The Board of Trustees met in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center andthe Fincher Building of the Cox School of Business Sept. 9 and 10for its first meeting of the semester.

Most of the meeting time was spent acclimating 13 new boardmembers to SMU. All members attended a general information sessiondesigned to give the new members enough university information tobe able to make informed decisions.

“We spent a lot of time making sure everyone was on thesame page,” said University President R. Gerald Turner.

The board approved the university’s total budget and thenew “centennial master plan” for campus expansion andlistened to a complete enrollment report from University ProvostRoss Murfin. The “master plan” included a map detailingthe location of buildings currently under construction andbuildings that still have yet to break ground.

Other action items included reports from Dean Hal Williams, wholeads the search for a new provost to replace Murfin, and the VicePresident for Executive Affairs Tom Barry, who is leading thesearch for a replacement for Vice President of Business and FinanceMorgan Olsen.

Olsen accepted the position of executive vice president andtreasurer at Purdue University, effective Friday.  Comptrollerof the University John O’Connor will serve as interim vicepresident.

Murfin will serve as provost until the end of the year and willcontinue to work at the university as a member of the faculty inthe department of English.

During the next board meeting in December, Turner said memberswill possibly address bigger business issues such as a possibleincrease in tuition.