The State University of New York’s Board of Trustees held an Executive Committee meeting Tuesday, broadcast over the Internet, that partially focused on Binghamton University.

According to David Henahan, director of media relations at SUNY, the meeting covered four subjects: the appointment of Monica Rimai as senior vice chancellor and chief operating officer of SUNY, the investigation of BU’s athletics department, a SUNY budget update and the next phase of the SUNY strategic plan.

The first discussion brought to the table was the proposed candidacy of Monica Rimai as senior vice chancellor and chief operating officer.

Rimai formerly worked as the interim president at the University of Cincinnati. Her appointment was unanimously approved by the board at the meeting.

The Board, which consists of 17 members, most of whom are appointed by the governor, then discussed the recent troubles of BU’s men’s basketball team.

According to Henahan, this was the first time the Board discussed the basketball team since its recent media attention.

The Board’s main focus was the current investigative audit of the athletic department, the basketball team itself and its members.

The review, or audit, is one of four changes to the athletic department that BU President Lois DeFleur announced. SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher reported that SUNY would oversee this review after DeFleur’s announcement, and it would be conducted by retired Justice Judith Kaye.

Carl T. Hayden, chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees, said at the meeting that Kaye has had conversations with DeFleur in an effort to receive witness lists and a document list, and an order has been placed for a document-retention file.

The investigation is to continue without restraint and “will go where the evidence takes it,” Hayden told the board. “The investigation itself is to be independent, comprehensive and prompt.”

Hayden also discussed the call for an “independent mechanism” where witnesses of incidents within the athletics department can speak directly with Kaye by way of a special e-mail account.

According to Henahan, those who wish to contact Kaye directly can do so by sending an e-mail to Binghamton@skadden.com.

Hayden also said that Zimpher was able to speak with officials from NCAA and America East, asking them to allow the SUNY investigation to continue without conducting one of their own, at this time.

The discussion of the BU basketball team ended with Hayden’s assurance that there would be “no pre-judging of character or conduct of this situation.”

Next, the committee discussed New York Gov. David Paterson’s order for a cut in current-year spending for state agencies.

As seen on the Webcast, Zimpher headed this discussion speaking specifically about the recent budget cuts affecting SUNY, including the most recent $90 million mid-year cut.

Zimpher stressed that despite “times [being] challenging,” the board is planning to approach the executive and legislative branch of the New York state government with a more coherent strategy of the budget plan.

According to Zimpher, the new budget plan strategy is due to the state government by Nov. 17.

Philip Wood, the vice chancellor for capital facilities, was called upon to speak about the creation of a Budget Task Force, which was created to deal with issues relating to SUNY, including three particular budgetary issues within the system. The first of the three issues the force will discuss is the budget reductions, including the $90 million cut. The second will be a decision on the 2010–11 year budget plan.

At the meeting, Wood explained that a call letter was issued by Paterson asking for “flat budget submissions,” which could lead to more cuts in the future.

A proposal for how the task force will deal with these two issues is due with the budget plan.

Finally, Wood said the third issue the force will deal with is a project to align long-term strategy with finances.

The task force has met once so far and held a second meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22.

The final topic at the meeting was Zimpher’s four-step “strategic plan.” There will be another task force created to work with Zimpher on this strategy.

The plan was outlined by Zimpher through a PowerPoint presentation that included SUNY’s plan to focus on “Economic Development and Quality of Life” in the state of New York.

The presentation outlined the major themes of this planning strategy, including health affairs, diversity and globalization, arts and culture, education pipeline and energy and sustainability.

Zimpher stated that this strategic plan is proposed to be finalized and released to the public in April 2010.

According to Zimpher, she is confident that she and her staff “can get the job done.”