• The rod symbolizes the gift of leadership that God has placed in your hands. The rod also represents faith in what God is going to do in your life.

• Problems come into our mission when we are divided. God wants His leadership to bring the people together.

• Jesus Christ is the Rock of all ages.

• If you drink from the Fountain, you will never thirst again.

• Sam Green, former president, Southwest Region Conference
• Thomas Lemon, former president, Mid-America Union Conference (current vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists)
• Bobby Mitchell, retiring, director of regional affairs, Pacific Union Conference
• Eileen White, educator, current director of education, Nevada Utah Conference 

• Mark Johnson, president, Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada
• Gary Thurber, president, Mid-America Union Conference
• Calvin Watkins, president, Southwest Region Conference 

During the meeting, Leslie N. Pollard, Ph.D., D.Min., MBA, president of Oakwood University, shared the President's Report with the board members. His report also included videos about Oakwood's participation in the 2015 General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, and Oakwood Live! Other highlights included:

Healthy Campus 2020 Launch - This report to the Board of Trustees provided information regarding the University's unique approach to educating the whole student. During the 2015-2016 New Student Orientation and Registration Week, Oakwood University launched Healthy Campus 2020, an initiative that seeks to make the University the healthiest collegiate campus in the United States. University faculty and staff will educate the students to be healthy through eight laws of health - sunlight, temperance, adequate rest, nutrition, drink water, outdoors, use physical activity, and trust in God (STAND OUT). University administration believes that following these simple rules will help to decrease the risks of many diseases plus increase academic performance. A total of 240 freshman signed up to participate during the orientation week.

Oakwood University Community Action Clinic - Oakwood will modify its existing Bell Avenue property into an Oakwood University Health Action Clinic scheduled to open on August 1, 2016. Students in the disciplines of nursing, allied health, psychology, dietetics and nutrition, physical therapy, and pre-med will receive training to delivering holistic community health education in this clinic. This capital campaign is well underway. A donor has already committed to matching donations - dollar for dollar - up to $250,000. The construction will cost approximately $350,000.

Provost & Information Technology Subcommittee

• Campus Virtualization Project - Desktop virtualization provides a way for users to maintain their individual desktops on a single, central server. The users may be connected to the central server through the Network or over the Internet. Desktop virtualization has many benefits, including a lower total cost of ownership, increased security, reduced energy costs, reduced downtime and centralized management. Information Technology is in the preparation/testing phase and will roll out to a few campus computer labs over the course of the school year.
• Cloud Email Migration Project - Currently @oakwood.edu email is managed and stored locally, but plans are in place to migrate this service to the Cloud.  Cloud email is very familiar to everyone; probably the most notable is Gmail. Information Technology has selected Microsoft Office365 as its cloud email solution. This move will result in the following services for students, faculty, and staff: MS Office Online (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, & Outlook), Microsoft Sway, 50 GB Email Storage, Web Mail and Calendar, OneDrive Storage, Collaborative Document Editing, IM & Video through Skype, and much more.

Academic Administration Subcommittee 

• Oakwood Live! - This "open-house" preview event welcomed more than 700 guests (including 586 students and their 136 chaperones) during October 9-13. Fifty-three percent of the students were from Adventist academies. The top three majors in which visiting students were interested were Nursing, Biology, and Social Work. Over 300 visitors signed statements of intent to enroll at Oakwood University in August 2016.
• Academic Administration welcomed 12 new faculty members for the 2015-2016 academic year. There were also three retirements.
• The official census for the 2015-2016 school year reports 1,749 students.
• Top academic programs in the last 10 years have been Biology, Psychology, and Nursing.

Financial Administration Subcommittee

• Reviewed and approved the Draft Audited Financial Statements June 30, 2015.
• Reviewed and accepted the policy Compliance Audit Report 2013-2015.
• Construction of the Leroy and Lois Peters Media Center has been completed. The official dedication of building is scheduled for December, 2015, during the PELC program.
• Oakwood hosted the 41st Annual Awards Program of the City of Huntsville Beautification Board. This Board recognizes the efforts of private and public sectors in creating a more healthful and beautiful city. The work of Oakwood's Grounds Department has been recognized on the City's Beautification Honor Roll for more than 14 years. 

Research and Employee Services Subcommittee

• Reflections on Cohort 1 of the Quality Enhancement Plan: Fall 2013-Spring 2015:

           >  Instructing students in critical thinking results in improved

               critical thinking outcomes on a variety of measures,

               including inference, analysis, and evaluation.

           >  Continuous faculty development opportunities provide an

               enhancement to best practices in instructional strategies and assessment of

               students' critical thinking skills

           >  Embedding of critical thinking skills now takes place through instructors

               representing four out of five of Oakwood University's academic schools.

           >  Oakwood students demonstrated improvement in critical thinking skills for

               student learning outcomes 1 & 2. 

Advancement and Development Subcommittee

• Oakwood University General Conference Participation - Oakwood hosted two "On the Road" events during the General Conference Session for approximately 700 alumni and friends. Oakwood University also had a booth at Session that garnered great attention with activities such as Meet the Presidents, Aeolians performances, and photos with the Ambassador mascot, just to name a few.
• The next Oakwood on the Road event is scheduled for October 24 at the Berean Seventh-day Adventist church in Atlanta, Georgia.
• WJOU 90.1 FM has increased fundraising efforts and will soon be transitioning to a new digital transmitter. WJOU 90.1 FM, along with Good Samaritan Hospice, is also hosting its third Annual Community Health Fair on Wednesday, October 28, from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., at the Millet Activity Center.
• Oakwood Magazine is now being published four times a year, which has increased exposure of the University to alumni and friends.
• Social media for Oakwood has grown by 114% over the past year. 

Student Services Subcommittee

• Thompson Hospitality has made slight renovations in the dining hall and their initiatives that will align with what Oakwood does through Healthy Campus 2020 and the Partnership for a Healthier America.
• Edwards Hall bathrooms have been renovated. This was a $500K project.

Spiritual Life Subcommittee

• Student Entrepreneurship Scholarship Training Program - The Student Entrepreneurial Scholarship Training Program (SESTP) was designed to help students develop entrepreneurial skills that will assist them in their matriculation process at Oakwood and aid them as they depart to serve. Through this program, students will be able cover 20% of their cost of attendance at Oakwood University by participating in Literature Evangelism Training. The student will commit to campaigning at least three times a week for 12 weeks. Oakwood University will contribute up to $2,600 to match the amount of commission students earn, for a total contribution of $5,200. Currently, 29 students have signed up for the SESTP experience.