MSU President M. Peter McPherson hopes if he studies the past enough he’ll be able to repeat it.
He presented his plan about the university’s future Tuesday to the Academic Council - the highest body in the Academic Governance system - by looking back at the successes of the university’s past. McPherson’s plan includes increasing minority student presence, campus beautification and recruiting younger faculty.
McPherson said just as MSU underwent a change when it grew from Michigan State College to Michigan State University, another change is due in the coming decade.
“In the early ’50s and late ’60s, we went from a good, smallish college to a major national research institution,” he said. “Enormous things happened then. We built 10 residence halls, we joined the (Association of American Universities), we joined the Big Ten - all this initial work that we’re well known now for was begun.”
Some of those important events include MSU offering National Merit Scholarships, the construction of the Cyclotron and increased academic strength, McPherson said.
“That was all part of this transformation,” he said.
Under McPherson’s leadership, MSU has undergone its second largest construction boom, the Study Abroad program has been named the nation’s largest, and fund-raising numbers have reached record heights.
His other goals include an additional residential college like the James Madison College, increasing endowed chairs and scholarships, becoming more competitive in National Institutes of Health funding, maintaining the strength of the medical schools and greater collaboration with K-12 education.
Faculty recruitment is also especially important because 40 percent of faculty are 55 and older, McPherson said.
“It’s the foundation for another transformation of this university,” he said. “Ten years from now we need to be able to see we accomplished another transformation of this university.”
But that transformation won’t simply be about expanding MSU’s student body - it will improve the quality of the university, McPherson said. He envisions MSU as a university with more impact on students, and with research that will create more technology.
MSU also needs to work to provide an increasingly welcome environment for minorities, including racial minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.
“Part of what we need to envision ten years from now is an excellent climate for (all minority students),” he said.
Although McPherson hasn’t sat down to draw the specific blueprints to achieve his goals, he is optimistic.
“I think that we’re well on the way to doing this,” he said.
Some members of ASMSU’s Academic Assembly, who sit on Academic Council, were interested in some of the president’s ideas. ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.
Academic Assembly Chairperson Charles McHugh said the ideas - including increasing green space, living and learning options and the quality of the faculty - all seemed beneficial to students.
“It’s great to see some of the initiatives the president is taking now,” he said. “Those are all noble endeavors and I don’t see how anyone could not support them.”
McHugh is especially encouraged to see McPherson addressing faculty issues. During spring semester, ASMSU attempted to initiate a $100 student fee, which would partly fund professor endowments.
“We have an aging faculty to say the least,” McHugh said. “We have to offer at least average salaries. I don’t know where those funds are supposed to come from to get a new, younger faculty, but it needs to be done.”
Other ASMSU officials agreed that getting top-level faculty is paramount.
“It’s very important that the university recognize how important it is that we continue to raise our faculty salaries and continue to recruit top faculty members and by and large they’ve done that,” said Jeff Ziarko, director of undergraduate governmental student affairs. “The students’ interests are best served when we have the highest quality faculty.”
Many faculty members at the meeting also found McPherson’s ideas intriguing. McPherson plans to send out an e-mail to the council clearly stating his ideas.
Norm Ables, who chairs Academic Council, wants to know more details about where the university is headed, but said what he heard sounded interesting.
“I think these are all exciting ideas,” Ables said. “The university is moving forth in new directions. We’ve established a base from which we can now move forward in the next 20 years.”
Pamela E. Spencer can be reached at spencerp@msu.edu.
