Trustees go to Mackinac to discuss future of university
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Owen
Starting today, the MSU Board of Trustees will venture to Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel for their annual retreat to discuss the state of the university.
The retreat allows the board to review the past year and see where the university can improve in the future, Trustee Faylene Owen said.
“When I was running for the board I wondered if we needed (the retreat),” said Owen, who was elected to the board in 2006. “But it’s very good. It’s only two days, and we spend the whole day working. It’s just different getting away — you work harder, are more focused. I like it.”
Trustee Dorothy Gonzales said the retreat is a great opportunity to cover a lot of topics that would be rushed at a regular meeting.
“That’s why they call it a retreat, so we can just sit down and go through all of the issues,” Gonzales said. “We can pull out all of our folders, all the stuff we have to work on.”
Residence halls will be a hot topic at this year’s retreat, said Trustee Melanie Foster.
“The last dorm was built in the ’60s,” Foster said. “Forty years ago students’ expectations were significantly different than what they are today. We need to evaluate what we can do to make residence life more in tune with the 21st century.”
Vennie Gore, vice president of Housing & Food Services, is expected to make a presentation on upgrades that can be made, Foster said.
“I’m really excited about that,” Foster said. “That’s an area we can do a better job at, in terms of enriching the student experience.”
They will also use the time to evaluate the job MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon has done over the last year, Foster said.
New additions to the university, like the Skandalaris Football Center will be reviewed, as well as ways to limit future tuition hikes, said Trustee George Perles.
“We’ve got to find a way to keep tuition down, so these kids can go to school and not leave $50,000 in debt,” Perles said.
The board also will review how they can best control rising health care costs, Foster said.
They have to find a way to keep health care and tuition costs down while dealing with constrained budgets and less money from the state, she said.
“We have to find a way to make our university affordable,” Foster said.
“The same way the Big Three (automakers) have to evaluate their costs. Legacy health care costs are dragging them under. As a university we need to look at that.”
Commentary
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Greg Schwartz
(07/30/08 7:54am)Report
Impressive way of showing that they are feeling the pain of the average MSU student. By being whisked away in luxury to this historic, five-star resort on an island paradise, and having full access to $1000 a night rooms, dinners featuring “almond-macadamia crusted trout” and “mango-chipotle barbecued pork tenderloin and sweet potato mash”, and free golf on the Jewel Grand Nine, the trustees’ “retreat” is sure to get the creative juices flowing. I wait in eager anticipation to see what ground-breaking changes will be brought back from this meeting of the minds. I at least expect a hearty “thank you” for footing the bill when they return.
Steve
(07/30/08 7:56am)Report
Sounds like a complete waste of tax dollars and tuition dollars.
HAM
(07/30/08 8:18am)Report
I have a nice, quiet soybean field they can sit in and get their focus. I’ll only charge 5 bucks a person for the whole retreat.
Astonished
(07/30/08 9:18am)Report
It seems rather amazing that the MSU trustees would be this fiscally irresponsible. Not only are we paying THEIR way, we’re paying the way of all the support staff and all the people presenting! This is disgusting.
Townsend
(07/30/08 9:28am)Report
So what, they should stay at a dumpy Motel 6? I’d be nice if MSU students, for once, could focus on the big picture than their usual, stupid, empty symbolism.
Peter
(07/30/08 9:57am)Report
Wouldn’t a trustee be donating millions to the school? It doesn’t seem like such a waste of money to send these people off to the island when they are footing bills for new buildings, renovations, etc…
Karen
(07/30/08 11:01am)Report
Motel 6 looks like the Grand Hotel compared to Spartan Village.
Weak Sauce
(07/30/08 11:26am)Report
HAM, does the five dollars cover the cost if they eat some of the soybeans?
If so, I have to hang out with some kids for community service on a “camping retreat”, and I may be interested…
huh
(07/30/08 12:01pm)Report
I’m counting on sky-rocketing tuition costs leading to all public universities being shut down. What a joke, all businesses in the public sector, without fail, have huge cost overruns, inefficiencies, and more corruption overall. In any business the largest expensive is always payroll, your human resources. These massive tuition spikes are what pay for your Chinese math professors who barely speak a word of English to go on luxurious worldwide trips every single year.
William
(07/30/08 1:16pm)Report
huh wrote: “all businesses in the public sector, without fail, have…more corruption overall” and “In any business the largest expensive is always payroll, your human resources.”
Could you possibly make a more sweeping generalization?
It’s amazing how you think you know the financial specifics and operating practices of every single business in existence. Numerous, even most, operate using legitimate practices. Furthermore, payroll is not always the largest expense; often times, paying benefits is the largest expense.
Enlighten yourself before you generalize.
huh
(07/30/08 2:20pm)Report
That was yet another non-counter argument. Obviously you’ll be able to find a select few businesses which are capital intensive. Benefits is just another form of paying people’s salaries. Creating a different category doesn’t change the fact that your organization’s biggest expense is toward individual humans in order for them to perform services. The service at Michigan State University is a majority of professors performing research that has no positive impact on standards of living, and most MOST in the Mathematics department speak English worse than my 10 year old sister.
Reader
(07/30/08 2:23pm)Report
Why can’t they just have the retreat in Lansing or if they need to get out of town, Detroit and stay at the casino? Waste of money!
William
(07/30/08 2:46pm)Report
“That was yet another non-counter argument.”
Wrong. I pointed out how what you said is not true and why. Therefore, it is a valid counter-arugument.
“Obviously you’ll be able to find a select few businesses which are capital intensive.”
Then don’t say “all” or “without fail”. Using these terms indicates that you are not exaggerating; you believe that your claim actually applies to 100% of businesses.
“Benefits is just another form of paying people’s salaries.”
Wrong. Retirees do not receive a salary at all, yet many do receive benefits. Yes, it still applies to an HR-related expense, but “salary” and “benefits” are still separate.
William
(07/30/08 2:54pm)Report
“Obviously you’ll be able to find a select few businesses which are capital intensive.”
Furthermore, the quality of a firm being “capital intensive” has absolutely nothing to do with what a given business’s highest cost is or where the cost of paying salaries or benefits ranks in that list.
hah
(07/31/08 8:57pm)Report
Well business major William, have fun starving have no useful skills.
I can't come up with a snarky name
(08/01/08 10:17am)Report
‘…speak English worse than my 10 year old sister.’
‘…who barely speak a word of English…’
Out of curiosity…where do you rank in that? Because your posts are the completely incoherent rants of a person who doesn’t understand subject-verb agreement.