Remarks as prepared
I want to thank Chair Tebay, Provost McIntyre and all those who joined us yesterday to cut the ribbon celebrating our Spartan One-Stop space downstairs.
Spartan One-Stop is an important initiative in our student success program, ensuring all our students have the tools and guidance they need to thrive and graduate. It’s a hub for those seeking information about enrollment or student accounts, including billing and financial aid.
Spartan One-Stop is one of the ways we’re working to reduce barriers and offer a truly student-centric college experience at Michigan State, and my thanks to Dave Weatherspoon and everyone on that team.
And a shout-out, too, to the Spartan volleyball program, which at last week’s home game against Iowa honored staff and volunteers from University Health and Wellbeing's Center for Survivors and Safe Place. Players and fans wore purple ribbons at the game to observe national Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
We’re extremely proud of our people and programs supporting survivors of intimate partner violence and stalking. This includes Safe Place Shelter, which in 1994 became the nation’s first such on-campus shelter.
MSU’s Center for Survivors, additionally, is celebrating its 45th year. Advocates there help survivors navigate things like reporting options, academic accommodations, safety planning and housing/financial concerns, so thanks to the staff there for all you do.
And congratulations to University Health and Wellbeing for MSU just yesterday being named among “Michigan’s Best and Brightest in Wellness” by the National Association for Business Resources. We were also honored among the organization’s 2025 “Best of the Best” for large organizations.
These prestigious awards celebrate organizations that go above and beyond to foster a culture of health and wellbeing for their employees, so congratulations to University Health and Wellbeing and its MSU partners.
Spartans’ excellence
Our focus on supporting the success and well-being of our campus community is one part of many that make MSU a proudly public, leading global research university. I love to talk about the things we’re doing, like when our director of athletics, J Batt, and I sat in for Paul W. Smith recently at WJR radio in Detroit.
And our reputation for excellence was validated once again in the latest Times Higher Education global university rankings. Michigan State is among the top 5% of the world’s universities and headed upward, rising 17 spots globally and four spots domestically from last year.
A large part of that ranking is based on our teaching, research and innovation, so it’s a huge tribute to the excellence of our faculty, academic staff and support staff.
We saw faculty excellence spotlighted in a recent New York Times article featuring MSU Professor Bruno Basso and his innovations in satellite imaging and drone technology applied to farm conservation. The story was selected by the Times to represent Michigan in its “50 States, 50 Fixes” environmental series.
It also connected MSU biologist Nick Haddad and his work supporting conservation of natural areas for butterfly survival, demonstrating the breadth and impact of our environmental research.
And as for the excellence of our dedicated MSU support staff, Michigan State’s institutional social media has moved up to No. 2 in national university rankings — another example of the talent behind our work fostering community and connection among Spartans.
Finance and facilities
Our standing as “Michigan’s state university,” the choice of more in-state students than any other, was validated once again this semester with our second-highest enrollment of 51,838.
We’re pleased that the state’s budget finalized earlier this month appropriates $333.7 million to MSU in base operations funding, which is a 2.1% increase for the year. That’s a welcome bump, but was already built into our planning, so doesn’t represent additional revenue available to spend. Additionally, the increase is only for one year, which will add uncertainty to our budget planning for next year.
We’ve been as transparent with our workforce as possible through the year about our financial situation, and as I told Faculty Senate members in a message last month, together, we can navigate through this phase and find ways to keep the university strong and moving forward — supporting both excellence and fiscal responsibility.
I provided a comprehensive update to our faculty and staff in last week’s email message.
I realize these past few months have not been easy, and the impacts of our budget cuts have been felt by all. The decisions we’ve collectively made affect individuals and teams in real ways, and we do not take that lightly.
I’ve just returned from the AAU Presidents meeting in D.C. earlier this week, and we are far from unique in having put budget reductions in place over the past 9-10 months.
This was the right thing to do, at the right time.
As I said last week at President’s Council, I appreciate the role that many of our campus leaders played in helping us to get to this place — which is a much more financially stable position!
And it’s important to know that CFO Lisa Frace and Provost McIntyre are launching a Budget Model Redesign to support our financial transformation. It will prioritize development of a model that emphasizes clear resource allocation methodologies, financial stewardship and sustainable operational practices.
I know they’ll keep us informed as the project moves forward and thank them for taking on this big project.
Our Five Year Capital Outlay Plan is in front of the board today, as well as resolutions relating to plans for campus development. These plans illustrate another, critical dimension of our work to provide students, faculty and staff with facilities adequate to maintain our physical assets ... push the frontiers of discovery and innovation ... and prepare graduates for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century
So, as we look to the facilities we’ll need to prepare Spartans to imagine, create and lead the industries of tomorrow, we’re asking you today to approve the start of construction planning for our Engineering and Digital Innovation Center.
Given the shakier federal and state funding environment we face going forward — with the resulting necessity for new channels to fund needed programs and facilities — I’m grateful for the support we’re seeing from our generous donors as we pursue our ambitious, $4 billion comprehensive fundraising campaign.
I’m thinking about alums like Mary and Mike Lamach, whose recent $10 million gift is kick-starting our fundraising for the EDI Center. I was pleased to help honor the Lamachs as we celebrated their philanthropy and some of our most engaged alums at this year’s Grand Awards celebration.
It was a pleasure to meet and honor Spartans who’ve made a lasting impact through their work in areas like industry, innovation, the arts, science and research.
Spartan Bus Tour
I want to conclude today by thanking all our faculty and staff who joined us for our nearly 1,100-plus mile Spartan Bus Tour through northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
And my thanks, too, to the partners and Spartans who hosted us where they live and work, places many of our students and alums call home and where so many of us love to visit. We gained a fuller appreciation for the challenges facing such rural communities in health care, agriculture, education and more. And we gathered insights that we hope will foster new collaborations between ourselves and those communities.
So, I want to close by sharing this video summarizing the places and experiences of the fall 2025 Spartan Bus Tour.
It was quite an educational and inspirational experience. Now, let’s move to the next item on our agenda.