MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will be spending a few more years leading the university.

The MSU Board of Trustees unanimously approved a three-year extension of Simon's contract Friday at its monthly meeting.

Simon's term, which was set to end in 2008, was extended to September 2011. The extension comes almost two years into her contract, which will remain mostly unchanged.

The only other amendment to the contract requires Simon to inform the board 180 days before leaving, rather than 90 days, should she decide to resign from the position.

In January, the board voted to raise her salary from $340,000 to $425,000, although Simon opted to give the money — about $85,000 — back to the university's capital campaign. Her salary was not raised with the contract extension.

The board spent time evaluating Simon's presidency at its retreat during the summer, board Chairman David Porteous said.

The board received favorable input about Simon from faculty, staff, students and members of the community, he said.

"The most significant responsibility the board has is in the hiring and evaluating of a president," Porteous said.

"We're pleased to report the input we received mirrored the feelings the trustees had to the exceptional job President Simon is doing."

Porteous said Simon's commitment to the university through her engagement in the capital campaign and her Boldness by Design initiative was a reason for the extension.

"It sends a signal to the MSU family of the value we're putting on the continuity and stability of leadership," Porteous said.

Simon said she hopes to continue the momentum and strides the university is making in its projects through her contract extension.

The board also unanimously approved Marsha Rappley as dean of the MSU College of Human Medicine. Rappley has served as acting dean of the college for more than a year and will help lead the expansion of the college to west Michigan.

Both decisions were made by the board with minimal discussion. Press releases were also distributed, detailing the board's actions moments after they were made.

"We were informed this morning that the action could go through," said Deb Hammacher, an MSU spokeswoman. "This was prepared in the event that there was a unanimous decision."

The releases also included quotes from Porteous, Simon, Rappley and MSU Provost Kim Wilcox.

MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said he spoke with Porteous and Simon on Thursday and wanted to have a release prepared in the event the contract extension was approved. He said the release would not have been distributed and would have been changed if the board took different actions.

"It's (public relations) practice to have releases ready for actions so the media can have it as quickly as possible," Denbow said.

The board usually meets for closed work sessions and dinner with the president the day before the meeting but has maintained no decisions are made at the sessions, which would violate the Michigan Open Meetings Act, which requires publicly elected groups to conduct all business in meetings that are open to the public.

Porteous said decisions were not made by the board the night before the meeting, but six board members' signatures were needed to add the actions to Friday's meeting agenda. He added that Simon might have been aware of the possible contract extension from conversations the board had with her during the summer retreat.

"It doesn't mean they're in favor or opposed, just that they want to have the issue brought forward," Porteous said. "Everyone on the board was in favor of the issue being brought up, and as it turned out, everyone was in favor of a contract extension."

Holly Klaft can be reached at klafthol@msu.edu.