NMU Students, Faculty and Staff,

Before we begin to scatter on semester break, I thought I should give the campus community an update on a number of items so that we can continue our positive momentum without pause when we return in January. I also wanted to thank all of the students, faculty and staff who have been a part of the many holiday and semester-ending events of late. Each is special and appreciated and none of them happen magically. If you had a role in any of these events, thank you for your time, talent and dedication.

SPBAC MEETS: The Strategic Planning and Budgeting Advisory Committee met yesterday (Wednesday, Dec. 7). The meeting's agenda included discussion on the first set of mission and vision statement revisions, an update on the budget reallocation implementations, a revised draft of the strategic implementation plan, consideration of some possible investment options for $300,000, and a report on the work of the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) regarding academic program review. Minutes and materials from the meeting will be posted at nmu.edu/strategicplan on the SPBAC page.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES: The NMU Board of Trustees meets Thursday and Friday (Dec. 8-9). The Finance Committee will discuss the progress of the Educational Access Network. The Academic Committee will hear presentations on a new degree in medicinal plant chemistry by the Chemistry Department and the RN to BSN program by the School of Nursing. The full board will also elect a new chair and vice chair for the upcoming calendar year, as well as recognize outgoing trustees Drs. H. Sook Wilkinson, chair, and L. Garnet Lewis, former chair. The board's meeting schedule is posted at nmu.edu/board. We have not heard yet from the Governor's Office on who the three new board trustees will be, but we anticipate an announcement prior to Dec. 31. Also being replaced is Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen who had to resign from the board when he moved out of the state to take a job with NASA in Washington D.C. earlier this fall.

FACULTY HONORS: Congratulations to the award recipients recognized at the Celebration of Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship ceremony: Excellence in Teaching Award – Christi Edge, education, and Brian Kakas, art and design; Excellence in Scholarship Award – Neil Cumberlidge and Kurt Galbreath, both of biology; Technology Innovation Award – Mounia Ziat, psychology; Academic Service Learning Award – Dwight Brady, communication and performance studies. Also, congratulations to Martin Reinhardt, Native American studies, who was selected as the first recipient of the Students' Choice Award. Nominations were solicited from December graduates and selected by a committee of ASNMU and Mortar Board members. As the recipient, Dr. Reinhardt will serve as the commencement speaker.

MORE KUDOS: I also want to recognize Andre Stringer and Kyle Hantz, selected as the student commencement speaker and soloist, respectively. Kudos also to the Student Leader Fellowship Program on receiving the 2016 U.P. Service Award in the volunteer program category from the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development. And finally, congratulations to the students, faculty and staff of our auto technology, construction management, electric engineering and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) programs – all chosen among the best in the nation in a national ranking by Accredited Online Schools, which reviewed both online and on-site programs.

ENROLLMENT: It's too early to say definitively what enrollment will look like for fall 2017, but application and admit numbers have been strong throughout this semester. We know some of the growth in applications is due to the new opportunity to file for federal financial student aid in October rather than January, but even taking that into account, student recruitment seems to be moving in the right direction. The demographics are still not in our favor, but we must find ways to buck those numbers since the population for traditional-aged college students continues to decline in the state, region and nationally for several years yet to come. In January, we'll know how retention efforts are impacting enrollment.

HR MATTERS: The NMU Human Resources Office recently sent out an important email about the court injunction that postpones the effective date of the Department of Labor's changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regarding overtime. Like every other U.S. employer, we will continue to watch how this issue proceeds through the court system. We did budget funds in anticipation of additional overtime costs for the winter semester, which we will keep designated for that purpose for now in case the court decision is in favor of the new regulation and includes retroactive overtime pay. I also wanted to mention that the HR office is set to hold a second session of its pilot supervisor training program in January. If you are interested in this training, please discuss it with your dean or department head so you can be registered by next week's deadline.

OFFICE MOVES: Speaking of Human Resources, it is one of several offices that has recently moved location. The HR staff is now located on the first floor of Cohodas Hall where the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center was prior to moving to Gries Hall. The NMU Foundation moved from Cohodas 603 to 607. The Division of Extended Learning and Community Engagement moved from Cohodas 504 to 603, along with Government Relations, Strategic Initiatives and the Secretary to the Board of Trustees. The Psychology Department's new Behavior, Evaluation, Analysis and Search Center is being developed in the former HR space in the Services Building and is expected to open in the early part of the new calendar year. The space vacated by Extended Learning and Community Engagement will be used to allow the Business Intelligence and Information Services to better configure its staffing space. All of these moves are designed to improve efficiency and better meet the needs of employees and departments.

RESIDENCE HALL COMPLEX: The construction on the new residence hall complex is coming along well. The warm, snowless fall helped to keep the project on schedule and get it just a little ahead. If you've not been down campus lately and had a chance to see the progress you'd probably be surprised at the drastically changing landscape. I drive by the project twice a day to get to and from Kaye House and Cohodas and I'm amazed at the ever-changing structures. If you've not been down campus or don't have time to take a quick trip over there, check out the project on its webcam page at http://it.nmu.edu/content/new-student-housing. In January, I'll update the campus on the University Center redesign project, including some early conceptual architectural renderings.

RECOGNIZING ALUMNI: Few know more about the accomplishments of our alumni than faculty and staff who had them in their courses and jobs as students. Since they've left campus, they've kept in touch with you and shared with you their professional and personal journeys. Who among your former students should be recognized by the NMU Alumni Association? Nominations are being accepted until Dec. 31 for the 2017 NMU alumni awards in the categories of outstanding young alumni, alumni achievement, alumni community, alumni service and distinguished alumni. Learn more and get nomination forms at www.nmu.edu/alumniassociation/awards.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: Jan and I want to wish all of the NMU community the very warmest season's greetings. We hope you enjoy your upcoming time off and that you get to spend much of it with family and friends doing the activities you most enjoy. We'll see you in 2017.

Fritz Erickson, President