Regents Roundup - June 2020

June 29, 2020

Budgets, donations, personnel appointments and other items were discussed at the U-M Board of Regents June meetings.

An artistic shot of the university seal on the Social Sciences Building set against a blue sky

The University of Michigan Board of Regents held two meetings in June. The regular meeting on June 25 and a special meeting on June 29 to discuss the U-M budget. The UM-Dearborn items covered at both meetings are outlined below. 

Chancellor Domenico Grasso shared with the Regents an overview of the fall 2020 teaching and campus operations plan and also congratulated those involved in UM-Dearborn’s win of the DTE Energy Challenge

During the meeting on June 25, the Regents discussed and voted on the university consolidated budget, that vote ended in a 4-4 tie. The special meeting on June 29 brought new consideration of the budget and it was passed by the Regents 5-2. UM-Dearborn’s budget includes a significant increased investment in financial aid, an enhanced focus on student success, a change in the tuition structure and a 1.9% increase in undergraduate tuition. The university will provide additional financial aid to ensure that all of the university’s Pell Grant eligible students see no net increase in tuition and fees. Read the budget story for more information.

During both meetings, U-M President Mark Schlissel announced the development of a fund available to be shared by the UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint campuses as “part of our ongoing commitment to our regional campuses to help them best serve their students and the state.” The funds will be devoted to student success initiatives identified by each chancellor and specific to each campus’s strategic priorities. At the June 29 meeting, the amount of the fund was finalized at $20 million. 

At the June 25 meeting, the following personnel actions were approved:

Reappointments of regular instructional staff and selected academic and administrative staff

Stein Brunvand, associate dean, College of Education, Health, and Human Services, effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 (also professor of education, with tenure).

Susan A. Everett, chair, Department of Education, College of Education, Health, and Human Services, effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 (also professor of education, with tenure).

Jorge González del Pozo, chair, Department of Language, Culture, and Communication, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023 (also professor of Spanish, with tenure).

Joint or additional appointments or transfers of regular associate or full professors and selected academic and administrative staff.

Anthony (Tony) W. England, professor of electrical and computer engineering, without tenure, CECS, effective July 1, 2020 (also dean, CECS, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, with tenure, and professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, without tenure, College of Engineering, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor).

James H. Gilmore, acting chair, Department of Language, Culture, and Communication, and acting chair, Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts, CASL, effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 (also clinical professor, Department of Language, Culture, and Communication).

Lisa A. Martin, Interim Chair, Department of Health and Human Services, CEHHS, effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 (also associate professor of health and human services, with tenure, CEHHS, and associate professor of women’s and gender studies, with tenure, CASL).

Committee Appointments

Citizens Advisory Committee
Brett Wheatley, four-year term, July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2024

The follow gifts of $10,000 or more were included in the Regents’ report:

Provost Susan E. Alcock
$10,000 in support of the Immediate Relief COVID-19 fund

Jeffery B. Gordon and Beth McGarry
$10,000 in support of the Engineering Lab Building Renovation Fund

American Heart Association Inc
$19,067 in support of CECS Research

OMRON Foundation, Inc
$100,000 in support of the Engineering Lab Building Renovation Fund

The Regents also approved the 2022-23 academic calendar.