Good morning, everyone. It’s wonderful to be here in Traverse City for this month’s meeting and our Board of Trustees retreat.
Remembering Dolores D. Wharton
Before I begin my report today, I want to acknowledge the passing of former Michigan State First Lady Dolores Wharton last weekend. Mrs. Wharton was perhaps best known as a vigorous and influential advocate for the arts, including during her years on our campus during President Clifton Wharton’s tenure from 1970-1978.
She served on art organization boards from the Detroit Institute of Arts — which we visited on our Spartan Bus Tour just a few weeks ago — and the Michigan Council for the Arts to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Of course, a beautiful and prominent monument to the Whartons’ advocacy remains with us on campus in the form of our Wharton Center for Performing Arts.
And like her husband, she broke racial and gender barriers as a member of organizational and corporate boards, including for companies like Phillips Petroleum, Kellogg Co. and Gannett.
She was such a powerful presence, such an unforgettable personality, and I’d like to start with a brief moment of silence to remember Dolores Duncan Wharton.
Thank you. We’ve had a great visit to Traverse City this week, experiencing our many collaborative efforts to build community and tackle big challenges for the citizens of this region and the state of Michigan.
Traverse City highlights
And I want to thank everyone who hosted or visited with us, including President Nissley at Northwestern Michigan College. In welcoming us, he spoke of the important partnership that MSU President John Hannah established 74 years ago with Northwestern Michigan College. He talked about their emphasis at the college on air, land and water, as he talked about programs they have around drones and viticulture and the Great Lakes maritime. And we had a chance to experience some of that over the past few days.
The vibrant innovators and entrepreneurs we had a chance to meet with at 20 Fathoms was one of the highlights for me on the visit. Also, our College of Human Medicine’s impressive street medicine program in this community was showcased the other day, and our business stakeholders at Black Star Farms and all the Spartans and community partners who joined us for a wonderful tour of the West Bay, highlighted by remarks from MSU water researcher Joan Rose. And I’m very much looking forward to Dr. Rose’s research presentation this morning.
Research and innovation
Speaking of research, MSU recently had the privilege of opening the Mackinac Policy Conference with a panel about the importance of federally supported university research.
Such research is, of course, under threat from federal cuts. But our panelists, MSU pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna, Henry Ford Health/MSU cancer researcher Dr. Howard Crawford and former financial executive Matt Elliott, who co-chairs our Green and White Council did an excellent job highlighting what we stand to lose … from ensuring clean water … to making progress in the fight against cancer … to retaining top talent.
History shows that together, research universities and the federal government catalyze innovation. And today, thanks to that partnership, universities like Michigan State stand as irreplaceable components of the nation’s innovation ecosystem.
I could cite numerous examples, but today, I’ll just note how pleased I was to see MSU ranked as a top-40 U.S. patent-granting institution by the National Academy of Inventors. We moved up 13 spots, with 60 utility patents granted — up from 45 the previous year. And globally, MSU rose 20 spots to No. 57.
Thanks to our amazing community of innovators, MSU has been listed in the global top 100 since 2013, when the NAI began publishing the report. Spartan innovators have registered more than 3,300 inventions over the years, including revolutionizing cancer treatment and pioneering a life-saving race car safety device.
So, there’s a lot at stake here, which is why we continue to monitor and assess the shifting federal landscape. Thank you to our Government Relations team, which continues to advocate for federal support through contacts with lawmakers and through our peer associations. And thank you to all the Spartans and friends who have lent their voices to this cause, including by contacting their congressperson directly.
Finance and budget
As we prepare to approve next year’s university budget and set tuition rates today, we’re mindful of the financial challenges posed by federal cuts.
But as I’ve said previously, our primary budgetary pressures come not just from changes occurring at the federal government, but from existing structural deficits that must be addressed. From the beginning of my tenure, I’ve made it a top priority to comprehensively assess Michigan State’s financial health. We’ve looked closely at our budget model and the state’s appropriations formula and have examined stress points, available reserves and forecasted operating budget trends.
This work has built on the efforts of our budget office, which has been exploring structural improvements for more than two years. Following my spring 2024 listening and learning tour, I began conversations with my leadership team in the fall — and then with our deans early this spring.
We reached the difficult conclusion of implementing a 9% budget reduction to the General Fund over the next two years — 6% this coming year and 3% the following year. This will require sacrifices across the university, and my own office will start with the full 9% cut this coming year, followed by additional cuts the following year.
Administrative units and colleges submitted their budget plans last week, and what we’re seeing includes proposed cuts to things like external contracts, hiring, travel allotments and other budget areas before looking at employment considerations.
I wish I could spare our community from this difficult work, and we will do our best to support our people. But ultimately, we must make the necessary strategic decisions for the long-term success of MSU.
And as we work to rebalance finances while continuing to move the university forward, I’m very pleased to note that we’re on the way to closing out a record-setting fundraising year.
As of June 10, we’d raised $340 million — mobilizing more than 63,400 donors and exceeding our annual goal. And, of course, earlier this year we launched our $4 billion Uncommon Will, Far Better World comprehensive campaign, the most ambitious in our history.
I’ve been pleased to be part of our Advancement and alumni outreach — meeting people across the country and as far away as Japan and South Korea — and I can’t say enough about the generosity of Spartans and friends who are investing in our future. Those include the MSU Research Foundation, which recently designated $75 million over the next eight years to support university research and innovation.
Thanks to all who have, or will, financially support Michigan State University.
Welcoming new leadership
While we look ahead to future opportunities, we are extremely fortunate to welcome four key new leaders to our community.
Pending board approval, Laura Lee McIntyre will be our next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs starting Aug. 4. She has such palpable energy and will bring outstanding experience to Michigan State.
As dean of the College of Education at the University of Oregon, for example, she built a collaborative culture leading to new academic programs ... more robust student advising services ... stronger graduate enrollment ... increased student scholarships ... and more research awards.
Dr. McIntyre is also an accomplished scholar, known for her work in early childhood, autism, family-centered interventions and family-school partnerships for children with disabilities. I’m very confident that she will strengthen our academic enterprise and be a tremendous asset to our community.
I want to thank Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Thomas Jeitschko for his dedicated service over close to three years. His impact will be felt for a long time, having appointed over 13 deans and vice provosts.
Thomas has led key implementations and integrations, from the MSU College of Law to the transition to our new student information system. He has fostered cross-college collaboration and promoted “one team” across colleges and units and has strengthened relationships with academic governance.
As a prominent figure in our students’ success, he led MSU through a successful 10-year accreditation process and recently helped launch our general education modernization process.
And it makes me very happy to acknowledge Dr. Jeitschko’s many contributions by recognizing him going forward with the title of Michigan State Provost Emeritus.
Will you all join me in saluting Dr. Jeitschko with our applause? Thomas, thank you for your dedication to Michigan State University.
At the same time, I’m happy to help welcome two new deans, pending board approval.
Thomas Stubblefield has been selected to lead the College of Arts and Letters. He brings excellent experience from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, where he is professor of art and art history and associate dean.
And Matt Daum has been selected to lead the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, where he has done a great job as interim dean for the last year.
Finally, just last week, we introduced our new director of athletics.
When I set out on the search, I told the board I was going to aim big, and I appreciate that they supported me in running the search with the freedom to go land a top tier athletics director. And top tier is what we are getting in J Batt as Michigan State’s 21st director of athletics.
J is a visionary leader with a strong record of success, a deep commitment to student-athlete development and a passion for building championship-caliber programs rooted in integrity and academic excellence. His vision aligns seamlessly with our institutional values and our shared commitment to integrity, equity and the holistic development of all who wear the Green and White.
I’m confident that all of these new leaders will elevate Michigan State’s game in the years ahead.
Other updates
I’m also confident that our efforts to re-imagine, refresh, reframe and reaffirm our MSU 2030 strategic priorities will ensure we have the very best roadmap for our bright future ahead. And I enjoyed our conversation with the board and members of our leadership team yesterday.
There is so much more to report from Michigan State, including what I hear was a wonderful celebration of Juneteenth yesterday. I’m sorry the board and I weren’t available to participate on campus this year, but I want to thank everyone who helped produce the program and attended it at our new Multicultural Center on campus.
And I want to conclude with thanks to our Traverse City hosts, and an acknowledgment of those who hosted and traveled with us on the recent Detroit leg of our Spartan Bus Tour.
These multiday tours take university faculty to communities around Michigan that our students and partners call home. We highlight areas of MSU’s engagement, such as last fall’s visit to MSU’s Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center.
Our Detroit tour took us to more than a dozen stops, including several locations where the university is partnering with community members in areas like health care and medical research, urban farming and arts and culture.
I hope you enjoy this visual overview of the bus tour.
I’ll just note that we’ll be on the road again this fall, visiting communities as far north as the Upper Peninsula.
I said something in that video that’s important as I look to the future of Michigan State, and that is it’s about partnerships. It’s about partnerships with our faculty and faculty leadership, students and student leaders, with our world-class faculty and our Board of Trustees, who I know care deeply about the future of Michigan State University.
And I’m very confident that, despite the challenges higher ed in general is facing and the board is going to be facing here in the state of Michigan, it will take a strong and trusted partnership with all those who will come to the table. We’ll roll up our sleeves together and move this great university forward, and I’m going to need you by our side.
So with that, let’s turn to the next item on our agenda.