. Tom Corbett who had authorized the budget cuts last month.
Following Erickson's report, Interim Athletic Director David Joyner gave an overview of intercollegiate athletics to the board.
Joyner reported that while the university has lost one athletic sponsorship since former assistant football assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with sex abuse, it hasn't lost any recruits since two de-committed early on in the case.
Trustee Kenneth Frazier, head of the task force, also gave an update on the Special Investigative Committee's internal investigation.
Frazier said the committee, led by former FBI director Judge Louis Freeh, made five points of recommendation for the board to adopt, since the investigation commenced in November: strengthening university policies for programs involving minors; prompt reporting of incidents of abuse and sexual misconduct; compliance with the Cleary Act's training and reporting requirements; administrative reforms; and security at athletic facilities.
Although Frazier said the internal investigation was "well underway," no artificial timetables will be imposed upon the committee.
The board unanimously voted to approve the hiring of David Gray as the new senior vice president for Finance and Business.
Gray, a former University of Massachusetts administrator, will assume his position on Feb. 6. Gray was also appointed to the positions of Board of Trustees treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
The trustees also approved numerous building projects, renovations, and property purchases.
Ford Stryker, associate vice president for Penn State's Office of Physical Plant, gave brief overviews of proposed renovation projects and expansions to the Arboretum, South Frear Building, the Main Building of Penn State Brandywine, Moore and Cedar Buildings and an air-conditioning retrofit to Recreation Hall.
One of the most costly projects approved was the Pegula Ice Arena, an $89 million, 6,000-seat stadium that will be the future home of Penn State's NCAA Division I men's and women's ice hockey programs and a community ice rink.
With the exception of Corbett, every member of the board voted to approve the building projects and renovations. Corbett said he didn't have enough information on the details of each project and abstained from voting.
Room and board rates for the 2012-2013 academic year were also approved by the board.
Gail Hurley, associate vice president for Auxilliary and Business Services, said that the rate will be $4,495 per semester -- an increase by $125, or 2.86 percent, over last year's rates. The rate increase is the second-lowest in the past 20 years, Hurley said.
In-house General Counsel Cynthia Baldwin gave a legal update about recent events to the board. Baldwin cited two cases already initiated with Penn State -- "John Doe v. The Second Mile, Gerald Sandusky and Penn State" and "C. Miller v. The Second Mile, Gerald Sandusky and Penn State." Baldwin said the university has also received several notices for preservation holds for documents and records, which are already in place.
