Salary
For the second year in a row, Simon requested the board not raise her $520,000 salary for the coming year, citing university-wide financial uncertainty.

“I felt, with last year and this year, it was really inappropriate to take a salary increase,” Simon said.

The trustees obliged, but passed a resolution stating Simon’s work ethic and dedication merited a pay raise.

“President Simon’s leadership and dedication are widely recognized both within and beyond the MSU community,” Trustee Donald Nugent said.

Simon’s salary falls in the middle-range of presidents of the public universities in the Big Ten and other comparable schools.

“I really do believe everything that was said was heartfelt,” Trustee Joel Ferguson said.

Art museum
The board also authorized plans to proceed with construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, with ground-breaking scheduled for the spring. Officials previously have said the ground breaking would occur in March.

“We have enough of the funding in place to proceed,” Simon said. “We are on track with a plan that would commit us to move forward with the building with the idea of not using tuition dollars or state appropriation dollars.”

Simon said the original plans for the museum were slightly altered, with some changes to interior designs. The project costs are within the $40 million range, according to previous statements from university officials.

Once built, the museum will act as a bridge across academic disciplines and will benefit not only MSU, but mid-Michigan as well said Linda Stanford, associate provost for academic services.

“The value of this museum for Michigan State programmatically is it will serve a broad range of students,” Stanford said.

In 2007, billionaire alumnus Eli Broad and his wife Edythe donated $26 million to the university for the museum. Simon said part of that contribution included endowment for art acquisition and operations.

“Arts and culture are a very important part of creating a dynamic environment,” Simon said. “Without the interest of Eli and Edythe Broad, this would not have been possible for us.”