Administrators also seemed receptive to a bill passed by the undergraduate student government advocating for required training for students on suicide prevention, amid an increase in suicide rates on campus. 

During public comment at the meeting, community members protested the proposed merging of two colleges, rallied for recognition of two unionization efforts and continued their calls for divestment from Israel.

More funding for the Engineering and Digital Innovation Center

The board approved a request for an additional $70 million from the state for the construction of the university’s Engineering and Digital Innovation Center.

The project aims to bring an interdisciplinary approach to computational science and digital literacy, according to the resolution. It is a partnership between the Colleges of Engineering, Natural Science, Arts and Letters, Business, Communications Arts and Sciences, and Social Science. 

"This new facility will become the epicenter of academic and research excellence in advanced manufacturing, materials science, microelectronics, artificial intelligence and other areas — ultimately preparing our students with the knowledge and skillset to become our problem solvers of tomorrow," MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz said in a press release.

The center will help accommodate the growth of MSU’s engineering program, attract new faculty and promote research productivity, according to the resolution. It was first approved by the board in June 2022. 

Michigan appropriated $30 million to the project in July 2023. The approved proposal requests an additional $70 million. The total estimated cost of the project is $340 million, according to the resolution. 

Renewable Natural Gas treatment facility

The board approved a partnership with Consumers Energy. The utilities company will purchase raw biogas from MSU’s dairy anaerobic digester facility south of campus and process it in its own facility, according to the resolution.

Such technology "mitigates greenhouse gas emissions and provides a renewable source of energy," according to the resolution.

This will require Consumers Energy to build a Renewable Natural Gas treatment facility nearby, and MSU to upgrade its anaerobic digester to produce more biogas. Consumers Energy is expected to cover the complete costs of updates to MSU’s anaerobic digester, according to the resolution. 

Proceeding with Anthony Hall roof repairs

The board gave the go-ahead on a renovation project for the roof of Anthony Hall. The board approved the planning and budget for the project in September.

The current roof system, which was installed in 1955, will be replaced with new slate shingle sloped roofing, new gutters and downspouts, and insulation, according to the board proposal.

The new roof will better insulate the building, eliminate water intrusion and prevent ice from clogging the gutters or falling on pedestrians.

Leadership changes

The board approved minor restructuring of its leadership team, including the promotion of a controversial vice president and changes to administrators’ titles.

Senior Vice President for Student Life and Engagement Vennie Gore will become the university’s executive vice president for administration. Gore’s salary will increase from $373,860 to $515,000.

Gore apologized to the community earlier this month after The State News reported comments he made in 2018 that minimized the abuse of disgraced ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar.

MSU will create a new position, vice president of student affairs, to cover Gore’s former role.

Vice President and University Spokesperson Emily Guerrant will change her title to vice president and chief communications officer. Vice President for Marketing, Public Relations, and Digital Strategy Heather Swain will change her title to vice president and chief marketing officer.

IT Services Interim Chief Information Officer Richard Czarnecki will be promoted to chief information officer.

Required suicide prevention training

University Health and Wellbeing Executive Director Alexis Travis seemed to be receptive to requiring training on suicide prevention, something MSU’s undergraduate student body, the Associated Students of MSU, has advocated for.

Travis said the division is working to introduce Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) training, a standard suicide prevention training, though they’re still deciding whether it should be required or optional.

In September, ASMSU unanimously passed a bill advocating for a suicide prevention and rehabilitation training program, SPARTA, to be a required seminar for all students to take at least once before graduation. The training aims to address MSU’s rising suicide rate.

Trustee Brianna Scott said she commended Travis for "thinking seriously" about QPR, as she lost her nephew to suicide in July. She said she believes the training should be mandatory.

"This is very personal to me," Scott said. "It is something that I think will save lives."

RCAH merging with CAL

Several speakers expressed disapproval of proposed plans to merge the Residential College of Arts and Humanity (RCAH) with the College of Arts and Letters. 

Guskiewicz told reporters after the board meeting that the proposed merger, while far from an official vote, aims to better organize the colleges.

"I think it’s to try to be sure that we are maximizing resources, that we are making sure that more students have access in a more streamlined way to the courses and offerings in the arts and humanities," Guskiewicz said.

RCAH’s mission is "very different from that of the College of Arts and Letters" and therefore shouldn’t be combined, ASMSU President Connor Le said during his liaison report. 

ASMSU passed a bill yesterday arguing that resources for RCAH students would be "up in the air" if the colleges were merged.

Abigail Rodriguez, an RCAH student, said the university should stop discussing merging the colleges and instead focus on the search for a permanent dean for RCAH.

"We risk losing a space that fosters creativity, critical thinking and community centered leadership," Rodriguez said.

The university’s provost has met with students about their concerns, Guskiewicz said.

"This is not a done deal," Guskiewicz said. "We're trying to be sure that we can provide the best opportunities to actually lift up the arts and humanities."

Unionization efforts

Several employees of MSU Extension implored the university to recognize its union — which organizers have dubbed MSU Extension United — arguing the union would strengthen the program’s capacity to retain and attract personnel and, in turn, be able to better serve Michigan communities.

The majority of workers in the program have signed union cards, according to union organizers, the first step towards being officially recognized by MSU. But organizers say MSU is stalling the process, echoing concerns from members of another unionization effort on campus. 

Upon recognition, the union plans to join the preexisting Union of Non-Tenure Track Faculty at MSU. 

MSU Extension partners with counties throughout the state to provide educational services. Workers assist community members in agriculture, business development, health care and tourism, among many other things. Every public land-grant university has an extension program.

"An (MSU) Extension union will give the organization that I truly love working for another pull factor to bring in and keep amazing staff like those you are hearing from today," said Tyler Augst, an MSU extension educator on government and community vitality in southwest Michigan, during his public comment.  

Several speakers directed comments toward Guskiewicz, urging him to instruct the university's department of employee relations to hurry the process along. 

During media availability following the meeting, Guskiewicz said he "believes the university’s administration is acting in good faith and trying to get to that right place."

"As you heard today, not everyone agrees on the process, and there are faculty that sit on both sides of this issue, and so that's why the process is important to get it right." (Eleven public commenters spoke in favor of the union, while one spoke in opposition of the board’s policy governing unionization, which allows unions to expedite the typical election process for union certification by receiving direct recognition from the university). 

Organizers with another union, the Union of Tenure Stream Faculty, which has been seeking voluntary recognition from the university for close to a year, also spoke during public comment. They continued calls for recognition of the union by the university and claims that the university has been stonewalling that process. 

Members of both the Union of Tenure Stream Faculty and MSU Extension United held a rally on the steps of the Hannah Administration during the meeting. 

Divestment calls and a sit-in protest

Student activists continued calls for the university to divest from Israel and associated companies and entities during public comment, and held a sit-in protest in the Hannah Administration Building following the meeting. 

"We have repeatedly called for divestment over the past year and in the face of a genocide, we believe this would be an obvious decision," physics junior Owen Connolly said. "Instead, we have been met with ignorance, outright lies, deception and antipathy."

As a response, Connolly announced he and other student activists would be walking out of the boardroom where he said their concerns have repeatedly "fallen on deaf ears."

"We will spend our time celebrating who we are as Michigan State students, fighting for what we believe is right, while continuing to remember and honor the lives and memories of those we have lost," Connolly said of the sit-in. 

At the conclusion of his address to the board, Connolly and roughly 20 other student activists walked out of the room chanting "Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest," before entering the neighboring lobby of MSU’s highest ranking officials’ offices. Student activists said they plan to continue the sit-in protest until the administration building closes tonight. 

MSU’s board announced in April that it would not "consider divestment of any kind."

The justification the university has used over the past year for its decision not to divest — like its lack of control over its own endowment and the desire to keep political influence out of investment decisions — have done little to quell campus activists, and protests have persisted. 

MSU’s defenses of its decision not to divest have also been markedly less clear-cut and legalistic compared with those of universities in states with strict Anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions laws.