On Friday, Dec. 6, the Board of Trustees of the University of the Virgin Islands held a special meeting in the third-floor conference room of the Administration and Conference Center on the St. Thomas Campus via teleconference. The Board approved a motion to adopt two resolutions ratifying and affirming actions taken in executive session on Oct. 26 and Nov. 11.
One resolution ratified and reaffirmed actions taken in executive session on Oct. 26. Those actions are:
• Approval, by a unanimous vote, of the minutes of the Executive Session held on June 15;
• Approval, by a unanimous vote, of the candidates for Honorary Degrees;
• Approval, by a unanimous vote, of a list of candidates for Commencement Speaker;
• Request, by the following majority vote, that the UVI Research and Technology Park Corporation (RTPark) submit a payment-schedule for $484,800.00 owed to the University:
- Gwendolyn Adams-Norton – Yes
- Joshua Edwards – Abstain
- Donna Frett-Gregory – Abstain
- Carol Fulp –Yes
- Dr. David Hall – Abstain
- Alexander Moorhead – Abstain
- Jennifer Nugent-Hill – Yes
- Oswin Sewer, Sr. – Yes
- Henry Smock – Abstain
- Jacqueline Sprauve – Yes
- Patricia Steele – No
- Luz Suarez-Highfield – Abstain
- Edward Thomas – Abstain
- Dr. Yvonne Thraen – Yes
- Dr. Teresa Turner – Yes
- Sinclair Wilkinson – Yes
- Dr. Wesley Williams Jr. – Yes
• Approval, by the following majority vote, of a request from RTPark for the University to pledge Parcel No. 12 of VI Corp Land as collateral for a line of credit for cash flow for RTPark:
- Gwendolyn Adams-Norton – No
- Joshua Edwards – Yes
- Donna Frett-Gregory – Abstain
- Carol Fulp – Yes
- Dr. David Hall – Yes
- Alexander Moorhead – Yes
- Jennifer Nugent-Hill – No
- Oswin Sewer, Sr. – Yes
- Henry Smock – Yes
- Jacqueline Sprauve – Yes
- Patricia Steele – Yes
- Luz Suarez-Highfield – Yes
- Edward Thomas – Yes
- Dr. Yvonne Thraen – Yes
- Dr. Teresa Turner – Yes
- Sinclair Wilkinson – Yes
- Dr. Wesley Williams Jr. – Yes
• Authorization, by a unanimous vote, for the University President to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, and an affiliate of New Generation Power, to establish an endowed fund at the Foundation for the University of the Virgin Islands for the benefit of a medical school and of undergraduate and graduate programs related to health and sciences at UVI; and
• Ratification, by a unanimous vote, of the Executive Committee's acceptance, on behalf of the Board, of President Hall's Self-Assessment of his job performance in 2012-2013 based on the goals that were agreed to for that period and of the Committee’s acceptance of his proposed Presidential Goals for 2013-2014.
The second resolution ratified and reaffirmed action taken by majority vote in executive session on Nov. 11, authorizing UVI Board of Trustees Chairman Alexander A. Moorhead to negotiate and execute an agreement with Dr. David Hall to employ him as president of the University for the period of Aug. 1, 2014 through July 31, 2019, on substantially the same terms as those contained in a draft employment agreement proposed by the Executive Committee, which was amended by the Board during executive session. The vote on Nov. 11, was:
- Gwendolyn Adams-Norton – Yes
- Joshua Edwards – Abstain
- Donna Frett-Gregory – Abstain
- Carol Fulp – Yes
- Dr. David Hall – Absent
- Alexander Moorhead – Yes
- Jennifer Nugent-Hill – Yes
- Oswin Sewer, Sr. – No
- Henry Smock – Yes
- Jacqueline Sprauve – Abstain
- Patricia Steele – No
- Luz Suarez-Highfield – Yes
- Edward Thomas – Yes
- Dr. Yvonne Thraen – No
- Dr. Teresa Turner – Yes
- Sinclair Wilkinson – No
- Dr. Wesley Williams Jr. – Yes
The trustees who voted at the special meeting to adopt the two resolutions were UVI Board of Trustees members Moorhead, the chairman, Henry Smock, the vice chair, Jennifer Nugent-Hill, Edward Thomas, Yvonne Thraen, Sinclair Wilkinson, Wesley Williams, Carol Fulp, Patricia Steele, Jacqueline Sprauve, Teresa Turner and Joshua Edwards. Trustee Oswin Sewer abstained from the vote. Dr. Hall absented himself from the Nov. 11 and Dec. 6 meetings in deference to the policy of the Board of Trustees on conflicts of interest.
There were allegations that the Nov. 11, Board meeting, which was a continuation of an executive session that was recessed on Oct. 26, was not held in accordance with the Sunshine law because there was no notice of the date on which the continuation would occur. After consulting of the University’s legal counsel, Board Chairman Moorhead concluded that the Nov. 11, meeting was held in accordance with the law. Nonetheless, in an abundance of caution he called the Dec. 6, meeting to ratify and affirm the actions taken during the prior executive sessions.