As it does four times a year, the Appalachian State Board of Trustees met in a series of committee meetings on Thursday, followed by the big ol board meeting on Friday.

The meat of these meetings is in the committees. There’s actual discussion and presentations. Once recommended in committee, those are nicely wrapped up for the big ol meeting and approved at once on the consent agenda. This is unless someone has a question about any of them, but that didn’t happen this month.

The meetings were Sept. 3-4 in the North Endzone ballroom. Wish they would get sunshades for those windows.

These meetings are covered in the order that they happened. The unlisted YouTube links are time-stamped for each section, as all the committees are on the same stream, one after another. Only the big ol meeting is a different video, as it was on a different day.

All the authorizations for more money, handbook changes, and many of these approvals need to go to the UNC Board of Governors to be finalized. It’s rare that a university BOT approves something, then the UNC BOG doesn’t.

Are these meetings exciting? Mostly not, but these meetings shape the future of Appalachian State University not just immediately, but for the next several years. See those construction projects around campus? You get updates at these meetings. There’s an athletics presentation every time, and given the current landscape, those are worth a listen to.

Do you have time to listen to roughly six hours of meetings? Of course not! So here’s, to my abilities outside of work and in my free time, a recap. Some of this I’m not an expert in, such as the audits. But I’ve covered enough municipal meetings that I generally get the points. Hope my skills translate to something digestible for you, even if you skip straight to athletics or facilities.

If you notice something wrong or misrepresented, I’m not above admitting it, so let me know.

My opinions below are generally in parentheses (like these).
Oh yeah, about the Maine football game, which happened after these meetings. The team did what they needed to do versus an overmatched foe. Not much negative to take from it. Issues are fixable. App State hasn’t handled an FCS foe that well since The Citadel in 2022 (Charlotte did not have a fun time versus The Citadel). Now the tests begin, one after another, for nine straight games. Three in-state rivals, then six Sun Belt East foes.

Enough about exciting football; let’s listen to people talk for hours.

Audit, Risk and Compliance

8:11 in the video

Oh man, we got a full agenda.

Report from Information Technology Services – Mr. Keith Werner, Chief Information Officer

Keith’s not here. Mr. Tom Van Gilder, Deputy Chief Information Officer, is here to talk about the ITS summer interns. There are five of them. They worked on AI, cybersecurity, networking and enterprise applications.

(In the below section, I’m just nodding along, saying “That’s interesting” and “I did not know that.”)

Bethany Hall, senior from Weddington, up first.

They investigated a phishing scam through Handshake and a job posting. (I hate Handshake)

Edward Fitzgerland, senior from Greensboro, is next. He’s nervous.

Daisy Sierra, senior from Sparta, “a super small town.” Daisy is a double major, taking advantage of this semester’s AI concentration.

She apologizes for her “informality.” Heck, we need more off-script speeches at these meetings.)

Connor Strobl, senior from Apex. (at least it’s not Cary)

Apparently, there’s a new mobile ID program, the new mobile AppCard. (Everyone should experience losing their AppCard at least once)

Killian Daley, a master’s student from Morganton. He’s all into AI. Instead of advisors, they can use an AI to help them know which classes to take. It’s about moving quickly in small steps, he says.

Tom says all five did a great job this summer.

Question on Mobile ID and how it works. It’s a multi-year project implemented this year to get rid of the physical AppCards (boooooo!) You can add it to your digital wallet. Says everyone is on their phones anyway.

One of the trustees asks if they will stay and work in Watauga. One of them says they want to bring cybersecurity awareness to the Watauga area. Another says they want to have a youth camp to educate the youth. A third says they’re about education and pushing this to the locals, such as being tech-literate.

(I don’t think these students realize how much some people hate AI and anything AI-related, unless it’s posters for a potluck or high school football, which they don’t realize is AI)

Trustees joke about being tech illiterate and being taught.

David Jamison, Associate Vice Chancellor & University Controller, is up to talk about Self-Assessment of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting. He jokes about how boring this is, which is a prerequisite for every financial person starting every financial speech ever.

Are there significant deficiencies or material weaknesses? We reviewed over 645 individual control procedures; 620 were good, 17 needed minor improvements and 4 were “not applicable.” No reports to the central office were needed, since there were no major issues. Always good in an audit report.

Student financial aid revenues will count as operating revenues this year, among other audit-induced changes. No questions.

Bradley Boswell, Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer, is up. He’s chairing the search for the next Chief Audit Officer. It’s in the final stages, and should have one by the next board meeting (December).

Kristi Gragg, Interim Chief Audit Officer. No interference in the audits over the last year. Client survey results were 4.75 out of 5 stars. It would have been 5 stars in the Tokyo Dome.

There’s an anonymous Fraud, Waste, and Abuse hotline. There were 16 in the last fiscal year and 275 hours on those. So far, six tips in this fiscal year (which began July 1).

Five audits done since the last meeting, one of which will be shared in closed session. No fair! The first three public ones: no issues. The last public one involved the Office of Research and Innovation on redistributions of payroll from grant funds, but “likely” some noncompliant redistributions, with those being requested more than 90 days after the original payroll date. Corrective action was taken.

One for campus-wide tech redundancies was cancelled because a third party overlooked it.

There have been some external audits. So many audits! Going over every single audit.

Approve the 2026-27 fiscal year audit plan. There are 26 projects. Unanimous. 

Began this year with 26 audit projects; three are completed.
One is for baseball ticket revenue, requested by athletics. This confirms that the percentage increase in year-to-year home game ticket revenue exceeds the threshold in the coach’s contract.

After Wayne Sumner thanks Kristi for explaining all this to his farm boy self, they go into closed session.

After around 13 minutes, they came back to adjourn.

Academic Affairs/Student Affairs Committee

1:25:10 in the video

Meeting starts without audio. Turn the stream audio on!

Audio comes on as they’re introducing interns.

Dr. Zach Russell, Department of Physics and Astronomy, is talking.

(checks video timeline this presentation is 25 minutes long)

The first slide is talking about his parents, who met and did Camp Broadstone up here, then had him.

This guy worked on projects for the TSA, such as the full-body scan where you stand sideways with your hands up. Then Scientific Consulting. 

Says App State students sometimes feel like they’re not at a big engineering school, but sees grads able to do these big engineering projects. Moved back to Boone in 2020 as his parents got older. Being 15 degrees cooler than Raleigh every day is a positive. His wife is an exotic animal vet.

He makes the tools that help you do science.

Hopes the robotics team is as exciting as the solar car team.

Below is the $2.3 mil grant from NCInnovation. App State has gotten the top two grants they’ve ever given.

Part of this is studying how parasites, found in livestock poop, cost farmers a lot of money. 

He shows an AI-based rendering of what a Boone-based microscope manufacturing company could look like.

He brought in four summer interns. This is nine interns in total so far today. Some have converted to full-time employees here in Boone.

Jack Chaisson, in his fifth year. He loved the communication with the full-time team.

Lily Napierkowski, senior. Again, loved working collaboratively.

Ian Wharton, senior in an accelerated master’s program. He worked on a boat with underwater wings. 

Lillian Anderson is a senior at the NCSSM in Morganton. She talks very fast. She got to break things to see how they managed stress. (Just like what high school does to students)

Zach loves brainstorming and seeing projects work.

“Very, very impressive,” says one trustee. The main office is on State Farm Road.

How do you become a parasite microscope tech? Zach explains. (I think the trustee just wanted to say “poop” out loud) 

Jamie Schaefer asks the interns if they want to stay up here, same question as the last batch of interns. They all say “yeah, we’d love to.” Same as the last batch. The HS student says they’re interested in attending here. 

Jamie says at “Ore-gone University,” she saw robots delivering food to students and wants that at App State. (Have you seen the state of these sidewalks?) Zach gives a diplomatic answer.

Zach wishes he could hire all the interns.

Senior Vice Provost Jamie Parson explains the next items.

Faculty Handbook Changes. Don’t require approval. All are technical corrections to update handbook language, so no real changes.

2025-26 Faculty Workload Annual Report. This details how faculty members utilized their time. 100% of faculty have completed their workload plans for 2026-27. Some disembodied voice not shown on screen asks if these are UNC System standards. Unanimous.

Interim Dean of Fine and Applied Arts Dr. Shanshan Lou explains the changes to the John M. Blackburn Distinguished Professorship in Theatre. This updates the salary, whether it’s an internal or external search and the length to five years. Unanimous.

No closed session, so adjourned.

Finance and Operations Committee

3:00:49 in the video

Audio is on to start before the meeting starts. Hooray! Short Queen Norris is here.

J.J. Brown and his bowtie introduce two students. They interned at the new Sofield Indoor Practice Facility. They are Colton Phares and Cayden Sweatt, both on the football team. Stand up and be applauded. Brown mispronounces Phares’ name.

Write off accounts receivable. This is done every year. Debts aren’t forgiven, just written off for that fiscal year so the books can be closed. This is $578,600 across 290 accounts. Of those, 121 were $1,000 or more, accounting for $550,113. This is 0.186% of accounts receivable. This is at the five-year average. 

For New River Light and Power, it was $43,200 across 222 accounts, which is in line with historical trends.

Approving New River Light and Power working line of credit. CFO Brad Cooper says it’s a $4 million line of credit. Last winter, extreme cold drove up the price for New River to buy power (and then sell it). The university bridged that gap with an internal loan, but wants to give NRL&P their own capacity. This $4 million is a revolving line, so it’s a true working capital tool, not a bridge. This is from Truist Bank. Unanimous vote.

Now on to capital projects. There are seven requests for authorization. These were approved but not with authority. These got to the Board of Governors next.

Peacock Hill addition. This will help complete the fourth floor and additional IT and AV upgrades.

Innovation District Phase I. Will help finish this STEM building, including a greenhouse.

East Hall demo. Future building site coming up. East was built in 1952.

University Hall Growing Well Clinic. Allows us to finish this. Ran through Beaver College of Health Sciences.

Next three slides are part of the dining master plan. Brown says they’re needed enhancements.

Creating a market in Mountaineer Residence Hall to serve the hall up Bodenheimer Drive (Appalachian Heights and Living Learning Center), which has over 1,000 residents.

Trivette Hall Market upgrade. Adding more fresh and hot foods to West Campus.

Lastly, advanced planning for a new STEM Building at the East Hall site. Brown calls it an important need for campus.

Someone off mic asks what the Growing Well Clinic is. Brown says it’s for aging adults who can develop skills with additional support. Part of a grant received.

Q on if East was the oldest residence hall. Yes, it was. Newland has one section from 1925.

Q on the ghosts of East Hall. “We’re getting ready to find out.”

Unanimously approved.

Onto real estate. First is a quitclaim deed to clear up the boundary line before a purchase near the baseball field. Needs final state approval.

Utility and construction right-of-way easement at Leon Levine Hall site for better traffic. It’ll adjust the sidewalk.

Both real estate items unanimously approved.

Next is the master plan update. Information only with J.J. Brown again.

Goals and such are the same. This is being done with LS3P. Talking about framework and cohesion, then enabling projects. He’s explaining how a master plan comes together, which is very meta.

They got ideas! Read this slide.

The final version of this 10-year plan will be at the December meeting.

Capital project updates, again by J.J. Brown. Lots of updates!

Edwin Duncan Hall is complete. It’s been a journey, including Helene. But it’s done! And it opened a few weeks ago. Home to the Department of Mathematical Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, with dean’s offices and teaching and research labs.

Peacock Hall is “literally developing before our eyes” (and getting more expensive). Glass panels were added this summer so it matches the renderings. Should be done by this time next year.

STEM building is a couple of years out. Greenhouses will be added with that new funding approved. This will support the biology department. They did tours on Friday.

Hickory campus update yet again. Phase 2F is done, which consists of additional class space and labs. Nurse sim lab opened this semester.

App 105 indoor tennis is done. Opened this summer in time for summer camp.

App 105 apartments, Mountaineer Ridge, is still set for completion next year. “Way ahead of schedule” (comparatively, this has gone by quickly). Says this will benefit students and student-athletes. Granite countertops!

New Sofield. Nearly done. Event and clinic space will be finalized “in the coming months.” Turf is done (and was used by the marching band that weekend). 

Thunder Hill Market renovations just started and will be done in October. 

Expanded capacity in Trivette on the basement level will also be done in October and is moving along. “Much needed.”

Plemmons Student Union second floor, where it connects with the campus store, aka the old McAllister space. Commissary kitchen. Where books used to be, now more digital. Going out to bid soon.

Sanford Commons Central Dining Hall renovations will start in Spring 2027 and take a year to complete. This is “the Chik-fil-a side,” per Brown.

James Reeves is jealous of these plans.

No closed session, so we’re adjourned.

Athletics Committee

3:50:07 in the video

Audio is on before the video. Hooray!

AD Doug Gillin has Zoe Duval, a second-year women’s golfer, who went to the NCAAs. First in program history.

Zoe says she had 30-40 schools to send her application in to. Had it in alphabetical order, so App State was first (up yours, Alcorn State!) Business management major, came straight here from her first micro test.

Social life? Owes her coach who “hand selected my best friends for me.” Is an introvert, so that was needed. Favorite thing ever is golf.
Loves representing App State. Says in golf, a lot of time to overthink. Mentions the opportunities and challenges they bring. 

She’s been asked a lot more recently what she wants to do after graduation. What’s next? Still not sure. Would love to be in the golf industry.

Concludes with “Roll Neers.” (and she was doing so good)

How old were you when you started playing golf? Six, and started competing at seven. 

Want to play pro? Yeah! Said she’s gained a lot more confidence in herself in the route she’s going.

Gillin says you can get to the highest level of intercollegiate athletics from App State.

Next up is Matthew Gray, senior, Sun Belt Pole Vault Champion and 5th at the NCAAs.

“Hello, I’m very nervous, I wish I was pole vaulting right now.”

He’s majoring in math, which he says is “not exciting.”

Why App State? Partially due to his girlfriend going here. Went on official visits to two schools. The other college (not named)? He didn’t have a connection. App State? There was a connection. Can’t find the mountain hobbies he grew up with in Bryson City in many places.

Compliments the math department; feels it’s giving him a top-end education. Loves his experience here.

Asked for permission to brag on himself.

Has learned at App State to set big goals. Maybe will go to grad school? Future in pole vault? Not sure yet.

Stayed here because of the people here.

Short Queen Norris speaks. Says they’ve worked on a strategic plan for the university and what personifies Mountaineers. Hearing Matthew and Zoe say those same words shows what great reps they are.

Get to practice, Zoe!

Gillin time.

Says track and field never had its own locker room until the new facility at 105 was built. He practices in Varsity Gym during the winter.

The golf simulators were key; now they have hitting bays. 

GPA stayed above 3.0 in every program. 

The first week of classes in Watauga County, says it makes a difference when Yosef and the student-athletes are out there saying “hi” to the kids, like Gillin’s daughter.

Will do some family events after JMU Thursday night game for Family Weekend.

Gillin says he didn’t think they would announce Maine sellout ahead of time, but they did. Lots of traction.

Says there are more requests for premium suites than in the last 3-4 years. Having to turn away people for suites for Homecoming or Homecoming premium anything.

Fundraising record, baseball ticket revenue record, Spring Tour success mentioned. Going so well!

Best Legends event ever! Raising a ton of money “and we desperately need it.”

Gillin says our challenges are finances. “Appalachian needs to help Appalachian, at the end of the day.” There’s no one coming out of nowhere; alums have to band together. 

Apparently, a campaign is about to be unveiled. Gillin is on his soapbox and mentions that term. There’s a hint of desperation in his voice. 

Says Legends event will raise over $2 million by itself.

Now for The Ever-Changing Landscape of College Athletics.

Gillin says pro athletes are going back to college teams in women’s soccer (not here, elsewhere).

Gillin says they support age-based eligibility rules. Mentions Matthew Gray being eligible for a fifth year if he likes.

From an expense standpoint, grad school costs more. So those athletes are more expensive.

Says all Sun Belt Chancellors are supporting the Protect College Sports Act. Hopeful it’ll come to fruition in September. “No bill is perfect; we think this will be helpful.” Will stabilize the transfer portal.

Mentions a student-athlete admitted to a North Carolina university (not named) three weeks after drop-add. Says it’s not a pitch, but noting that schools are playing these games.

Q on the Sun Belt’s stance on pro athletes playing. “We’re not in support.”

Another Q on court ruling overriding conference directives. Gillin says he’s not up to speed on the legalese across different states. It’s challenging.

Norris (I think it’s Norris, sounds like Norris, not shown on camera) says the issue is “injunctive relief.”

East Tower advanced planning is finalized. Working on the funding plan.
“We do not have any premium seating in this stadium [left]; the demand has exceeded the supply.”

Continuing to raise money. Gillin really believes there needs to be an East side to match the West side. “We’re doing that every day; how to fund it.” Believes that for App State to be what it can be, this needs to be done.

“The best 35,000-seat stadium in America.” Most aesthetically pleasing stadium. “I know I got to raise the money.”

Off-mic Q on what is the timeframe and money raised so far. Gillin says we should open it in 2028 with Western, Charlotte and NC State visiting. “Ideally the whole thing would be ready in 2028.” Says 2028 is the best schedule ever. Jokes that someone is hedging their bets for 2030.

(Gillin is kind of stumbling over this in a way he’s never done before)

Someone off mic mentions the App 105 apartments being ahead of schedule as a possible harbinger.

Onto the new Sofield facility. Says it was desperately needed. Thanks Heather Norris for it; says it was “dead in the water” but got it done in Raleigh.

The Sofield event space won’t be done until November. Adding a mobile MRI machine for the community. Says it changes the game for healthcare.

Another off-mic person says Gillin made that happen.

Gillin says the indoor tennis facility is amazing, nothing like it. 

Same off-mic guy (TURN YOUR MICS ON!) says there’s ad space on the roof. Gillin says it’s very expensive to put something up there.

Gillin says instead of APPSTATE on the new Sofield roof, they’re putting a Block A. This is due to costs, which would have been “hundreds of thousands.”

Gillin is done. He seems ready to be done. There’s light applause.

No closed session, so Thursday is adjourned.

Friday Main Meeting 

Chair Mark Ricks starts. The audio is like he’s in a submarine and the video is kinda glitchy. Mics are very sensitive. Now the video is going straight into the 1970s for a few seconds.

Judge Rebecca Eggers-Gryder is here to swear in the new trustee, Elizabeth Ford, the student body president. We can barely hear any of this.

Now going into closed session, which goes just over 40 minutes.

Chancellor’s remarks, which are word for word here.
https://chancellor.appstate.edu/messages/id/292

Heather says Chair Ricks’s tenure is ending. (The website says 2027) She personally thanks him. He’ll still be around as an advocate. Ricks gets a gift basket and a chair (the latter not shown on camera).

C. Phillip Byers asks to speak (he’s on the UNC Board of Governors). Says he lives in Ricks’ house (not sure if this was a joke or not). Says he asked Byers to join; it was “not as fun and not as productive” back then. Has known Ricks for 40 years.

Byers mentions the solar car and how well it has done in competitions, despite us not being supposed to be (his words).

Byers talks about the summer events as part of App Summer (not the Niko Moon or the KBS concert, which hasn’t been mentioned at all in these meetings).

A short ad is shown, then Norris is done.

Now the committee reports. These recap what was done the day before or the last time they met. They mispronounced Colton Phares’ name again.

The nominating committee met in July. They announced Tommy Sofield as chair, Jamie Harris as vice chair. Unanimous.

Consent agenda. Literally everything approved on Thursday is on this.

No questions, unanimous vote.

Next meeting is Dec. 3-4.

Ricks last address as Chair. Hypes up Legends Gala. Reminds “our rabid fans” that these are our student athletes. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

Thanks the previous chairs and those keeping him on point. Thanks the faculty. 

Thanks the food service people; says it’s the best of any company he’s ever been a part of. 

Thanks the App State Police and says the relationship with Boone PD and Watauga County Sheriff’s Office has never been stronger. 

Thanks the IT people. Thanks the Student Government Association; is in awe of their reps, says he was not that kind of student. 

Thanks Tommy Sofield, says no one exemplifies App State like him.

Notes they’re both from the Tidewater. Sofield thanks Ricks in return. 

Thanks C. Phillip Byers for asking him to serve. Ricks is getting emotional. 

Thanks Heather, saying “you made the job fun again.”

Says it’s our job to make the university better when we leave. “I think I can walk out with my head held high.”

And we’re adjourned with one last smash of the giant A gavel.