Committees
The authority of the board is specified in the Restated Articles of Incorporation (Charter) of Emory University, which establishes that the board is the decision-making body of the university and gives it authority over all important aspects of university governance, including real property, endowment, all contracts, financial resources, faculty appointments, and student discipline.
The board meets three times a year and attends to policy matters and the missions of the university. The Emory University Bylaws authorize the Executive Committee to carry out the duties of the board between full board meetings. The work of the board is also conducted through a number of standing committees, including Investment; Real Estate, Buildings, and Grounds; Finance; Audit and Compliance; Academic Affairs; Campus Life; Emory Development and Communications; Governance, Trusteeship, and Nominations; and the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board. The specific responsibilities of each committee are outlined in the bylaws.
To provide a faculty perspective on matters considered by the trustees, faculty counselors are appointed to serve on board committees. These counselors are permitted according to the Emory University Bylaws, which read, "Each committee may, upon nomination from the chair of the board, appoint Counselors, who shall have full authority to engage in the deliberations of the trustee committee but shall not have a vote."
The committee descriptions below are excerpts from the Bylaws of Emory University, Article II, Section 3, Committees.
Executive Committee
Between meetings of the board, the Executive Committee has general charge of the affairs of the university and carries out any directions or resolutions of the board until the board's next meeting.
Membership
Robert C. Goddard III, Chair
B. Michael Watson, Vice Chair
Susan A. Cahoon, Secretary
Thomas I. Barkin
Thomas D. Bell Jr.
Shantella Carr Cooper
Jonathan K. Layne
John G. Rice
Teresa M. Rivero
Katherine T. Rohrer
Timothy C. Rollins
Diane W. Savage
Leah Ward Sears
Mitchell A. Tanzman
Academic Affairs Committee
The Academic Affairs Committee reviews any recommendations of an academic nature upon which the Board of Trustees or its Executive Committee votes or establishes policy. The Academic Affairs Committee supports and fulfills the institution’s academic mission by reviewing recommendations regarding appointment of academic deans, continuous appointments for faculty, proposed additions or deletions of degree offerings, and nominations of candidates for honorary degrees.
Membership
Katherine T. Rohrer, Chair
Laura J. Hardman
Jonathan K. Layne
Deborah A. Marlowe
Charles H. McTier
Adam H. Rogers
William H. Rogers Jr.
Stuart A. Rose
Cynthia M. Sanborn
Leah Ward Sears
Lynn H. Stahl
Chilton D. Varner
Mark A. Weinberger
Ani B. Satz, Faculty Counselor
Jason S. Schneider, Faculty Counselor
Audit and Compliance Committee
The Audit and Compliance Committee arranges for, examines, and reports on an annual audit of the university’s financial records and examines and reports on such ad hoc internal audits as are deemed necessary by the committee, the Board of Trustees, or the university administration.
Membership
Shantella Carr Cooper, Chair
Ellen A. Bailey
Henry L. Bowden Jr.
William A. Brosius
Walter M. Deriso Jr.
Sue Haupert-Johnson
Mark A. Weinberger
Jason Michael Hockenberry, Faculty Counselor
Campus Life Committee
The Campus Life Committee is informed of matters related to student services and programs and makes appropriate recommendations to the Executive Committee concerning the enhancement of student and community life on campus.
Membership
Teresa M. Rivero, Chair
Marvin S. Arrington Sr.
James R. Gavin III
Laura J. Hardman
Deborah A. Marlowe
William T. McAlilly
Adam H. Rogers
Diane W. Savage
Lynn H. Stahl
James E. Swanson Sr.
Gregory J. Vaughn
William C. Warren IV
Leslie Taylor, Faculty Counselor
Emory Development and Communications Committee
The Emory Development and Communications Committee considers and recommends for approval policies and programs relating to philanthropic giving, fund-raising initiatives, alumni affairs, communications, and public relations of the university and its various divisions and makes appropriate recommendations to the Board of Trustees or its Executive Committee.
Members
Diane W. Savage, Chair
Henry L. Bowden Jr.
James W. Burns
Susan A. Cahoon
Crystal Edmonson
James L. Ferman Jr.
Javier C. Goizueta
Lee P. Miller
Mitchell A. Tanzman
Noel L. Erskine, Faculty Counselor
Executive Compensation and Trustees' Conflict of Interest Committee
The Executive Compensation and Trustees’ Conflict of Interest Committee reviews executive compensation and trustee actions involving potential conflict of interest.
Members
Jonathan K. Layne, Chair
Robert C. Goddard III
Ben F. Johnson III
John F. Morgan Sr.
J. Neal Purcell
John G. Rice
Diane W. Savage
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee collaborates with the president of the university in the preparation of the annual budget for the university. The Finance Committee also reviews and makes recommendations regarding proposals for funding capital projects or other major expenditures not included in the annual budget process.
Members
Thomas D. Bell Jr., Chair
Thomas I. Barkin, Vice Chair
Shantella Carr Cooper
John T. Glover
George D. Overend
J. Neal Purcell
Wendell S. Reilly
John G. Rice
Rick M. Rieder
Katherine T. Rohrer
Kimberly Jacob Arriola, Faculty Counselor
Governance, Trusteeship, and Nominations Committee
The Governance, Trusteeship, and Nominations Committee helps orient new trustees toward fulfilling the responsibilities of trusteeship; regularly evaluates the board’s structure and composition; makes recommendations regarding the optimum terms of service of board members and officers; nurtures the collegiality and vitality of the board; and, when vacancies occur on the board, presents nominations for membership to the board.
Membership
Leah Ward Sears, Chair
Kathelen Amos
Henry L. Bowden Jr.
G. Lindsey Davis
Robert C. Goddard III
Javier D. Goizueta
C. Robert Henrikson
Ben F. Johnson III
Jonathan K. Layne
Teresa M. Rivero
Chilton D. Varner
Investment Committee
The Investment Committee has general oversight of the investments of the university and has the authority when, in its opinion, the best interests of the university justify such action, to authorize the sale of any securities owned by the university, to authorize the purchase of any securities in which the funds of the university should—in its judgment—be invested, and to approve other investment strategies.
Members
Mitchell A. Tanzman, Chair
Rick M. Rieder, Vice Chair
James Walker Burns
Steven H. Lipstein
Lee P. Miller
Stuart A. Rose
Hashem Dezhbakhsh, Faculty Counselor
Real Estate, Buildings, and Grounds Committee
The Real Estate, Buildings, and Grounds Committee investigates and recommends appropriate action on all matters dealing with the erection, alteration, destruction, or naming of any buildings or grounds owned by the university either on or off its campuses, and to make appropriate recommendations to the Executive Committee concerning acquisition or disposition of real estate, its management, rental, or policies relating thereto.
Members
Susan A. Cahoon, Chair
Timothy C. Rollins, Vice Chair
Marvin S. Arrington Sr.
Thomas D. Bell Jr.
James B. Carson Jr.
Crystal Edmonson
Russell R. French
Laura J. Hardman
Cynthia M. Sanborn
Mary Virginia Taylor
Elizabeth Downes, Faculty Counselor
Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board
The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board is responsible for the operation and development of the School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory Healthcare—including The Emory Clinic and the university hospitals—and other related centers, institutes, and school activities.
Members
John G. Rice, Chair
J. David Allen
Kathelen Amos
Thomas I. Barkin
William A. Brosius
Russell R. French
Charles B. Ginden
William N. Kelley
Steven H. Lipstein
Charles H. McTier
Gary W. Rollins
Timothy C. Rollins
Gregory J. Vaughn
William C. Warren IV
Ruth M. Parker, Faculty Counselor