'Year of the student'
Board of Trustees and President MacKinnon detail their plans for 2025 during final meeting of 2024
The Central Michigan University Board of Trustees meet on Dec. 5 for their final formal meeting of the year. (CM Life | Blace Carpenter)
As the final Central Michigan University Board of Trustees meeting of 2024 started, the presidential conference room in the University Center was a full house, packed with students and other supporters.
They were present to congratulate friends, family and professors receiving emeritus status, but they also heard about the board and President Neil MacKinnon's plans for 2025.
In his report to the board, MacKinnon mentioned his plans for a Strategic Enrollment Plan, which he later expanded.
“This will provide us a roadmap to enrollment growth,” MacKinnon said. “As well as establishing targets and strategies to achieve those targets.”
MacKinnon previously stated that the college currently does not have an enrollment-specific strategic plan in place and said that it could be months before one is developed. He said he hopes to hire a firm that will analyze parts of the college that can be improved or expanded, in the hopes of bring more students to CMU.
“They’ll essentially identify ... low hanging fruit for our enrollment,” MacKinnon said. “I would expect in there would be, ‘Could we do a better job of marketing existing programs? Are there programs that could be expanded on?’”
He said that his main priority for next year is to continue listening to the campus and local community and to see where departments are currently standing. During his report, he also discussed five pillars that would create an opportunity for the university, “to invest in the well-being of our faculty and staff and to strengthen our institutions success by doing so.”
The president will be holding an event on Feb. 11, 2025, to discuss what he has found during his first 100 days on campus. The university will be holding MacKinnon’s presidential investiture on April 4, when he will discuss his goals as CMU’s 16th president.
The 2025 plan for Board of Trustees
This meeting was the last for both Trustee Isaiah Oliver and the board’s vice chair, Michael Sandler, with both of their terms ending on Dec. 31.
With two open seats on the board, Chairman Todd Regis said they hope to fill those positions as soon as possible, but the decision on who is appointed is decided by Michigan’s Senate and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office.
“Just from my personal knowledge, it would probably want to be done sooner, versus later,” Regis said. “Before the end of the year would probably be the best.”
As part of standard procedure, the board voted on the 2025 chair and two vice chairs. Regis was unanimously re-appointed to his current position as chair, with Denise Williams Mallett also remaining vice chair.
The Board appointed Trustee Regine Beauboeuf to fill Sandler’s position as vice chair.
The board announced during the meeting that its main goal of 2024 was to learn more about CMU’s faculty and staff, and it tried to visit every one of the academic colleges on campus. The board visited five of the seven, and Regis said they plan to complete the tour next semester.
However, Regis explained that he and the board are calling 2025 the “year of the student” and hope to connect to the students more in the upcoming semesters.
“We are going to engage students,” Regis said. “We want to get a little more involved and be able to attend some events.”
Regis said that he has always valued the relationship between the student body of a university and its administration.
“I had the opportunity to engage the board of trustees at my alma mater within the first ... academic year, and that became a consistent thing, with presidents and (the) board during my time as a student,” Regis said. “For me, that was important to me because they're the ones making the decisions.
“They're the ones determining what I got to eat in the dorm rooms, how much I paid to go to school, where I could park.”
Trustees Oliver and Sandler received recognition for their time and effort on the board, with resolutions granting them “Trustee Emeritus” status.
Also receiving emeritus status were:
- Robert Davies, 15th president (2018-2024)
- Anastasia Bristley, lead teacher in human development and family studies (2001-2024)
- Larry Burditt, professor of art and design (2006-2024)
- Judy Chandler, professor of physical education and sport (2001-2024)
- Alexandra David, professor in the school of music (1995-2024)
- Marco Fornari, professor of physics (2001-2024)
- Bryan Gibson, professor of psychology (1996-2024)
- Brooke Harrison, lecturer in english language and literature (1998-2024)
- Jay Martin, professor of history, world languages and cultures (2010-2024)
- Wendy Papa, professor of communication (2002-2024)
- Gary Pecquet, lecturer in economics (2006-2024)
- Albert Zainea, executive director of academic and professional programs (1994-2024)
- Rene Shingles, professor of rehabilitation and medical sciences (1992-2024)
The board also heard reports on the activities of Wednesday’s committee meetings, including the activities of student groups, the projects under facilities management and an update on enrollment.
Those student groups include the Student Government Association, Program Board and the Residence Housing Association. Representatives from each presented a variety of events and successes from the semester.
Facilities management presented projects that are on-time and on-budget, like Merrill Dining renovations and the demolition of Northwest Apartments. There are also new projects in the early stages of planning, including a potential indoor golf facility.
Vice President of Student Recruitment and Retention Jennifer DeHaemers said during the Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting that enrollment is projected to increase again next semester. She said the headcount will increase by about 2.5% or 300 students, according to preliminary numbers.
Health Professions shares accomplishments
During the meeting, Associate Dean of The Herbert H. & Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions Greg Zimmerman shared a recap of the accomplishments the college.
"it all begins with assembling relevant, rigorous and high-quality programming that is attractive to prospective students and meets the demands of our communities," Zimmerman said. "We have nearly 2,000 students and, more importantly, we have 38 dedicated support staff and 156 very high qualified and engaged faculty."
Zimmerman brought two of his colleagues to present their program and research. Speech Language Pathology Master Clinical Educator Annmarie Bates presented the college's Summer Specialty Clinics and Professor Dawn Nelson discussed her published research on sickle cell disease.
