October 2019 EDUCAUSE Board of Directors Meeting

One day before our October EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, the board of directors met in Chicago, Illinois. The meeting was short (one day) but productive and included an inside look at what was new this year for the conference. At the time of the meeting, we did not know that this year's annual conference would be the biggest conference in EDUCAUSE history, but we knew the numbers looked good. Beyond the impressive numbers, the board acknowledged advancements made in the design of the event and the quality of sessions. In particular, there was recognition of the 35+ sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which is a priority for the board, as well as of the first DEI Leadership Award.

At this meeting the board welcomed the two newly elected board members, Helen Norris and Jennifer Sparrow. In addition, the board named two at-large board members, Mark Roman and Amelia Parnell. Finally, the board also designated Michael Berman as replacement to serve for the final year in the term of Hilary Baker, who is retiring at the end of 2019.

After approving the consent agenda, the board discussed elements from the "president's report," including the following:

• Information Technology (Mairéad Martin)
• Business Services (Stacy Ruwe)
• Digital Communications and Content (Catherine Yang)
• Communities and Research (Susan Grajek)
• Professional Learning (Eden Dahlstrom)
• President's Office (John O'Brien and Nicole McWhirter)

The board also completed the CEO performance evaluation using the EDUCAUSE 2019 organizational goals as a key part of that review. In addition, the board considered the proposed organizational goals for 2020, which are expected to be formally approved at a virtual board meeting in December 2019.

Finally, the board took up the trimester financial review that takes place every year at this meeting and discussed EDUCAUSE financial status and trends and our stewardship of member resources, concluding that EDUCAUSE is on-track to finish the year in a sound financial position.

EDUCAUSE is fortunate to have a truly exceptional board, effectively led by Chair Michele Norin.

Note: As always, more details on this and other board meetings can be found in the official board minutes, which are archived here. Meeting minutes are posted online after they are approved by the board. The meeting minutes for the October 2019 meeting will be available soon.

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John O'Brien is President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.