Denno
Editor’s note: This is the third of four stories previewing several key races in Michigan’s Nov. 2 general election.
Next Tuesday, voters statewide will elect two Spartans to fill two available seats on the MSU Board of Trustees. University board members are elected in staggered, eight-year terms and could arguably be considered the face of MSU when any institutional decisions are implemented.
Colleen McNamara, a current Trustee, and Dennis Denno, chief of staff for state Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, each represent the Democratic side of the ticket. On the other side of the aisle, former MSU football player Mitch Lyons and former MSU basketball player Brian Breslin — the son of the man for whom Breslin Center is named — vie for seats of their own inside the university boardroom.
Although each said they are Spartans through and through, where they differ is how the university should move forward in the face of economic uncertainty.
A member of the MSU Board of Trustees since 1995, McNamara credits the board’s good judgment and willingness to help students during her tenure and her experience within the community as reasons voters should approve her for another term.
“I think we tried to look at the loss of state funding — and that’s the major horrifying thing that continues to happen to universities — as an opportunity,” she said.
On college affordability:
The best thing the administration can do is act as a team, McNamara said. As president of the McNamara Scholarship Foundation, she’s helped the organization raise more than $500,000 in scholarships for minority students. It is evidence of her commitment to students, she said.
“Revenue of the university has got to be different,” McNamara said.
On institutional changes:
When programs are placed on and off moratoria, the current board has tried to ensure students still are given appropriate options to succeed, McNamara said.
“(The board has) taken over 40 programs and we’re internally going through the process whether to get rid of them, combine them, what to do with the program,” she said.
On MSU advancement:
Although the university’s MSU Dubai endeavor was not what some expected, it was important to support the project in the sense of building MSU’s international presence, she said.
“We need to encourage our university faculty and students to get out in the world,” McNamara said. “We need to recognize that is who we are.”
Being involved in state politics while also serving as an MSU trustee would allow Denno to keep the university’s best interests on the minds of legislators, Denno said. Michigan’s government has not been on the right track when it comes to higher education, he said.
“We can’t continue to operate like this,” he said. Something has to give.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
On college affordability:
Denno said it’s his priority to use money raised by the university to help students pay tuition when state funding is unavailable — experience he’s gained in his time with a nonprofit organization.
Raising funds from private sources is necessary to achieve that, he said.
“One of (MSU’s) goals and objectives is to make college affordable to working, middle-class families,” he said. “I think we’re kind of failing that right now.”
On institutional changes:
Academic programs, graduation rates and working with the budget each are the board’s duties, Denno said. But MSU’s lobbying arm does little to help usher funding to campus, he said.
“(I) have concerns with some of the expenditures on campus,” Denno said. “I would like to be a little more hands-on.”
On MSU advancement:
Denno said he largely agrees with McNamara on MSU’s international reach.
But the university’s approach with MSU Dubai was faulty in that little was done to figure out what would be done if the project failed.
“There was no one at the university who was saying, ‘What if this fails?’” he said.
“It is the responsibility of the board to supervise that.”
As a retired senior vice president of Meijer, Breslin said he shows no sign of slowing down.
The passing of time in the corporate world has brought him the maturity to work with a large, complex organization broken down into much smaller and talented teams — much like a university, he said.
“(It’s) the body of my life’s experience in the workplace,” Breslin said.
*On college affordability: *
Until the state begins restoring funding to higher education instead of allowing tuition to carry the load, philanthropic dollars from alumni and grant writers for research need to be sought, he said.
“What the board can do is examine closely with a fine-toothed comb all its costs, its expenditures and see where efficiency can be had,” he said.
On institutional changes:
Breslin supports a “market-based” model in which students choose through enrollment which programs are popular and which are not. Programs that show lack of interest might be on the chopping block to save money, he said. But programs true to MSU’s agricultural focus, for example, should remain.
“You just don’t want to arbitrarily eliminate things,” Breslin said. “Maybe the students themselves are the decision makers.”
On MSU advancement:
If elected, Breslin said his ability to observe and ask questions first before “thrashing about” will be a good fit for times when board members should fully understand what’s on their plate.
“In a world that is getting smaller and smaller, we use the term ‘global economy,’” Breslin said. “Our graduates have to know how the rest of the world works.”
Coming from a working-class family, Lyons sees his six children having more opportunities than he did when he graduated from MSU in 1992. Building on work ethic he gained with the NFL and in his financial services career, Lyons said work ethic is the quality to have when running a university.
“I certainly feel at my 40s (I’m) in the thick of it and that I bring a different perspective,” Lyons said.
On college affordability:
As a board member, Lyons said he will make an aggressive effort to “turn over every stone” to find funding — be it from the private sector — for the university while keeping tuition below inflation levels.
When alumni are in the position to give back financially, they should, but it’s also necessary to hash out a long-term effort.
“(The) bottom line is plugging back into the alumni,” Lyons said. “That’s kind of my dream to build that kind of culture — you’re a Spartan and you give back.”
On institutional changes:
In a difficult economy, university leaders cannot keep their heads in the sand or look the other way when it comes to making tough decisions, Lyons said. If something has to give, university-wide cuts — be it to programs — will be done in an attempt to not further raise tuition, he said.
“A lot of people in the agricultural community are not happy with the course MSU is taking,” Lyons said. “(We’ve) turned our backs or lost our focus. I’m committed to being a voice in that community that’s a huge part of our state.”
On MSU advancement:
Lyons said he is not opposed to going abroad, but it should not be done at the expense of state taxpayers and is less concerned with providing opportunities for people abroad when residents here should be served first.
“I grew up knowing MSU is a Michigan land-grant university,” he said. “There is a mission I think we need to uphold.”
