Daniella Tebib
News Editor
The Board of Regents held a meeting on Friday, June 5, via Zoom to discuss several topics including new freshman admission requirements, preliminary enrollment numbers and the budget for fiscal year 2021.
New freshman admission requirements
The board voted unanimously to make the new freshman admission requirements official. Incoming freshmen may now be admitted without the requirement of a certain ACT or SAT score if they graduate high school with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
“The desire to do this was based on a lot of research and data that we were studying shows that the high school grade point average of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale correlates in stronger graduation rates and student success than a simple test core,”said Don Robertson, vice president for student affairs.
Students must still take the ACT or SAT for placement in specific courses. If a student takes the ACT, he or she must score an 18 in the English section, a 19 in the math section and a 20 in the reading section. If students are unable to make these scores, they will be placed in co-requisite courses to provide them additional assistance. If students fall below the benchmark for two out of three sections, they will be required to enter an academic success contract and assigned an academic success coach. Students with a GPA of 2.5 or lower will also be required to enter into an academic success contract.
Campus projects update
Starbucks was completed and ready to open following Spring Break as planned, but COVID-19 delayed its opening. Jason Youngblood, director of facilities management, said Starbucks will open in the fall.
Youngblood also said T-Room renovations were supposed to happen over the summer and be completed by August, but because of some delays, the opening may be pushed back.
Enrollment
Don Roberston, vice president of academic affairs, said the spring semester showed an increase in headcount of about one percent while the total number of credit hours taken decreased. Enrollment of undergraduate students was also down 1/10 of a percent, while enrollment of graduate students was up six percent and dual credits students increased by nine percent. Robertson also said the enrollment numbers for international students were up in the spring.
Summer enrollment numbers showed an increase in headcount by almost 13 percent and total credit hours by 22 percent. Both undergraduate and graduate student headcounts have increased.
Robertson also discussed the preliminary numbers for the enrollment of fall 2020. Compared to fall 2019, undergraduate numbers are currently down by three percent while graduate numbers are up by 22 percent. Robertson also said more freshmen are enrolled for the fall 2020 semester at this time than they were in June 2019 for the fall 2019 semester.
Athletics academics update
Regent Eric Crigler said the athletic department had the highest GPA it had since the University began keeping records. The department finished the spring semester with a GPA of 3.32. This is the 32nd consecutive semester the department finished with at least a GPA of 3.0.
Crigler also said for the first time ever all 15 intercollegiate athletic teams posted a blended GPA of 3.0.
Budget
The board unanimously approved the 2020-21 University budget.
Vice President of Finance Jackie Dudley said the overall budget for education, general and auxiliaries for fiscal year 2021 is $144.5 million which is a five percent decrease in comparison with the budget for fiscal year 2020.
Dudley said to combat the challenges of the decrease in the budget, the University is implementing several measures including hiring freezes and the elimination of overtime.
Despite the decrease in the budget, Dudley said there will be no increase in tuition and fees.
Course fee eliminations
The board unanimously voted to eliminate course fees for the five online programs a part of the Academic Partnership in the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business and in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. The programs include public relations, business analytics, cybersecurity, information systems and public administration. The action will eliminate course fees for the online courses and fees in the traditional masters programs. The fee elimination will go into effect in fall 2020.
Presidential evaluation
Each regent received a questionnaire with around 40 questions to evaluate the performance of President Bob Jackson. Acting Chair Jerry Rhoads read a summary of the report and recommendations written by previous Chair Kemp on May 15.
“President Jackson is commended for excellent performance under extremely difficult circumstances pertaining to state funding, retirement costs and enrollment,” Kemp said. “These challenging circumstances were exacerbated in March 2020 by the current worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Jackson’s steady and thoughtful leadership has been apparent to all in the University community, the alumni and the public.”
Kemp also advised the board to extend Jackson’s contract for a year. The board voted to extend Jackson’s presidential contract by one year with one abstention from Regent Sharon Green because she was unable to review Jackon’s contract before the vote..
New degree programs
The board unanimously approved the addition of two new degree programs including a bachelor of science degree in respiratory therapy and educational specialist degree program in agricultural education.
With the addition of a bachelor of science degree in respiratory therapy, Murray State will partner with Madisonville Community College. The partnership will allow the program to be eligible to be included under Madisonville Community College’s Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care accreditation.
Dean appointment
Dina Byers, professor, was appointed as the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions by a unanimous vote from the board. Byers previously served as interim dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions.
“I have been a part of the Murray State community for some time now,” Byers said.
“I am a graduate of both the BSN and MSN programs from Murray State and because of it I personally experienced growing into the person I am today. It will be my mission to serve as a positive leader to our students for what they need to be successful.”
Click here for the full live stream of the board’s meeting. The next quarterly Board of Regents meeting will take place on August 28.
