A meeting of the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees convened at 10:08 a.m. on Friday, December 8, 2023, in Room 326 of Stewart Center on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Committee members present: Michael Klipsch, Chair; Sonny Beck; Malcolm DeKryger; Gary Lehman; and Shawn Taylor. Other trustees present: Michael Berghoff; Kevin Boes,; JoAnn Brouillette; Vanessa Castagna; and Theresa Carter.

Officers and administrators in attendance were: Mung Chiang, president; Patrick Wolfe, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity; Chris Ruhl, chief financial officer and treasurer; Eva Nodine, senior vice president, assistant treasurer, and assistant secretary; Steve Schultz, general counsel; and Cindy Ream, corporate secretary and senior executive assistant to the Board; Ron Elsenbaumer, chancellor, Purdue University Fort Wayne; and Tom Keon, chancellor, Purdue University Northwest.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Upon proper motion duly made and seconded, the Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of its meeting convened July 9, 2023.

II. (SW) APPROVAL OF HOUSING AND DINING RATES*

Chris Ruhl, chief financial officer and treasurer, started with the affordability impact sharing over $400 million in savings for Purdue students over 10 years relative to Big Ten, room and board rate has declined by 3% from fall 2012 to 2023 and the lowest rates in Big Ten by over $2,100,00.

Beth McCuskey, vice provost for student life, shared how they have engaged in rates and plans review process over the past 18 months. The process included being student focused – student surveys and focus groups, connecting with experts – partnering with outside agencies that focus on college housing and dining, and also campus collaboration – re-envisioning housing rates and dining plans by including many areas of campus including housing, student life, financial areas and assessment. Ms. McCuskey presented the housing and dining options for approval. The new rates and plans will begin in the Fall semester.

Eva Nodine, senior vice president, assistant treasurer, and assistant secretary noted housing will be offered at Purdue in Indianapolis for Fall 2024 with 468 on-campus residence hall beds at North Hall and 400 near-campus apartment beds at Lux on capital. She mentioned Purdue Northwest provides 751 beds in two-bedroom one bathroom or four bedroom two bathroom apartment style configurations. Purdue Fort Wayne currently provides 1,368 on campus and master leased beds for student housing.

Upon proper motion duly made and seconded, the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend full Board approval of Housing and Dining Rates. A copy of the presentation and supporting documents were filed with the minutes.

III. CONTRACT IN EXCESS OF $2 MILLION, DELL, HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING*

Ian Hyatt, chief information officer requested approval of contract for Dell, High Performance Computing. He noted the steady demand for CPU- based community cluster supercomputing requires capacity refresh and increase every 15-18 months to enhance and/or replace older systems as they reach end of life. He shared the solution would be to execute planned and budgeted lifecycle refresh of latest community cluster “Gautschi” in mid-2024. M. Hyatt recommended Dell configuration with more power compute nodes and larger system than “Negishi” cluster. He noted that this investment in this key core facility enables $346M of research expenditures in FY23, a 48x return on the financial investment.

Upon proper motion duly made and seconded, the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend full Board approval of Contract in Excess of $2 Million, Dell, High Performance Computing. A copy of the presentation and supporting documents were filed with the minutes.

IV. APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS TO RETIREMENT PLANS*

Candace Shaffer, associate vice president, benefits, and payroll requests Approval of Amendments to Retirement Plans to the University’s qualified retirement plans. She noted that the last time retirement plans were before the Board was 2016. She shared an overview of the retirement plans outlining the employee groups along with plan types, contributions and waiting and vesting periods.

Upon proper motion duly made and seconded, the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend full Board approval of Amendments to Retirement Plans. A copy of the presentation and supporting documents were filed with the minutes.

V. SERIES Z-2 DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Nicole Michienzi, senior director of capital markets and special projects, shared about refunding opportunities with regard to student fee bonds. A copy of her presentation was filed with the minutes.

By consent, the meeting adjourned at 10:51 a.m.