Regents recognize faculty, staff and student award winners

Closing the 2017–2018 academic year, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents celebrated members of the University community who received top academic, service and athletic awards. In all, 102 individuals were recognized during the Board’s May meeting.

Those recognitions included the Distinguished McKnight University Professor Awards, awarded to faculty across academic disciplines from history to chemical engineering and child development. Four academic advisors received the John Tate Award for Undergraduate Advising recognizing their service in helping students formulate and achieve intellectual, career and personal goals. The Board recognized the faculty, staff, student and community partner recipients of the Outstanding Community Service Award, acknowledging their contributions to the external community and the well-being of society. Student recipients of the Churchill Scholarship, Fulbright Award and Goldwater Scholarship were honored, as well as NCAA championship athletes. 

A full list of award recipients recognized at the meeting can be found online.

President’s Recommended Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Operating Budget

The Board also reviewed President Eric Kaler’s proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2019, which highlights excellence in the education, research and outreach mission; affordability; and a commitment, that the University is on track to achieve, to reduce administrative costs by $90 million over six years.

The Board welcomes input on the proposed budget from the public and University community. Through Tuesday, May 29, feedback can be submitted online. Comments will be included in the Board’s June docket and will become part of the official record. In addition, the Board will host two public input sessions to gather feedback from the University community. The first session will take place on Wednesday, May 16 on the Duluth campus, and a second session will be held on the Twin Cities campus on Monday May 21. Details on both events are available online. 

The Board is expected to take action on the fiscal year 2019 operating budget during its June meeting. More information on the proposed budget can be found online.

The Board also:

• Welcomed new Regent Randy Simonson, who was elected by the legislature on Thursday to represent Minnesota’s first congressional district on the Board of Regents to fill the seat vacated by Patricia Simmons, who resigned last month.
• Approved the Executive Vice President and Provost’s annual recommendations for faculty promotion and tenure, hearing presentations from four newly-tenured associate professors on their past and current research: Daheia Barr-Anderson of the College of Education and Human Development’s School of Kinesiology, Gorden Burtch of the Carlson School of Management’s Information & Decision Sciences Department, Michael Gallope of the College of Liberal Arts’ Department of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature and Changbin Chen of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences’ Department of Horticultural Science.
• Voted to extend the M Health Agreement by one month. Previously set to expire on May 31, 2018, the extension will allow the Board to continue conversations on the agreement between Fairview Health Services and University of Minnesota/University of Minnesota Physicians during its June meeting.
• Discussed the Medicine & Health focus area of the Systemwide Strategic Plan, highlighting the priority areas of progressing toward an academic health system, enhancing the prestige of the Medical School and alignment with Minnesota’s health policy and workforce needs.
• Announced the annual Presidential Performance Review Committee. The committee is expected to provide their review later in the year. 

The Board of Regents will meet next on June 7–8, 2018. Visit the Board of Regents website for more information.