Eastern Michigan University's (EMU) Board of Regents met on April 22, via Zoom at 2 p.m. for their Regular Board Meeting.

The Board of Regents’ agenda included 17 Sections. Following the New Business and Presentations part of the meeting included six Tabs. The meeting was about one hour long. The meeting was streamed on EMU’s YouTube channel live.

Near the beginning of the meeting, the Board of Regents Chair Eunice Jeffries welcomed and introduced newly appointed Board of Regents Member, Chad Newton. 

President James Smith also welcomed Newton in his President’s Report.

“He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Wayne County Airport Authority, and a three-time EMU graduate. He also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and a former member of the EMU Alumni Association Board of Directors,” Smith said.

New Business

The first order of New Business included Colleen Kibin, Director of Community College Relations, and Dr. Doris Fields, Director of Undergraduate Studies presenting “Community College Partnerships,” during Tab A. The presentation was a report of EMU Community College partnerships, agreements, reports.

Next, Regent Michelle Crumm presented the Resolution for EMU Women's Gymnastics MAC Champions congratulating the team and Head Coach Katie Minasola which was supported by the Regents.

In response, Minasola thanked the Board of Regents while recognizing her team. “Thank you so much for the opportunity for us to be here today. It's an incredible honor to have these young women work so hard and follow the protocols, as they are right now, wearing their mask and making sure that they’re doing the right thing with the health and safety of themselves and others out there while going out and winning championships,” said Minasola. “It's incredible to work with this wonderful group of young women. We couldn’t thank you enough for the recognition today and being here.”

The next two resolutions that were presented during the meeting were the 2020 and 2021 Week of Excellence Faculty Award Recipients which recognizes and awards faculty who "have distinguished themselves through careful, thoughtful, and dedicated work" as worded in the Resolutions. Both were supported.

The 43rd Annual Week of Excellence recognizes 14 faculty members and lecturers while the 44th recognizes 12 faculty members and lecturers. The two resolutions including the award recipients can be found on Tab C and Tab D.

Then, the Open Communications (Tab E) of the meeting included one scheduled speaker, President of UAW Local 1976 and EMU College of Education Administrative Associate Brian Filipiak.

Filipiak provided an update between the University and Local 1976.

“I’m asking you to please work with the University to enable them to treat us similarly to how other bargaining units were treated on campus last year. It would go a long way toward recognizing our efforts and raising employee morale,” Filipiak said.

Lastly before comments from the chair and adjournment, EMU President James Smith gave his President’s Report (Tab F) discussing April 25th commencement, the murder conviction of Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, and more.

The next Board of Regents’ meeting will be held on June 10. More information can be found on their website.

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