Highlights from the Board of Regents Meeting, Oct. 18–19, 2018
Highlights from each Board of Regents meeting will be reported in the Pacific Insider to inform the campus community of the Board's actions and major discussions. The board plays an important role as the governing body of the university, responsible for the quality and integrity of the education provided to students and the financial sustainability of the university. The chair and chair-elect of the Academic Council, the president and president-elect of the Pacific Alumni Association and the president and vice president of the Associated Students of University of the Pacific are recognized as non-voting liaison representatives to the board and provide a report at each meeting.
Major highlights from the October 2018 meeting:
Fiscal year 2020 tuition and fees approved
The Board approved a resolution for a 3 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and up to 3 percent increase for graduate tuition and affirmed approval of the president's recommendations for tuition increases for all other programs as well as the Room and Board Rates and Wellness Fees for fiscal year 2020. The board reduced the undergraduate tuition increase to 3 percent from the initially proposed 3.2 percent following discussions in which students shared their concerns with the board.
| Tuition | Increase |
| Undergraduate | 3.0% |
| Graduate | Up to 3.0% |
| Pharm D | 2.5% |
| Dugoni | 2.5% |
| McGeorge: JD (full time and part time) | 3.5% |
| McGeorge: LLM and MSL | 3.0% |
| Room and Board | 2.5% increase |
| Wellness Fee | Change |
| Full-time students | No change. Remains $330, but extended to all full-time students. |
| Part-time students | New fee of $180 extended to all part-time students. |
The Board and the administration will work closely to evaluate alternatives to the university's current tuition practices and financial aid strategies.
MBA program closure approved
The Board of Regents approved closure of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program offered by the Eberhardt School of Business on the Stockton Campus, upon the recommendation of the Board's Academic and Student Affairs Committee. In making its recommendation, the committee cited declining enrollments in the Pacific MBA program over the past 20 years (despite a variety of program revisions) and projected low enrollments, coupled with a national decline in enrollments in traditional, full-time MBA programs.
Eberhardt School of Business Dean Tim Carroll and school faculty have developed an 18-month teach-out plan to allow current students to complete their degrees. Dean Carroll and the faculty are developing data-driven and student-centered proposals for new undergraduate and graduate programs in the business school.
Enrollment Management presentation
Roberta Kaskel, interim vice president for Enrollment Management provided a presentation in which she described the current market challenges facing higher education: declining numbers of traditional students (18-22-year olds), the need to demonstrate return on investment for a college degree, families' limited financial resources, and increased competition. Kaskel then outlined how Pacific markets itself to prospective students, develops programs that meet the changing needs of prospective students and future employers, and ensures students are successful once they arrive. She also shared that campus visits are the single greatest predictor of enrollment.
She concluded by describing how Pacific students receive assistance to pay for their education through Pacific financial support, government grants, work-study and loans, and detailed how Pacific support comes through unfunded financial aid (university operating funds) and funded financial aid (funds given to the university by donors). For the 2017-18 academic year, donor funds provided $10 million in financial support for Pacific students.