UNIVERSITY PARK — Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell told Penn State’s board of trustees Friday that the university is off to a “very good start” in implementing the athletics integrity agreement that is part of the NCAA sanctions.

Mitchell essentially reiterated Friday what he wrote in his first report in November on Penn State’s progress to comply with the provisions of former FBI director Louis Freeh’s recommendations.

As part of the NCAA’s consent decree, Penn State is to implement Freeh’s recommendations.

Mitchell said Penn State has done well so far, but more work is ahead.

Mitchell got few questions from the trustees during his first face-to-face meeting with them.

One trustee asked Mitchell if he knew about the football team’s higher academic performance, to which Mitchell said he knew.

In an interview with reporters after his brief remarks, Mitchell declined to discuss the work that will go into the next report, which is due by Feb. 28.

Mitchell’s team of about six people comes to campus almost weekly. Mitchell himself visits about once a month, he said.

Mitchell will act as the monitor for five years, but there is a provision of the agreement that says the term can be reconsidered after two years.