A number of important issues were reported Friday in a joint meeting of the Board of Trustees, the Coastal Educational Foundation, the Student Housing Foundation and the Horry County Higher Education Commission. Although you'll read about them more extensively in the newspaper and see stories on television, I wanted to share a summary of these events and solicit your support for these volunteer board members, who give hundreds of hours annually in support of the mission and purpose of our university.

Here are the highlights of this meeting:

- Chairman Billy Alford has formed twelve subcommittees of the Board of Trustees. These subcommittees will meet monthly. He has also asked the Board to meet every two months instead of quarterly. This accelerated meeting schedule will be helpful in addressing issues of growth and change as we continue serving students.

- The Coastal Educational Foundation passed a resolution declaring the arena contract in default of the October 1 construction deadline. That contract was with Coastal Carolina Arena, LLC, the development group interested in building a new venue for our men's and women's basketball teams. The motion directs the Foundation's legal counsel to deliver this notice in writing immediately to arena developers. Several basketball fans have asked me about Plan "B" for an arena. Right now there is no Plan "B," but an arena is high on our wish list, and we will continue talking with university boards and alumni about next steps at the appropriate time.

- The Foundation also received results of its annual audit and is taking steps to correct several issues associated with timely recognition of pledges and accounting procedures.

- The Student Housing Foundation Chairman Charlie Hodge reported that the Foundation has received a good offer for the sale of University Place. If the sale is completed, the university will benefit from the largest monetary windfall in the history of the university.

Whenever you see members of these boards, please thank them for their diligence and commitment on our behalf. Their perseverance in resolving these issues is the reason our university is destined to prosper. Eddie Dyer and I appreciate their sound business judgment, dedication to public service and wise stewardship as we begin the second half of our first year of this administration.