The Board of Regents unanimously passed a resolution presenting the Racer rifle team with a plaque of acknowledgement and appreciation after the team qualified for its 35th NCAA tournament.

Beyond highlighting rifle’s achievements, the Regents discussed campus construction plans, updates to murraystate.edu and enrollment rates for underrepresented minorities.

Rifle was commemorated for its 17th OVC Championship win. Athletic Director Nico Yantko further recognized Head Coach Alan Lollar’s success: in 2022, he was named OVC Rifle Coach of the Year for the eighth time.

Yantko also highlighted members of the rifle team. Yantko recognized senior Matias Kiuru for being named OVC Smallbore Athlete of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, junior Allison Henry for being OVC Air Rifle Athlete of the Year and freshman Paolo Paravati for being OVC Freshman Athlete of the Year.

Junior Scott Patterson and sophomore John Blanton, along with Kiuru and Henry, were named to the All-OVC first team. Paravati was named to the All-OVC second team and All-OVC Newcomer.

Before the achievements of the rifle team were highlighted, newly appointed Regent Brandon Edmiston was sworn in to kick off the meeting.

Calloway County Judge Executive Kenny Imes appointed Edmiston, a self-employed Murray businessman at Edmiston Holdings.

Buildings and Grounds Committee

The Building and Grounds Committee highlighted what construction projects will be coming to a close and what is set to start soon.

Vice President of Finance Jackie Dudley offered a brief insight into the P3 housing project, which should have broken ground at the beginning of the spring semester but hasn’t because of inflation.

“As far as moving forward one of our issues was the cost of debt,” Dudley said. “Those [debts] may [tick] up some, and we won’t see a downturn until the fourth quarter of this calendar year.”

Facilities Management Director Jason Youngblood and Associate Director Angela Lampe reviewed the following projects in progress:

• Curris Center renovations
• Wrather Hall: boiler and electric
• Lovett Auditorium: HVAC, windows and seating
• Mason Hall renovations
• Pogue Library: HVAC
• Fine Arts Buildings: HVAC
• Price Doyle Fine Arts: interior stairs
• Expo Center: phase 1 of renovations
• Hancock Bio Station: HVAC and design
• CFSB Center: generator

Construction results are already on display on the second floor of the Curris Center with the opening of the Center for Student Involvement, the Sodexo office and bathrooms.

“The Student Government Association has moved into their space [Center for Student Involvement],” Lampe said. “There are still little odds and ends left to complete, but they are in their home, and the storefront has been installed.”

On the third floor, which is still closed off, the tile has been replaced by concrete, and Lampe said drywall is set to be installed. Over the summer, renovations will be made to the University Store storefront.

Construction in both Lovett Auditorium and Wrather Museum is on its final legs. Wrather is set to reopen in early March, and Lovett will follow, as both still need window installation completed.

Youngblood talked about Mason Hall and the possible home for the new nursing building. The new building is set to be opened by January 2025.

The location of the new building has been narrowed down to the area north of Faculty Hall in between Alexander Hall and Blackburn Science Building, which serves as faculty, staff and student parking.

“We’re working with our design team to help us position that building the best where it’ll be a proper balance of visibility and accessibility,” Youngblood said.

The grassy area beside Waterfield Library and the former site of Woods Hall and Ordway Hall has been fenced off to make way for the beginning of the construction of Woods Park. For this semester, the underground utilities, draining and lighting are set to be installed.

A part of the first phase of construction is establishing sidewalks and a monument at the corner of 14th and Olive Street.

Over the summer, the pedestrian bridge over Chestnut Street will be completely replaced. Originally meant for the centennial, Youngblood said it wasn’t feasible at the time.

The new bridge will have “Murray State” printed on instead of a banner, new railings and lighting that will illuminate the bridge at night.

“The contractors targeted two months to do the work,” Youngblood said. “The bridge itself will be closed for a month, then we can open it up for traffic, but the road below will have to be closed for two months.”

Enrollment Management and Student Success Committee

The Enrollment Management and Student Success Committee informed the board about Career Pathways, a new element of murraystate.edu that allows students to look into the professional outcomes for their major.

Anyone interested in the career yield of a specific major can go to murraystate.edu/programs and search majors to find information about the types of degrees offered, class sizes and campus location. Beyond that data, the Career Outlook shows students the numbers of people employed in the field they searched, average salary, the number of job postings and the top occupations in the field by income.

“In the higher ed world we are in today, one of the top questions we get as recruiters from family and students is ‘Am I going to be able to get a job, and how much am I going to make?’” President Bob Jackson said. “Hence the development of this and everyone that was involved with the development of this.”

Faculty Regent Melony Shemberger said this is an opportunity for programs to reconsider the language they use to describe their discipline because that can affect certain searches for prospective students.

This committee comes after Shemberger’s committee, the Academic Excellence and Scholarly Activities Committee, renamed the Department of Community Leadership and Human Services to the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work.

The committee also presented a diversity, equity and inclusion report, which highlighted campus student, faculty and staff organizations with Black and Indigenous members or members of color. The report also informed regents about the underrepresented minority population (URM) on campus, which has increased 10% in one year.

This committee comes after Shemberger’s committee, the Academic Excellence and Scholarly Activities Committee, renamed the Department of Community Leadership and Human Services to the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work. 

The committee also presented a diversity, equity and inclusion report, which highlighted campus student, faculty and staff organizations with Black and Indigenous members or members of color. The report also informed regents about the underrepresented minority population (URM) on campus, which has increased 10% in one year. 

The Recruitment Office contacts prospective and admitted students of color on a weekly basis through email. The office also busses prospective students from regions with higher racial diversity for events such as Racer Days. 

The Spring Quarterly Board of Regents meeting will be on June 2.

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