Board of trustees, Nelms discuss minority recruitment, retention

The IU board of trustees held its last meeting of the year Thursday and Friday at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis.\nJohn Walda, president of the board of trustees, said the most notable event at the meeting was a long session held by Charlie Nelms, vice president for student development and diversity, on minority recruitment and retention.\nNelms reviewed statistics on retention at all IU campuses and the board identified campuses that need improvement.\n"Bloomington looks pretty good," Walda said. "But there is room for improvement on the rest of our campuses."\nTrustee Stephen Backer said Nelms was charged with developing a plan to increase both recruitment and retention, and then he will have to present it to the board for financial approval.\n"Bloomington really doesn't have a problem with retention, but recruitment is always an issue," Backer said. "He's to come back to us with a plan and a dollar value attached to the plan, and we will see if we can find funds to finance the plan."\nAt the meeting, the board also discussed various programs on all the campuses that have been effective in the past in retaining students.\n"Vice President Nelms recommended some steps for the future to improve retention," Walda said. "Those included having more and broader summer programs for incoming freshmen and having better mentoring programs while students are on campus."\nPlans were also approved for phase two of a medical research complex being built on the Indianapolis campus.\nSusan Dillman, director of media relations, said there were no surprises at the meeting. She also said biology professor Craig Nelson, who recently won a Carnegie Foundation award, was honored. \n"There really weren't any major items on the agenda this month. I don't think there's anything of any consequence, nothing that would have any major impact on students at this point," Backer said. "Other than (the diversity workshop), it was a rather quiet meeting"