EMU Today

YPSILANTI -- The Board of Regents of Eastern Michigan University today (Oct. 25, 2019) extended the contract of President James Smith for three years, through June 30, 2024.

Board of Regents Chair James Webb said, “President Smith has proved to be an excellent leader for the University. When he was hired in 2016, then-Board Chair Mike Morris cited the energy, vision and experience he brought to the role. My colleagues on the Board agree with that initial assessment. President Smith continues to navigate challenging waters while keeping a strong focus on the future of the institution and its commitment to supporting and graduating more students to successful careers.”

Webb and other members of the Board of Regents noted several particular accomplishments, including:

Academic programs and student support/success

• Eastern has undertaken a broad-based effort to improve graduation and retention rates. The University’s four, five and six-year graduation rates have increased across the board – four-year rates by 7 percent, five-year by 8 percent, and six-year by 5 percent. Improved advising procedures, student success programs and new analytical tools have had a significant impact;
   
• The former College of Technology was renamed the College of Engineering and Technology to accommodate expansion of engineering programs, including the newly added mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering programs. The expansion stems from President Smith’s focus to align University resources and its support with high-demand programs;
   
• An ongoing investment in new academic programs in high-demand areas, including expanding online offerings. Eastern launched a new mechanical engineering program and also started a new program in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Other, new high-demand programs include Data Science & Analytics, a Master’s in Finance and a bachelor’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages;
   
• Eastern has dramatically increased its research efforts, both in terms of grants awarded and proposals submitted. The faculty continues to secure grants at record levels. Awards are up 36 percent over 2016 and the number of proposals is up 20 percent from that year. The increased efforts resulted in Eastern’s recent designation as a Carnegie Foundation R2 level research university, a group that includes just 6 percent of universities nationwide; and,
   
• Under President Smith’s leadership, Eastern has responded to nationwide trends in enrollment by establishing a variety of programs that benefit students and encourage enrollment. These include:
   
• Eagle Engage Corps, which offers elimination of student loan debt for students who stopped attending due to their debt, in return for community service, which allows them to re-enroll at the University. The first graduate from the program will receive a diploma in December;
   
• The ReUp Program, which seeks to reach out to students who have stopped attending and work to re-enroll them. The program succeeded in returning 176 students to the University over last summer and this fall;
   
• Renewed engagement with universities in the Middle East, China, South Korea and India, among others;
   
• Launching the TRUEMU Global Rate Tuition Plan, which provides in-state tuition pricing to incoming international students. Eastern already offers in-state tuition pricing to students from the U.S.; and,
   
• The 4WARD Graduation Scholarship, established one year ago, provides two free years of tuition in the student’s junior and senior years. Incoming students must meet academic standards to be eligible and commit to living on campus with a dining contract for the entire four years of their education.
   
• President Smith has worked diligently to expand Eastern’s international footprint, including a newly announced agreement to pursue a 15-year academic partnership with Beibu Gulf University in China. If approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education, the program could enroll as many as 1,200 new students to Eastern;
   
• Eastern Michigan is working hard to facilitate educational success for transfer students. The University has 150 articulation agreements with community colleges, adding 10 more in the last year. This is more than any other university in Michigan;
   
• The University has expanded its involvement and support of students and teachers at pre-K and K-12 schools. These include the Collaboration for Change, a partnership with Ypsilanti Community Schools and Washtenaw County that seeks to promote student success; the Bright Futures after school program; and, Pathways for Future Educators, which supports high school students in their goal to become teachers. This past school year, students and faculty in Eastern’s College of Education engaged in a year-long immersion in Estabrook Elementary School in Ypsilanti;
   
• Established the President’s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. Created in 2016, the Commission has helped sparked a variety of initiatives, including this semester’s Campus Climate Assessment, which seeks to assess areas of strength and the challenges towards becoming an even more diverse and inclusive campus;
   
• President Smith has continued to oversee the expansion of security measures on and off campus, including the expansion of police patrols, increasing and improving lighting all around campus and its perimeter, and the addition of cameras, of which the campus now has more than 900;

Budget/operations stabilization

• Implemented a turnaround plan that successfully turned seven consecutive years of operating deficits to two consecutive years of balanced operating returns. From fiscal year 2011 through 2017 the budget deficit totaled $60 million. Balanced operating returns were achieved in fiscal 2018 and 2019.
   
• The University has doubled its unrestricted reserves, which allowed it to be removed from the financial watch list and earn 10-year re-accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a critical higher education accreditation body;
   
• Launched external business partnerships in dining and parking, allowing the University to focus more resources on its core mission of educating students. Those partnerships provided a significant financial benefit that helped the University to increase its reserves and get off the HLC watch list;
   
• Strategic investments in campus infrastructure have reduced expenses and provided the groundwork for long-term financial sustainability. Examples of this are the replacement of the primary electric underground electric loop to buildings on the east and south end of campus, and the installation of the new energy-saving cogeneration turbine, a project that continues to receive national attention in the energy community, and produces approximately 93 percent of the campus’ electric needs, and generates approximately 98 percent of the campus’ heat needs. The sustainability gains from the project are significant. It results in an annual reduction of more than 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 78 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle, or the preservation of 260 acres of forests. Importantly, the project is achieving an annual net energy savings to the University of more than $2.8 million;
   
• Established the President’s Commission on Sustainability, charged with working with various University units to assess sustainability efforts and make recommendations. These efforts include savings on natural gas purchases, improvements in campus lighting, more energy-efficient windows, and building renovations and upgrades;.
   
• In two of the last three years, the University has implemented voluntary early retirement incentives to support employees who met qualifications for early retirement and wanted to take advantage of these plans. These resulted in the voluntary departure of 176 employees and helped lay the groundwork for reorganizing the University’s work processes to better serve students;
   
• During President Smith’s tenure, agreements have been reached with all labor partners, with no interruption or disruption in service. Strong labor-management relationships have been crucial to the success of Eastern’s financial turnaround plan; and,
   
• Launched a new process to improve and enhance the University’s strategic planning process, with individual work teams assigned to recommend new institutional goals and strategies. Three institutional priorities will continue to guide our actions, and provide the umbrella that drives all major University initiatives:

1) Promote Student Success and Engagement;

2) Deliver High Performing Academic Programs and Quality Research; and,

3) Engage and Serve EMU and our Regional Communities.

Facility enhancements

• Completed $40 million renovation of Strong Hall, the third and final phase of the University’s Science Complex. Strong Hall provided an immediate upgrade to the University’s commitment to the sciences and overall investment in the STEM programs that are key to the state’s future. The Science Complex is one of the finest facilities of its kind in the Midwest;
   
• Sill Hall is undergoing a $40 million, self-funded renovation, to be completed fall 2020. Sill, the home of the newly renamed College of Engineering and Technology, is being dramatically enhanced to accommodate expansion of engineering and other technology programs, careers for which there is significant demand across the state and nationally. The project involves modernizing classrooms and labs, lecture halls, student commons areas and faculty offices;
   
• The Rec/IM Building is a crucial element in ensuring student and staff well-being, and represents President Smith’s strong focus on student success. The building is undergoing a dramatic renovation, with the first stage complete this fall and the second to be finished in fall 2020. The $16 million project involves extensive improvements to fitness and training areas, a new entrance and attractive collaboration and gathering spaces;
   
• Eastern has collaborated with IHA and the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in the construction of a new health center, IHA Health Center @ EMU, on the northwest corner of campus. The new facility, which will serve students, faculty, staff and the community at large in offering comprehensive primary care services and 7-day a week urgent care, will open Monday, Nov. 4;
   
• Adjacent to the new health facility is another new building, which will house the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and Psychology Clinic. This building will open at the end of January 2020; and,

• The $20 million Student-Athlete Performance Center, of which $12 million is to be funded from donors, opened in August. It is the first major athletics facility enhancement designed to service nearly all of EMU’s athletics teams since the Convocation Center was completed in 1998. The center offers a modern training and sports medicine services environment for the University’s student-athletes and training staff and students, and is the new headquarters for the football team.

Under the terms of the contract extension, President Smith’s annual salary will be $455,000. He has not received an increase in pay or bonus payment since joining Eastern more than three years ago. The new salary ranks in the lower half of Mid-American Conference universities, and less than presidents at Oakland University, Grand Valley State University, Wayne State University, and the University of Toledo. (See full chart for details.)

Board of Regents Chair James Webb said, “As part of the assessment process, it was important to benchmark salaries at Eastern as they compare to our counterparts. Prior to this adjustment, President Smith was the lowest paid President among peer institutions in the Mid-American Conference.”

President Smith intends to donate this year’s salary increase to the EMU Foundation to support various student, faculty and community programs across the University. This continues his tradition of giving back to the University.

President Smith said, “I’m thrilled to say that by the end of the year Connie and I will have donated a total of more than $100,000 to Eastern. I’m fiercely proud of this school, of all it has accomplished, and of all it aims to accomplish going forward.

“I am appreciative of the Board’s confidence in me. I indicated when I started here that I planned to stay for 10 years, and that remains my plan should the Board desire. This contract extension takes me through year eight.

“We have made solid strides. I know more must be done. I look forward to working with our students, our faculty, our staff, our alumni, and everyone in the Eastern Michigan community as we continue to build a great future for our students and for our state. Simply put, we are investing in Michigan students today to fill the Michigan jobs of tomorrow.”

With the extension, President Smith indicated he is now looking ahead at his giving goals over the next four years with plans to continue his strong commitment of giving in support of the University.
 

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.