Interim President's Report to the Board of Regents

February 9, 2024

Thank you, Chair Mayeron, and members of the board. I will try to keep my remarks today relatively brief, as I realize the Board has other important business at hand. 

We’ve reached the eve of the state legislative session, which officially kicks off on Monday. 

As you know, our capital budget request, totaling $500 million, would allow the renewal of more than 150 buildings to support education, research and outreach across the state of Minnesota. 

The funding would help address a large and growing backlog of facility needs on all of our campuses.

We are also advancing a supplemental budget request, which includes $45 million in recurring operational funds. This would allow the University to keep costs lower for students by minimizing tuition increases, as well as addressing a portion of expected cost increases. 

In addition, there’s an amendment to the Supplemental Budget Request that was presented in committee yesterday—based on the University’s Vision for an Academic Health System as presented to the Governor’s Task Force on Academic Health. 

The proposed amendment requests $80 million annually to improve health care by:

•  Expanding and enhancing training opportunities to grow the pool of health professionals in Minnesota,
•  Improving equity and access to clinical care for underserved population, and 
• Enhancing research to improve health outcomes.

Allocation of the requested amount to specific areas and programs might need to be adjusted depending on outcomes of negotiations with clinical partners and/or legislative action during this session.  We will keep the Board updated as the session progresses. 

I was glad to have the opportunity–along with many of you around the table– to speak with legislators at your breakfast yesterday morning, and I’ll continue to be engaged with state and federal legislative leaders throughout the session. 

Just last week, Executive Director for Government and Community Relations Melisa Lopez Franzen and I were in southern Minnesota along with Minnesota State Chancellor Scott Olson. 

We met with editorial and news writers from Rochester and Winona publications to discuss the role our systems play for all Minnesotans—and stress the importance of state investment in our capital requests. 

Again this year, we’ll be counting on strong engagement from our many advocates around the state and beyond, including students, faculty and staff, and the U of M system’s 600,000-plus alumni. Melisa and her office will be active in coordinating these activities.

We need everyone’s voice as we speak on behalf of a better University of Minnesota.

Of course, our outreach efforts extend beyond our elected officials. I recently conducted interviews covering many University of Minnesota topics with the Minnesota Daily and with the Star Tribune editorial board. I also had the chance to talk  with the Minnesota State Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and the Twin Cities Communications Council.

Anti-semitism and freedom of speech

I’d like to briefly address the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and some of its ramifications on our campuses. 

Let me first say that I understand the human toll that this conflict has taken on people connected to the U. Every day there are students and employees, some of whom I have met with, that wake up not knowing if their relatives and friends are OK. Since October 7, we have focused our efforts on supporting members of our community  with all available University resources and we will continue to do so. 

I’d also like to clearly state that this University will not tolerate calls for genocide for any class of people at the University. To be clear, calls for genocide, and other forms of misconduct, discrimination, and harassment, have no place at the University of Minnesota. This University has a strong record of responding to and acting against misconduct in all of its forms no matter who is the perpetrator and who is the victim. 

On the issue of speech, I’ve held several listening sessions with students, faculty, and alumni, and I’ve taken the opportunity to reiterate that the University needs to remain a place where people can express their opinions—whether they’re students, staff, or faculty. 

As a public research university, we must provide a place for the expression of diverse views and opinions. It’s not just required by the U.S. Constitution; it’s a core part of our mission. 

The University supports the rights of all members of our community to speak and peacefully demonstrate about ideas they support or to protest against ideas they find unjust or offensive. 

This includes students and, of course, our faculty. 

The Board of Regents Policy on Academic Freedom and Responsibility states that faculty and academic staff have the freedom to speak and write on matters of public concern–but also the responsibility to ensure that when they speak, they make it clear they are not speaking for the institution. 

This administration has been working with individual faculty and departments to ensure that we uphold this policy, including disclaimers that these statements do not represent the views of the University. 

We continue to work with University governance, and especially with the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Consultative Committee, and the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee, to consider how to provide guidance for members of our University community on statements on matters of public concern. 

As is the case with many issues of public significance, full engagement from all quarters of the University in this policy development, and a corresponding respect for hearing out all points of view, is itself part of the educational mission of the University. We want to take the time to do this right, which will likely involve the new President of the University once they are named.

Email transition

Late last year, our Office of Information Technology recommended the University discontinue its practice of providing email accounts to alumni and retirees. 

This was a decision based on reducing data security risk, enhancing data privacy, and avoiding increasing costs for data storage.

OIT is moving forward with discontinuing email accounts for alumni and retirees. There are approximately 97,500 individuals who currently have these types of active email accounts. 

There is a one-year transition period for affected individuals, and thus far about 6,000 (as of late January) have opted to create a new alumni-domain email account. 

Other Updates 

Turning to other updates, last month, our Crookston, Duluth, and Rochester campuses were awarded the “Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement,” joining the Twin Cities and Morris campuses. 

This makes the U of M the country's first and only university system at which every individual campus has received this selective designation.

At last February’s Board of Regents meeting, the University announced its intention to return the Cloquet Forestry Center to the Fond du Lac Band. Conversations and discussions have continued since that time as we move forward. As a next step in that process, on Tuesday the University will be hosting a public engagement session at the Cloquet Forestry Center.

Last week I attended an event to celebrate the launch of CLA’s George Morrison Center for Indigenous Arts. 

This new Center is a great example of the type of interdisciplinary, publicly-engaged work that the University is known for – involving partners from multiple CLA departments and community organizations.

It honors the late George Morrison—a member of the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe who was a renowned painter and sculptor.

Morrison taught American Indian Studies and art at the University of Minnesota from 1970 to 1983. 

The opening exhibit, Dreaming Our Futures at the Katherine E Nash Gallery, features the work of 29 mid-century and contemporary artists, including Morrison. 

February is Black History Month, and events and celebrations are taking place across our campuses. I attended the 43rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Concert at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on January 14th, and I really appreciated both the poignant stories and impressive artistic talent that were part of that event.

And University Relations is featuring the annual “Where It Starts” series of stories of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni on the U of M website. They highlight individuals and communities who continue to make Black history at the University of Minnesota and beyond. 

UMD Chancellor Search

Our search for UMD’s next chancellor is well underway. The committee is completing first-round interviews and I anticipate they will be forwarding their recommendations to me in the coming weeks. We’re on track to conduct public interviews later this spring. 

UMAA Memorandum of Understanding and Anniversary 

And we have some good news from the University of Minnesota Alumni Association.

The UMAA Board of Directors has approved a new Memorandum of Understanding with the University, replacing the last version from 2008. And this Board will have the opportunity to take action on the MOU later this morning.

The driving factor of the new agreement is brand alignment—with the UMAA now being able to use the University's "Block M" in tandem with “Alumni Association” as part of its brand identity. 

Credit goes to the many alumni volunteer leaders who worked on this new agreement over the past few years. 

Also, last Tuesday was the 120th anniversary of the UMAA! Governor Walz proclaimed January 30 to be “University of Minnesota Alumni Association Day in the State of Minnesota.”

So, congratulations, UMAA, and here’s to the next 120 years!

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge Senior Vice President Myron Frans, who announced he will retire from the University later this year.

He’ll step down as Senior VP for Finance and Operations as of March 1, but has agreed to serve as a Senior Advisor to me, part-time, focusing on our clinical partnerships related to academic medicine.

Myron has been at the table for our academic health negotiations and I deeply appreciate his willingness to continue leading in this realm over the next several months to ensure the best possible conclusion on this important effort.

I’m incredibly thankful for Myron’s service. He has been an invaluable partner to me and countless others across the University System and state of Minnesota.

We have launched a national search for the University’s next Senior Vice President, and will keep the University community updated as the search progresses. 

That concludes my report. 

Thank you, Chair Mayeron.