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Philomena Mantella is GVSU's Fifth President
Dr. Philomena ("Philly") Mantella has assumed the presidency at Grand Valley State University after a national search. Prior to her selection, she had been serving for 18 years as Senior Vice President and CEO of the Lifelong Learning Network at Northeastern University in Boston. Prior to her leadership at Northeastern, President Mantella also served in administrative roles at Pace University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, SUNY College of Optometry, and Ferris State University. President Mantella earned her Ph.D. in college and university administration from Michigan State University and her master's and bachelor's degrees in social work from Syracuse University. She began her service at GVSU on July 1, succeeding President Thomas Haas, who has retired after 13 years, but will serve GVSU as President Emeritus.
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Samuel Stanley, Jr. Appointed as MSU's
Next President
The Michigan State University Board of Trustees  has
appointed Dr. Samuel Stanley, Jr. as the next President of MSU following a national search. President-designate Stanley
has served as President of Stony Brook University, a major research university, for the past ten years. Prior to his presidency at
Stony Brook, he served as Professor
and Vice Chancellor for Research at Washington University in St. Louis. President-designate Stanley earned his M.D. at Harvard University and his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago, a
nd remains active in the leadership of professional societies and organizations. He will begin his tenure at MSU on Aug. 1, 2019, succeeding Acting President Satish Udpa, who will return to his role as Executive Vice President for Administration
.
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Debasish Dutta Named New Chancellor of UM-Flint
Following a recommendation from President Mark  Schlissel, the University of Michigan Board of Regents appointed Dr. Debasish Dutta as the next Chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint. He was most recently the Chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick and he served previously as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity at Purdue University. He also served as Professor and Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and in other administrative roles at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Chancellor-designate Dutta earned his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Purdue, a master's degree in engineering management from the University of Evansville, and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Jadavpur University in Calcutta, India. His appointment is effective August 1, succeeding Chancellor Susan Borrego, who is stepping down at the completion of her term.
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Governor Whitmer Meets with MASU Board of Directors to Discuss State Budget Challenges, Investment Strategy
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer facilitated a discussion on her first state budget proposal with the state university presidents and chancellors at the MASU Board of Directors meeting on May 21. The Governor's fiscal year 2020 budget recommendation calls for a 3% increase in operating support for the state universities and is predicated on a significant increase in fuel taxes. The fuel tax would be used to address her number one priority of fixing Michigan's roads and transportation infrastructure. It would also shore up funding in the state's School Aid Fund and General Fund. A good discussion was had on the need to simultaneously address, through greater public investment, several challenges confronting the state; fixing the roads and addressing the skills gap among them. After the Board meeting, the university leaders joined their counterparts at the state's community colleges in issuing a statement of support for the Governor's FY 2020 budget framework. It read, in part:
"Governor Gretchen Whitmer's proposed budget recognizes these realities and wisely calls for additional sustainable revenue for road repair and investment in schools and postsecondary education. The leaders of Michigan's public colleges and universities join organizations such as Business Leaders for Michigan, the Michigan Municipal League, and many others to support the general framework of the Governor's budget. It is a necessary move to meet the needs of Michigan employers and families for more talent and access to public education, to create a more prosperous Michigan."
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State Budget Update
As Michigan's fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and this is the first year of divided government in eight years, the state budget picture remains at a standstill. The entire executive budget is designed around Gov. Whitmer's proposed $2.5 billion gas tax increase to rebuild Michigan's roads and free up other fund sources recently diverted to roads.
Operations
: The Governor proposed a 3% increase for state universities, distributed across the board, rather than the performance-based funding formula the prior administration used. The Senate cut that increase to 1% and the House further cut it down to 0.4%, with the Senate using the prior formula and the House making striking changes to the formula, such as allocating funding based on the proportion of graduates who remain in the state. The Senate and House both diverted over $6 million from operations increases to fund the deficit for state-mandated free tuition for North American Indian students. The Governor also proposed a 3% increase for community colleges, which the Senate cut to 1.3% and the House cut to 1%.
Tuition Restraint
: The Governor proposed a cap on tuition increases for the next academic year equal to the projected Detroit Consumer Price Index plus 1%, or 3.2% in total. The House agreed with 3.2%, though through a different methodology, and the Senate used the calculation of double Detroit CPI, or 4.4%, as the prior administration used. Notably, we are already in July without a finalized budget in place. During the last era of divided government when budgets ran into September or even October, tuition restraint was not in the budget, meaning that universities have even less certainty over the coming academic year than in prior budget battles.
Financial Aid
: The Governor proposed two major new financial aid initiatives, described below. The Governor proposed capping reimbursement for students in the Tuition Incentive Program at state universities, but neither the Senate nor House agreed. The House also proposed cutting the Michigan Competitive Scholarship by $2.1 million and increasing the Michigan Tuition Grant by $500,000, but neither the Governor nor Senate have agreed.
Capital Outlay
: The Governor recommended no new capital projects for planning.
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MASU Weighs in on Governor's Scholarship Proposals
As part of her ambitious educational attainment goal of having 60% of Michigan residents possess a postsecondary degree or high-quality credential (currently 44%) by 2030, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed two scholarship proposals to help close Michigan's skills gap and boost attainment. Both program proposals are based on successful models in Tennessee. Her Michigan Reconnect proposal (SB 268 and HB 4456) would offer state residents who are least age 25 and who have not earned a college degree with last-dollar state funding for tuition at any Michigan community college. The program would provide tuition-free attendance for adults wishing to earn up to an associate degree or industry certificate. MASU staff Dan Hurley and Bob Murphy have met with the bills' sponsors with suggested changes to the bills; among them, including Michigan's public universities that offer two-year degrees as eligible institutions, and also to consider certificate programs provided by all of the state universities for inclusion in the eligibility criteria. The Michigan Reconnect program is intended to be included in the FY 2020 state budget, which begins October 1.
The Governor's Michigan Opportunity Scholarship proposal (SB 267 & HB 4464) has two pathways. The first is a community college program that would cover tuition and fees at the state's community colleges for graduating high school seniors who meet certain accountability standards. The second pathway would provide a $2,500 scholarship for two years to students attending the state's public or independent four-year colleges and universities. Students must have earned at least a 3.0 high school GPA and come from a family with an income of less than $80,000. Unlike the Michigan Reconnect program proposal, the MI Opportunity Scholarship programs, if passed by the legislature, are not expected to be in place until fall of 2021 at the earliest (included in the state's FY 2021 budget). When meeting with the MI Opportunity bill sponsors, MASU staff recommended a number of changes for lawmakers' consideration. Among them were to extend the scholarship to four years (instead of just two) for students enrolled in baccalaureate degree programs, to revise the definition of full-time enrollment upward, and allow cross-sector transferability between Phase I and Phase II programs for students who transfer among the state's community colleges and four-year institutions.
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Teaching Excellence Highlighted at MASU Professors of the Year Awards Ceremony
One of the most enjoyable annual MASU rituals took place on May 13
th
at the Lansing Center: recognition of excellence in teaching by professors at the state universities of Michigan. Hosted by the MASU Academic Affairs Officers Committee, the 13
th
annual Distinguished Professor of the Year Awards Program featured the recognition of 12 professors for their dedication to undergraduate teaching; three award winners and nine award nominees. The award criteria include professors' impact on and involvement with undergraduate students, individualized and experiential learning, scholarship and innovation in teaching and learning, and contributions to undergraduate education at the institution, in the community and in the profession/discipline. The three Professor of the Year Award recipients were Michael Dease, Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone and Improvisation at Michigan State University; Brahim Medjahed, Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn; and Hiba Wehbe-Alamah, Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan-Flint.
More information on the professors' remarkable dedication to excellence in undergraduate teaching can be found
here
.
2019 MASU Distinguished Professor of the Year Award Winners and Nominees gathered May 13th to receive their well-deserved recognition. Helping to host the annual MASU Distinguished Professor of the Year ceremony were James Lentini (far left), Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Oakland University, and chair of the MASU Academic Affairs Officers Committee, and Daniel Hurley (far right), CEO of MASU. Standing next to Dr. Lentini are the three Professor of the Year Award recipients: Michael Dease, Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone and Improvisation (MSU); Brahim Medjahed, Professor of Computer and Information Science UM-Dearborn; and Hiba Wehbe-Alamah, Professor of Nursing (UM-Flint).
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New MiTransfer.org Website Launched
A new, more user-friendly online resource is now available for Michigan students who want to transfer their postsecondary education credits from one institution to another. The new site,
MiTransfer.org
, allows students to search for courses, view information about the Michigan Transfer Agreement, and link to more information about transferring from and to institutions throughout Michigan. The MiTransfer.org website also includes a robust reporting feature that allows university administrators access to information about the transferability of courses, equivalency changes, users' searches, and credit hour differences between similar courses. The website project team will continue to provide training and resources to help institutions use the new Michigan Transfer Network. The project was funded through the state's FY 2018 state budget, which included a one-time appropriation to support statewide student success initiatives. The work of guiding Michigan's transfer strategies is led by the Transfer Steering Committee (TSC) which, established in fall of 2016, is comprised of more than 30 representatives from Michigan community colleges, public universities, independent colleges and universities, and MACRAO, along with ex-officio members from the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU), Michigan Community College Association (MCCA), and the Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities (MICU).
Special thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to the design and development of the site over the last 18 months: Colleen Kibin (EMU), John Meldrum (OU), Kim Rotundo (NMU), Theresa Rowe (OU), Kristin Schuette (MSU), and Tricia Westergaard (OU).
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Update on MiTransfer Pathways
MASU has been working for several years to improve transfer student outcomes. Our coordination with the state universities in the MiTransfer Pathways Initiative is designed to make the overall transfer experience more efficient, easy to understand, and simple to navigate while optimizing credit transfer.
In Phase I (Biology, Business, Criminal Justice, Psychology)
we are currently
refining the terms of the articulation agreement. We expect further updates to be shared by the Transfer Steering Committee's Articulation Agreement Team later this summer. Phase II (Communication, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Social Work) has concluded its final pathway summit. Transfer liaisons are submitting pathways worksheets for their institutions. Phase III participants (Art, English, Exercise Science, Public Health) will meet again in the fall to determine the final courses to be included in the pathway. In the coming months we will design a sustainability plan to maintain and continue this work with the goal of
increasing the percentage of students in Michigan who transfer and earn a bachelor's degree.
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Mary Schutten Appointed Provost at Central Michigan University
Following a national search, Dr. Mary Schutten has been
appointed as Provost
and Executive Vice President at Central Michigan University, effective July 1. Dr. Schutten was serving as Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at San Jose State University at the time of her appointment, and previously served as associate dean at Grand Valley State University. She earned her doctorate of physical education from Indiana University, a master's in physical education from California State University at Long Beach and a bachelor's in education from Calvin College. Dr. Schutten succeeds Dr. Michael Gealt, who served as Interim President of CMU and has assumed Provost Emeritus status.
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MASU Enrollment Marketing Campaign to Continue for Second Year
At its May meeting, the MASU Board of Directors gave approval for the association's statewide enrollment marketing campaign to continue for a second year. The campaign's goals are to boost enrollment at the state universities, increase Michigan's educational attainment levels, and generate greater visibility of the value of a four-year degree among students, parents, state lawmakers, and the public at large. The first year of the campaign focused on strategic use of digital platforms to target communities throughout the state where college enrollment is disproportionately low. This includes social media platforms, digital music platforms like Spotify, and native advertising. The advertising focuses on sharing the Get MI Degree
video ad
and visuals that direct people to the
GetMIDegree.org
website, where students and parents can learn more about financial aid opportunities and connect with Michigan's public universities. Advertising metrics generated to date include more than 30 million total impressions that have driven some 85,000 unique visitors to the campaign website. A recent addition to the marketing effort is the
Students of Michigan
campaign, consisting of testimonials from a diverse array of students from all Michigan public universities in which they share their stories of overcoming challenges and succeeding in college, and provide advice to prospective students. In addition to various advertising and social media metrics, measurable outcomes for the campaign include the proportion of Michigan high schoolers who complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), admissions applications to the state universities, and, ultimately, enrollments at the institutions. With a campaign theme of "Make the Difference," this effort is symbolic of the collaboration among all of Michigan's public universities. This marketing effort is unique in the national context and is strategic in its efficient deployment of marketing communications to key stakeholder populations throughout the state. The MASU marketing campaign is being coordinated by Lansing-based public relations agency Martin Waymire.
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Upcoming MASU Committee Meetings
July 11, Alumni Directors, MASU Offices
July 12, Legal Affairs Officers, MASU Offices
July 17, State Relations Officers, MASU Offices
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