MSU College Republicans President Lisa Jankowski said her organization supports Melanie Foster because she is “the conservative candidate,” and “she represents our values.”

A first-generation American, Foster was the first in her family to go to college. She received her degree in ornamental horticulture from MSU, and then returned to her family business and helped it grow into one of the nation’s largest female-owned commercial contract landscape companies. Foster said her business experience is one qualification needed to serve on the board.

“I understand what it takes to make a payroll every week. I understand what it takes to bring in multi-million dollar projects on time and within budget,” she said, “and I would like to bring that skill set back to Michigan State University.”

Foster said it was always the goal of the trustees and the president to pay in the “mid-range in the Big Ten so we can attract and retain a world class faculty,” and said it becomes a balancing act between paying faculty members well and funding various university departments, while also keeping tuition affordable for students.

She said that balancing act has gotten a lot more difficult.

“It doesn’t take a math major to figure out that state funding has diminished significantly over the last 30 years or so,” she said.

Foster cited the rising cost of education for students as an ongoing issue for the Board of Trustees. She said one of her most important goals, if elected, would be to examine the budget thoroughly, and analyze costs in every area. She said she would advocate for an outside audit to determine best practices.

“It really is challenging to keep costs in control,” she said. “And what I hear from parents and students and taxpayers in Michigan is that is the number one concern; that tuition costs are going up at a higher rate than the cost of inflation.”

A potential smirch on Foster’s stance is her implication in a November 2013 investigation by WXYZ, which revealed that trustees had spent “lavishly” at MSU’s expense. According to the report, she took her husband with her on a trip to South Africa which cost the university more than $20,000, and only repaid $14,000 in expenses when confronted by a reporter about the spending.

She said the board has done a “great job” increasing the number of out-of-state students, but she believes MSU is approaching a “tipping point” where students born in Michigan could soon be displaced by out-of-state or international students. Foster said the board needs to focus on the issue.

She stressed that although students should remember that the Board of Trustees elects the university’s president and sets policy, it is important for them not to “micromanage” or “meddle” with curriculum decisions or the election of deans.

Foster said she is excited for the next few weeks and she feels 2014 will be “a great year.”