The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Board of Trustees (BOT) spent two days on campus to discuss and vote on a menu of agenda issues facing USNH, as well as Keene State College (KSC), Plymouth State University (PSU) and the University of New Hampshire (UNH), the three institutions under the system’s umbrella. USNH BOT members spent Thursday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Oct. 24 in the L.P. Young Student Center’s Mabel Brown Room.
October 23
The first meeting on Friday, Oct. 23, was broken into a series of committee reports, where agenda items were reported to the board and deliberated on. Five committees presented during the meeting, starting with the Educational Excellence Committee. Following the Educational Excellence Committee’s period, the Audit Committee and Governance Committee convened simultaneously. The Investments and Capital Planning Committee followed, and the meeting closed with the Financial Affairs Committee.
Enrollment, student retention and graduation rates were discussed during the Educational Excellence Committee’s meeting segment. Following the closure of the benchmark “registration plus 30 days” (R+30) deadline, statistics that determine the gap between admission and enrollment have been solidified, giving administrators a stronger system-wide data set. During the meeting, the Educational Excellence Committee stated that admitted students who declined to attend USNH institutions cited financial concerns, including cost and financial aid, according to survey data.
Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at UNH Kim DeRego spoke during the Educational Excellence Committee’s meeting segment, delivering a robust and hopeful messaging strategy about how the value of a USNH educational experience is crucial for enrollment and retention strategies across institutions.
“What we really try to do is offer programs that will bring value to students, helping them with their future, career and happiness. We know that we have those programs at all of our USNH campuses because our students have higher levels of outcome and success than many of our competitor and comparator schools,” said DeRego.
“We really want to be doing everything we can to communicate that to all prospective students, because that is how we are going to maintain healthy enrollment,” added DeRego.
October 24
Following the Oct. 23 meeting, the USNH BOT convened to vote on agenda items discussed at the previous session. A “host campus” presentation opened the meeting, with a panel of eight KSC alumni speaking about their post-graduation success. The panel members, hailing from a wide swathe of graduation years, majors and career journeys, spoke about their time at KSC and answered questions from Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kirsti Sandy. Panel members included Matt Sampson, ‘19, Benjamin S. Wheeler, ‘05, Lisa Spencer, ‘01 (Master’s Degree, Educational Leadership ‘07), Tim Pipp, ‘11, Lillian Chase, ‘23, Jesse Brown, ‘16, who is currently serving as a Sustainable Product Design and Innovation (SPDI) Adjunct Professor at KSC, Gianna Ricco, ‘21, and Megan Stone, ‘12.
Pipp, who previously served as Executive Editor and Advertising Director for The Equinox, started his own screen printing business while finishing his degree at KSC. Today, Pipp’s company, Beeze Tees, employs KSC students. Pipp started the company during his senior year, inspired by a coach he had worked with during his time as a student athlete.
“My coach at the time had formerly been a screen printer before becoming a coach, and he was always talking about how he wished one of his students would do this. I had a lot of connections through my role at The Equinox, and I was always entrepreneurial to begin with, so I taught myself to screen print during my senior year and devoted a lot of my time to starting this business,” said Pipp.
According to Pipp, students should not fear taking ambitious leaps while still being in college.
“I know this sounds cliché, but you have to just do it,” said Pipp.
“I won’t lie, it is hard to start a business in college, but after you graduate you have to figure something out. The economy was not the best when I graduated, and we did not know what the job market was going to be like, but you can always create an opportunity for yourself before you need to,” added Pipp.
Chase, who currently serves as Program and Development Coordinator for the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship, said that internship experiences during her time as a student translated into a job opportunity.
“I’m proud of the internship opportunity I had here. It really opened me up to the greater community, and I was very lucky that my internship opportunity translated into a job. That doesn’t happen for everybody,” said Chase.
“I think that it is very important to open yourself to new experiences and put yourself out there. As a writing major, I never thought that I’d be working with entrepreneurs, but that’s what I’m doing now, and still using my writing skills every day,” added Chase.
According to Sandy, the alumni presentation served to further highlight KSC’s reputation of successful student achievements following graduation.
“It was honestly so hard to pick just a few students [alumni] to feature,” said Sandy.
“We actually had too many recommendations to choose from. One thing I didn’t expect was that some of the panelists were giving me updates on the lives of their friends and former roommates who have also gone off to do amazing things with their KSC educations. I hope that this is very inspiring for Keene State students,” added Sandy.
KSC Interim President Donald Birx said the alumni panel highlighted the value of a liberal arts education.
“One thing I thought was absolutely key from one of the alumni speakers was about how their time [at KSC] gave them the immediate skillset to jump into a career option. One of the things that I want to accomplish [as Interim President] is getting students to hit the ground running with their first few years here, that can then be transitioned into a role they can grow into,” said Birx.
“I was walking down Appian Way the other day, seeing the Alumni passing by, and thinking how great of a job [KSC] has done in demonstrating the value of the liberal arts,” added Birx.
After the conclusion of the alumni panel, a series of speeches and final farewells for former KSC President Melinda Treadwell were held, as well as a standing ovation.
Following the KSC-centric portion of the meeting, the USNH BOT shifted to keynote agenda items. According to the USNH BOT meeting agenda, business included the approval of tuition, mandatory student fees and room and board rates of Fiscal Year 2027 (FY’27), exploratory measures for renovations of KSC’s Morrison Hall and approvals for renovation projects at UNH.
UNH’s women’s locker room renovations received a budget upgrade, lifting the pre-approved renovation budget of $10.5 million, adding $3.012 million. The approved measure increases renovation funds to $13.512 million, with the additional monies allocated by donor funds for the UNH Ski Team’s locker rooms.
The meeting concluded with a non-public session. According to an unnamed USNH Board of Trustees member, business discussed at the non-public session is not likely to affect KSC and was more relevant to UNH.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
