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Meet the Members of the Board of Trustees

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Each year, the John Brown University Board of Trustees comes together to review the current state of the school and to address how the institution will thrive best in the future. But what exactly is a board of trustees? Who is on it? And what do they do?

A board of trustees in its most basic sense is a governing body that makes financial, academic and other institutional decisions for a university. JBU’s Board of Trustees is comprised of 28 members. 19 are alumni, and the remainder are connected to the school in other various ways.

The Board meets two or more times a year, at least once in the fall and once in the spring. Since many members live outside of Siloam Springs, telecommunication methods are also utilized.

Last week, the University’s Board arrived on campus for a compilation of meetings. President Pollard and other cabinet members presented the school’s latest achievements and focuses at a special luncheon. Later on, the board divided into its respective committees to discuss in detail endowment, membership, student development and academics.

These four categories stay the same each year. However, the specific topics they deliberate change annually.

Bethany Metzger, the vice president of finance for the student government association, sat in on the Endowment Committee meeting as a student representative. This group focused on how the University’s endowment money is spent.

“Right now, the plan is more short-term,” Metzger said. “They are now working to make it more long-term. Looking at maybe a 20-year plan. And discussing where all the money would go within that.”

Metzger added that since this was the first official meeting of this year’s Board, that the day was also a time of introductions, and general planning and assessment.

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