By Anna Mitchell

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

COLUMBIA — The Clemson University Board of Trustees heard positive reports about student applications and a major fund-raising campaign during its quarterly meeting Wednesday.

The trustees are scheduled to meet in Columbia again today, but the all-day work session will be closed to the public. Clemson spokeswoman Robin Denny said the trustees would be discussing legal, contractual and personnel matters.

Provost Dori Helms said undergraduate applications are up 2 percent, graduate applications are up 3 percent and applications from transfer students are up 7 percent.

Trustee Smyth McKissick, chairman of the $600 million Will to Lead campaign, said $29 million has been raised since August. The campaign now stands at $462.9 million, according to a statement from the school.

“There’s no doubt that the news today is good but we have a lot of work to do,” McKissick said.

Highlights of the trustees’ finance committee meeting included the need to replace a roof at the Clemson Engineering Technology Laboratory outside Pendleton and the construction of a new indoor practice facility for football on campus. During the educational policy committee meeting, trustees voted for a new concentration in physics education and a proposal to offer a master’s degree in electrical engineering program online.

The trustees did not discuss cost-cutting or organizational changes that could be coming.

The university has been asking department heads across campus to come up with ways to save or raise money as it faces another year of severe budget cuts — and the loss of federal stimulus funds that have helped relieve some of the public-funding erosion since 2008.

In other business, the trustees approved a naming request for the academic facility under construction as part of Lee Hall’s expansion. Denny said the trustees did not name the person they have in mind.

“They want to do a major announcement when the family can be there,” Denny said.