Monday, June 1, 2026

A special formal session of the Board of Trustees of Northern Michigan University was held on Monday, June 1, 2026, via Zoom video conference. The meeting was convened at 4:00 p.m. by Chair Melissa A. Holmquist.

Trustees present included:

Ms. Melissa A. Holmquist, Chair	Mr. Gregory J. Seppanen
Ms. Venus J. Brown	Mr. Greg M. Toutant
Ms. Lisa I. Fittante	Mr. Stephen E. Young
Ms. Brigitte R. LaPointe-Dunham, Vice Chair	Dr. Christopher J. Olsen, ex officio
Mr. Steven W. Lindberg

Senior Staff and Counsel present included:

Ms. Cathy A. Andrew, Secretary of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Anne P. Dahlman, Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success

Mr. Matt Franti, Assistant Vice President – Budget and Finance

Ms. Deanna K. Hemmila, Executive Director – Board and Government Relations

Dr. Dale P. Kapla, Senior Associate Provost – Academic Affairs and Student Success

Mr. R. Gavin Leach, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees

Mr. Carrick D. Craig, Legal Counsel

Ms. Ashley N. Higginson, Legal Counsel

The meeting was live-streamed at: https://nmuwildcast.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=296bdddd-d987-45fc-baa5-b4560134b98b

ROLL CALL

Secretary Andrew took roll call of the Trustees noting a quorum was met with all Trustees present.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATOIN OF UNIVERSIT PROFESSORS (AAUP) – NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY CHAPTER, FACULTY NEGOTIATED CONTRACT

President Olsen thanked the administration and union negotiating teams, noting the hard work, amount of time spent, and transparency from both sides.

Dr. Kapla thanked both negotiating teams, as well as President Olsen and Provost Dahlman for the support received throughout the negotiations. Dr. Kapla provided the following summary of the Tentative Agreement (TA):

· TA is for five years for the non-financials and one year for the financials

· Financials will expire in one year and renegotiated for July 1, 2027;

· Financials for current year:

o Across the board increase for all full time ongoing faculty;

o One-time payment, not to base, of 0.5% for ongoing faculty member’s base salary;

o One-time flat payment of $600 to continuing contingent faculty;

o Adjustments to promotion formula.

· Starting July 1, 2027 – will renegotiate financial provisions:

o Across the board salary increases;

o Additional teaching assignments (overloads beyond the normal 12-credit teaching load);

o Summer course salary rate;

o Professional development funds;

o Promotions.

· Non-Financials, commonly referred to as contract language, are in effect for the five year duration of the TA.

The following action was taken:

It was moved by Trustee Seppanen, seconded by Trustee Fittante, that the negotiated agreement between Northern Michigan University and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) – Northern Michigan University Chapter, which was ratified on May 15, 2026, be approved and that Dr. Anne P. Dahlman, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success, and Mr. R. Gavin Leach, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, be authorized to sign the contract on behalf of the Board of Trustees. The agreement will cover the period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2031, with the exception of the financial provisions, which will cover the period of July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

Discussion followed:

Trustee Seppanen thanked both the administration and union negotiating teams noting the excellent job of getting to this point with a successful agreement. He believes NMU is on a good path with better relations with all university units.

Chair Holmquist agreed with Trustee Seppanen and thanked both negotiating teams stating it’s good to be at this point today.

Being no further discussion, Chair Holmquist called the question.

On a roll-call vote, the Board voted as follows:

Aye	Nay
Venus J. Brown
Lisa I. Fittante
Melissa A. Holmquist
Brigitte R. LaPointe-Dunham
Steven W. Lindberg
Gregory J. Seppanen
Greg M. Toutant
Stephen E. Young

Motion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

Chair Holmquist noted there was no other business and adjourned the meeting at 4:09 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

/signed/Cathy A. Andrew

Secretary of the Board of Trustees