Academic Senate discusses future of DEI programs, international students
Senator Martha Frank expresses some concerns about international students and student enrollment in the next academic year at the latest Academic Senate meeting on Tuesday, April 9 in the French Auditorium.
After months of executive orders and policies threatening DEI programs, the Academic Senate asked President Neil MacKinnon to discuss the future of DEI programs at Central Michigan University at the latest meeting on Tuesday, April 8.
CMU and DEI
After University of Michigan President Santa Ono announced the university would be closing its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on March 27, Senator Lawrence Lemke asked MacKinnon to address whether CMU would follow suit.
“I want to be sure that CMU does everything that it can to stand up for the core values that we espouse,” Lemke said after the meeting.
Since the creation of President Donald Trump’s executive orders to "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," institutions nationwide have been rushing to figure out what to do with their programs.
MacKinnon said a group called the CMU Policy Compliance and Communications Committee has been meeting with representatives from the state government and other colleges since early January to assess and make recommendations on actions CMU should take regarding DEI.
“Together, we are all attempting to ensure that we clearly understand what is and what may be required of CMU,” MacKinnon said. “We’re closely watching what is happening in our neighboring states and at our peer institutions, and we are paying close attention to what is still developing at the University of Michigan.”
MacKinnon said that he and Ono met on Friday to discuss why so many colleges are shutting down their DEI services. Many of these reasons are due to the current actions taken by the legislatures in certain states and the pressures that many colleges are facing from stakeholders.
“We are learning from all of this and examining what we could, should, or should not do if and when we find ourselves in the same or similar circumstances,” MacKinnon said. “What I can promise is that any changes that we make will still allow us to continue to do the great work we have always done and will be in alignment with our goals and values.”
Lemke said he is concerned with current executive orders that are threatening to take away the "core values" of CMU, and because of this, he wants to see CMU take a more “active” approach in standing up to the threats made to DEI services.
“I would personally like to see us and our peer institutions taking a more active role in putting up some sort of resistance and standing up to this,” Lemke said. “This is what our leadership standards at CMU call us to do -- to lead with courage, to take a stand, to make a difference.”
Lemke said he was concerned that CMU will be forced to make quick decisions surrounding DEI programs as the end of the academic year is approaching and staff is preoccupied with concluding the spring semester.
“If we return to campus in August, and that decision has been made and the water’s under the bridge and we can’t go back, we will have missed the opportunity to stand up and fight for the core values that this institution -- all the students and all the faculty -- really believe in,” Lemke said. “And I don’t want to see that opportunity go by without us putting up a fight for the things that we need to stand strong on.”
Many senators applauded.
“We don’t always shout it from the rooftops, but I want to reassure you that we’re committed to our values,” MacKinnon said.
Provost Paula Lancaster also said she and MacKinnon will continue to provide weekly updates to the CMU community throughout the summer months. These updates will continue to give students information on what's going on in federal and state politics, and its possible effects on the university.
The Policy Compliance Committee discussed the importance of keeping the CMU community informed of any changes, she said.
“(Executive decisions) are not going to halt over the summer months,” Lancaster said. “We still have to be paying close attention and continuing to stay abreast of everything that’s happening.”
Updates on CMU international students
In an April 4 email, MacKinnon announced that some student records of international students were erased by the United States Department of Homeland Security without notifying the university.
MacKinnon said that seven students were impacted by this, and only three of the seven were current students at the university. The three students impacted were contacted, he said.
“We’ve had so much success in international enrollment growth,” he said. “It’s all at risk right now because of the actions of the past week.”
Strategic Enrollment Plan and enrollment concerns for next year
Vice President of Student Recruitment and Retention Jennifer DeHaemers will be co-chairing with Senior Vice Provost David Patton in creating an enrollment plan for the university.
The plan will look at ways to maintain higher enrollment at the university for the next few years, and will cost around $185,000, she said.
“The purpose is really to put us in the best position of it from an enrollment standpoint,” she said. “There’s a lot of hope to kickstart the enrollment.”
The strategic enrollment management plan was developed in the ’80s when universities were becoming more concerned about enrollment declines, DeHaemers said. She said that these plans were used to fullfill a certain enrollment goal and fit this with the institution’s missions and student goals.
“It’s really looking at a coordinated set of concepts, processes and so on, that ties everything you’re doing with enrollment planning to a university strategic plan, as well as the institutional mission,” DeHaemers said. “But also thinking about what are students wanting to get out of the journey.”
DeHaemers said her team is looking into making a strategic enrollment plan at this point in time because CMU has seen an increase in enrollment among freshmen, transfer students and international students.
“We have some momentum on our side,” DeHaemers said. “This is a time to really do some planning and think more strategically.”
She said she is hoping to maintain a higher level of enrollment. For the past three years, DeHaemers said, there has been an increase in student enrollment among freshmen and transfer students. A few things that her team will be doing shortly are:
- Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of what CMU is already doing concerning recruitment
- Looking at the integrated marketing research
- Looking at ways to foster collaboration
“The purpose is really to put us in the best position of it from an enrollment standpoint,” she said. “The growth that we’ve had has been good, but many people would say it’s not been aggressive or fast enough.”
According to the official fall end of semester enrollment statistics, from 2022 to 2024, the official enrollment numbers show:
- Freshman enrollment went from 2,019 to 2,222 students
- Transfer student enrollment went from 851 to 987 students
- International student enrollment went from 1,219 to 1,659 students
Despite increased student enrollment, many of the senators were concerned with the possible decrease in enrollment by international students and the overall decrease due to competition with the university’s competitor, Michigan State University. These concerns were brought up by senators Martha Frank and Alejandra Rengifo.
DeHaemer said that the university is already seeing a decrease in numbers regarding to international students.
“Visa appointments will be a lot more difficult to get overseas,” DeHaemer said. “We anticipate that we will have fewer international students this year. How many fewer? It’s a day-by-day sort of sense.”
In other news:
Lancaster announced that the next Central Changes listening session will meet on from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Monday, April 14, at the Biology Science building in room 1010. She said that as part of the Central Changes Initiative, this is a space for individuals to share their concerns about the federal, state and local government changes.
