Board of Trustees February 2026 meeting report to campus
Greetings, Skidmore Community:
I am pleased to share the following report from our February 2026 Skidmore College Board of Trustees meetings.
The events began with a visit to several classes, where our trustees had the opportunity to observe firsthand the dynamics between our students and faculty. We reintroduced this initiative last October, and it has proved, once again, to be a great success. Each time, trustees leave with a deeper appreciation for the distinctive, engaged learning environment that makes Skidmore truly unique. Later, several trustees had dinner with 40+ students in the dining hall — another wonderful engagement.
Our overall approach to the February meetings was different this time. Typically, each committee convenes and provides updates on their ongoing work. Instead, we focused our attention on the implementation of the 2025–2030 Strategic Plan. Now that we are well into the Plan’s first year, it felt both timely and important to take a deeper look at aspects of its six foundations, assess our progress, and examine what we need to do in the coming years.
Foundation 1: Creativity and Academic Excellence: Advancing the Skidmore Difference
This session focused on our ongoing efforts to champion academic freedom where all points of view are welcomed and encouraged, including exploring the possibility of endorsing the University of Chicago’s Principles of Free Expression (from the 2025-26 Strategic Action Agenda).
Drawing on Professor Danielle Allen’s piece “Academic Freedom and Free Speech are Distinct. Both Matter,” we examined these terms along with civil discourse and viewpoint diversity. Although these principles are essential to liberal education and valued in professional and civic life, they are in tension with one another and can be difficult to balance.
In order to give the trustees a sense of these challenges, we discussed two scenarios in which commitments to free speech and expression, academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, and civil discourse are in tension with one another in academic life. Trustees came away from the session with a better understanding of the many difficult issues facing college campuses today.
Foundation 2: Creative Thought in Action: The Skidmore Student Experience
The session was structured around the educational priority of "Learning through Living: Transforming the Residential Student Experience at Skidmore College.” There were three “Learning Goals” for the session: (1) Enhance awareness of the essential elements of a cocurricular approach to the residential student experience; (2) Enhance understanding of the current challenges/opportunities that shape the residential student experience; and (3) Consider/revisit the student experience from a current student perspective.
The session began with an icebreaker titled “Residential Experience BINGO.” The exercise prompted trustees to reflect on contrasts and correspondences between their own college experiences and those of today's students, and to consider which differences most impact student success. This was followed by the presentation “The Skidmore Student-Athlete Experience as a Model for the Residential Experience,” delivered by Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics Gail Cummings-Danson. The presentation highlighted the student-athlete support structure as one potential model for the broader residential experience, exploring which elements are scalable and where investment yields measurable returns.
Finally, a residential experience case study, "First-Year Blues," was reviewed and discussed among the trustees. The overarching theme focused on whether Skidmore's institutional structures and resources adequately support student belonging and holistic success, especially for students who fall outside the most visible support frameworks.
Foundation 3: Supporting the Opportunities of a Skidmore Education
In this session, trustees worked in facilitated table groups and responded to questions about growing the endowment for financial aid. Each table used a structured AI synthesis process and tool (a private, OpenAI generative pre-trained transformer, "GPT") to generate and refine draft positioning statements, which were then shared with the full group.
There was strong alignment that expanding the financial aid endowment is essential to sustaining academic excellence, enrollment strength, competitive positioning, and long-term financial resilience. Trustees agreed that financial aid must be framed as a strategic investment in student quality and institutional strength. Aid shapes the student body, strengthens classroom vitality, and reinforces outcomes.
There was also broad consensus that Skidmore competes against institutions with significantly greater endowment per student — often two to five times larger — and that many peers invest more in aid per student. Financial aid is viewed as a key competitive lever, particularly for middle-income families requiring partial support.
Foundation 4: Building the Inclusive Community
Members (students, staff, faculty, and administrators) of the College’s Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding (CIGU), a subcommittee of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC), joined the trustees for small roundtable discussions. The session was framed by determining what campus practitioners need from the Board and what the Board needs from the campus practitioners in order to accomplish the Foundation 4 goals.
The session utilized the Strategic Plan’s new People, Practices and Programs (3P) Model and covered three topics: the goals of recognizing meaningful dialogue as a shared competency, expanding a culture of accessibility as an institutional priority, and creating a campus-wide Board-approved land acknowledgement. Elder-In-Residence Kay Olan and President of the Skidmore Native American Cultural Club Will Bryce ’26 joined CIGU members in presenting topics.
Foundation 5: Sustaining our Environmental Future
This Foundation discussion was led by Tarah Rowse, director of sustainability and environmental initiatives; Kurt Smemo, faculty director of sustainability; and Dan Rodecker, assistant vice president for facilities and planning.
In order to better understand the importance of sustainability education and action at Skidmore, the trustees received an update on institutional sustainability progress and accomplishments. They also heard an overview of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). The IPPC Subcommittee on Sustainability adopted STARS as its guiding framework for planning and implementation.
Trustees were asked to discuss the following questions: Knowing that Skidmore has competing priorities, finite resources, values, institutional positioning, but also synergies with other foundations in the Strategic Plan, what environmental sustainability opportunities should Skidmore prioritize and pursue during this strategic plan and beyond? And, given your experiences from elsewhere, are there lessons learned (positive or cautionary) that could help us navigate and sustain Skidmore's environmental sustainability work?
Foundation 6: Sustaining Skidmore’s Long-Term Financial Future
This session focused on particular facets of financial equilibrium: the symbiotic relationship between the College’s operating budget and its financial position or balance sheet. Specifically, we discussed planning scenarios in which balance sheet strategies could be sought to help the College achieve strategic goals such as renovation of the residence halls and supporting the upcoming campaign.
There was a lunch plenary on the upcoming campaign, and the Case Statement was discussed at length. Trustees had another opportunity to provide feedback on the statement before it is finalized, and many noted the significant improvement of the document since October.
The Board then held its formal Board meeting. In addition to the foundation session summaries, the Board heard updates from the Audit and Risk Management; Compensation; and Investment committees. Several resolutions were passed including approving to the revised version of the Faculty Handbook; tenured sabbatical leaves and pre-tenure research leaves; key parameters for the 2026-2027 annual operating budget; and approval of the capital budget.
And lastly, as board chair, I provided a progress report on the Board’s 2025-2026 priorities. We concluded the meeting in executive session with our regular confidential conversation with President Conner and then with trustees alone.
As always, thank you to all who contributed to making these Board meetings so productive and successful, particularly the many staff in Facilities and Dining Services who did so much to make the meetings successful.
Jon Achenbaum ’77
Chair, Skidmore College Board of Trustees
