By Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor

The Board of Trustees passed a resolution to downsize the number of members who serve and unanimously approved the final presentation of the university’s 21st Century Vision at a meeting Friday and Saturday.

“The current situation in the country demands that the Board of Trustees be more accountable,” said Dr. Royce Money, president of the university.

The resolution reflects the effort to increase board members’ involvement and accountability and will downsize the board from more than 50 members to about 25 to 35 members within five years. Money said the mechanics of the downsizing are still being developed.

Money said a smaller board will allow members to be more involved and rely less heavily on the committee as the board does currently. The board, which is composed mainly of alumni, will be increasingly visibleat the university.

“We want them to be more involved in the campus,” Money said.

C.E. “Doc” Cornutt, the board’s chairman, plans to visit campus during a regular school day and audit classes to increase his involvement, Money said.

The board will also meet quarterly instead of semi-annually, again in an effort to increase members’ awareness of campus. The board’s planned structural changes came with the implementation of the 21st Century Vision, which Money and Phil Schubert, executive vice president, presented in final form last weekend. Money said the board supported the changes “unanimously and enthusiastically,” leaving the university to ask what the full support of the board means for the vision.

Schubert said the board’s support moves its focus from determining whether or not the direction of the vision is direct to deciding how to implement it.

Schubert said he will present a more detailed vision to the board at the meeting Nov. 16 and 17, with recommended investments prioritized-or possibly selected. Investments the university is considering include the proposed Health and Fitness Center and proposed adjustments to the core curriculum. The investments, Schubert said, are intended to support the four imperatives included in the vision, which strive to make ACU “become the premier institution for the education of Christ-centered global leaders.”

The support marks of the beginning of implementation and analysis, Money said.

“It’s a process; it’s never ending,” Money said. “It’s constant quality improvement.”