President Joan Gabel announced in an email on Tuesday the administration for the University of Minnesota is launching a national search for the next chancellor at the University of Minnesota-Morris. 

Chancellor Michelle Behr served as Morris’ chancellor until 2021. Acting Chancellor Janet Ericksen took over after Behr retired and will continue to hold the position until a new chancellor is named. 

Peh Ng, acting dean and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Morris, and Michael Rodriguez, dean of the College of Education and Human Development will be the co-chairs of the search committee. The University is taking nominations for additional search committee members through Oct. 7. 

Once the University announces the full search committee membership, the committee will “host listening sessions with key stakeholders on and off campus.” The search committee will also host public interviews on campus.

Gabel said the University is hoping to appoint the next chancellor before the end of spring semester. 

The last time the University conducted a search for a new chancellor was last fall for University of Minnesota-Duluth, which became controversial over the summer. 

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated when Acting Chancellor Janet Ericksen started in that role. Erickson became acting chancellor in 2021. 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect specific code violations at the Co-op’s property.

As the 2022-23 year begins at the University of Minnesota and students flood back to campus, some students and parents voiced their concerns of crime returning to the area surrounding the Students’ Cooperative building on the 1700 block of University Avenue.

In late May and early June, the Student Co-op was the site of shootings and other disturbances. The University worked toward securing the block in June, and to try to prevent future crime, the president and vice president of the Student Co-op started restoring the building this summer to create a safe place to live for the future.

“We’re on our way to getting people back into the building,” President of the Student Co-op board Ellery Wealot said. “There’s still a lot of work left with that, but we’re making major progress.”

Wealot said the “optimistic goal” is to have people move back in by next fall, continuing with their mission to provide low-income housing for University students and recent graduates.

During the September Board of Regents meeting, University Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations Myron Frans said the City of Minneapolis will not renew the Student Co-op’s lodging license until the safety violations such as repairing doors, windows and fire alarm panels are cleared.

“We will continue to work with the co-op and their attempts to reopen to make sure that the community and the University’s safety concerns are addressed so that that business decision is made in the broadest possible sense regarding the people who live in that area and the University as a neighbor,” Frans said.

Morgan McElroy, a 2021 University graduate who lived one house down from the Student Co-op for four years, said he feels the University has ignored the safety of their students in recent years by failing to take action against the Student Co-op after incidents he said occurred between 2019 and 2021.

“The situation we find ourselves in today could have been largely preventable if the University prioritized the needs of the students and other stakeholders,” McElroy said.

McElroy said as a student, he repeatedly heard slurs and other derogatory comments shouted at him from members of the Student Co-op, saw “illicit substances” on the Co-op patio and witnessed members enter his fraternity’s property with weapons.

As a member of the University’s student government, McElroy worked to improve campus safety as an undergraduate, raising awareness of crime around campus and the community. Since graduation, McElroy has continued to advocate for increased safety measures by collaborating with parents of University students such as Beth Ambaruch to pressure the University and the City of Minneapolis to invest in more public safety measures near and on campus.

Ambaruch, head of the “U of MN parents – campus safety and call to action topics” group on Facebook and the mother of a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity near the Student Co-op, also expressed concern over crime returning to the 1700 block of University Avenue this fall despite the University’s and the Student Co-op board’s efforts to secure the area.

“I don’t think they’re going to be able to fix it,” Ambaruch said. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to make it safe.”

In a poll taken on the parent Facebook page, out of 819 votes, 29% of the members agreed they “have major concerns about the crime and lack of safety that has occurred at the 1721 co-op house over the past year,” according to Ambaruch.

Wealot said he understands parents’ concerns since their kids have been put in “dangerous situations” but wants people to understand the co-op board members are not the people who were responsible for the crimes at 1721 University.

“[The board] is the one who stepped in to fix the situation,” Wealot said. “We have some of the same goals as the parent group has; we want the co-op to be safe.”

The Department of Public Safety is partnering with the City of Minneapolis to offer Dinkytown Alerts starting Friday, according to a Thursday email from Myron Frans, University of Minnesota senior vice president for finance and operations.

The alerts will cover the area off campus east of 35W and south of 8th Street SE. Alerts will be issued for crimes such as robbery, aggravated assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, homicide and active shootings. 

Dinkytown Alerts are separate from SAFE-U notifications, which are used for crime on or near campus and within University of Minnesota Police Department jurisdiction. 

Students, faculty and staff must opt-in through their MyU account to receive these alerts. Community members can download the SAFE-U app to subscribe to Dinkytown Alerts.  

Dinkytown Alerts information will come from the Minneapolis Police Department because the area is within MPD jurisdiction. The alerts will be sent once UMPD receives verified information of active situations, according to the email. 

The alerts will run as a pilot program from Sept. 9 through Dec. 31, after which the University will evaluate next steps.

In addition to the collaboration with the Minnesota State Patrol announced Wednesday, Dinkytown Alerts are another step in the University’s efforts to enhance campus safety.  

Editor’s Note: This story is a continuing point of discussion, and The Minnesota Daily will continue to cover this topic in the fall after our August publishing break. 

The University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) responded to four separate calls in late May and early June on the 1700 block of University Avenue.

The site of these calls was the Students Cooperative house, a community living space that is not currently owned by, or affiliated with, the University.

The University has taken action to “gain control” over the Student Co-op, according to emails sent to University students, but the president and vice president of the house are fighting back to prove that the people in the house can live equally among the residents beside them.

“We know it is hard for people who were not aware of the co-op in the past,” Laura Goetsch, vice president of the Student Co-op Board, said. “This space is new to people and all they’re hearing are these really awful, traumatic things that are happening.”

On May 21, UMPD responded to a call at the co-op house where a large house party was taking place. According to the SAFE-U alert, police were responding to three assaults that had taken place at the party.

The next day, according to a SAFE-U alert, there was a robbery outside of the house and the Student Co-op Board released a statement stating they shared concern for the recent events and had filed evictions for all residents.

Within the next two weeks – on May 29 and June 4 – there were two reports of gunshots at the address. During the later incident, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg, FOX 9 News reported.

According to FOX 9 News, “numerous gunshots were heard in the area as officers were arriving on the scene, which MPD says quickly turned chaotic with people running from the crowd in all directions.”

June 4 was also the day the Students Co-op Board finalized the eviction and regained control of the property, according to a June 7 statement published on the co-op’s website.

The Student Cooperative’s response

In the Students Co-op Board’s June 7 statement, the board wrote that those who were responsible for the recent crime in and around the house were not co-op members, but squatters, who moved into the building quickly following the onset of the pandemic.

“We learned last fall that the house’s cooperative governance collapsed during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to deteriorate as member residents moved out of the Co-op,” the statement said.

President of the Board Ellery Wealot, said once the board learned about the squatters, they started the eviction process in early April.

“Unfortunately, the eviction process took us two months, but during that time we requested more police presence and did everything in our power to try to make the situation as safe as we could,” Wealot said. “For our own safety, though, we also did not try to access the property.”

Wealot said the board is unsure as to how the squatters got into the house and how long they have been there. He said the squatters in the co-op house were “hostile” toward the board during the eviction process, which led these individuals to remain in the house for the entire duration of the eviction process.

“There is just so much we don’t know about what happened in 2020,” Wealot said. “At some point, someone invited them into the space, and we can say for sure that they did not pay rent or dues.”

Goetsch said the board learned about the events from the SAFE-U alerts and the police responding to calls. They said the board is working with UMPD and those who live around the area to ensure safety.

After the shootings, Wealot and Goetsch worked with the Minneapolis Police Department to get everyone out and start cleaning up the house so it could start getting on the right track, Goetsch said. They both expressed the mental strain the eviction process and the past couple of months has placed on them since the criminal activity did not start until after the eviction process did.

“It’s unfortunate because in most eviction cases, when we reach the point we did, most people leave voluntarily, but in this case, they chose not only to stay out the two month court process but chose to throw these huge parties as well,” Wealot said.

Despite the exhaustion from the entire process, Goetsch said it has also been motivating.

“Having people come together in the community and having people from the ‘70s who have lived in the co-op reach out to us, the support has been neat,” Goetsch said. “It has reminded me of the things that are important to me as people are stepping up and showing up for us.”

Wealot and Goetsch said they are looking forward to repairing the damage done to the house as well as the relationships that have been broken because of the events that have taken place over the past couple of months.

“We want to rebuild trust that we can exist in this space like we have over the last 80 years in a way that is community oriented,” Goetsch said.

The University’s response

Myron Frans, senior vice president for finance and operations at the University, released a statement on June 13 stating the University is taking steps to address the issues at the student co-op.

In addition to hoping the owner of the house would work with the University to find a new buyer for the property, according to the statement, the next steps for the University are “urging the City of Minneapolis to initiate inspections and, based on anticipated damage to the building, to condemn the property” and “opposing any attempt by the property owner to continue to hold a lodging license.”

A week later, Frans released a new statement stating UMPD was working overtime to patrol the property, more lighting and cameras were around the property and the University is evaluating hiring additional “non-sworn security personnel” to look over the property.

In the July Board of Regents meeting, Frans said the people who own the property got their lodging and boarding license suspended by the city and UMPD was continuing routine checks on the property.

“We will continue to explore options to influence the safe operation of property into the future, and we will keep you [the Board of Regents] and all stakeholders advised of our progress,” Frans said at the meeting.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved the Universal Transit Pass (UTP) for undergraduate and graduate students at the July board meeting. It will replace the U-Pass starting this fall semester and grant students access to public transportation at a lower cost.

The UTP allows students to ride all regional transportation, including the Metro Transit light rail and buses, for free. The pass will automatically connect to students’ U Cards if they pay the transportation and safety fee, which is included in most students’ tuition.

The UTP will transport riders as far as Anoka, with an extra fee to go further on the North Star Line. Students will also be able to travel as far as the Lakeville area in the south metro, Stillwater heading east and Mound heading west of the metro.

“We’ve been in discussion with Metro Transit for the last three or four years,” Ross Allanson, director of Parking and Transportation Services at the University, said. “[UTP] is very supportive of students’ success and community belonging.”

The U-Pass was first implemented in 1999 and cost $50 per semester. The UTP will now cost students $45 per semester, including summer, according to Drew Kerr, the Metro Transit communications manager. Previously, the transportation and safety fee was $26.

Shashank Murali, a third-year student and Infrastructure Committee director for the Minnesota Student Association, played a major role in advocating for the UTP for students.

“It feels incredibly rewarding to see the UTP pass through the Board of Regents,” Murali said. “For many years, countless student advocates have fought for the UTP and it’s because of their dedication that we have made it this far.”

Murali said he is excited to see how students react to the UTP this fall.

“I believe that a majority of students will welcome the UTP and will be thrilled to use it starting this fall,” Murali said. “I’ve already had several students reach out to me about how important the UTP is and how it will make a significant change in their daily lives.”

Kerr said when Metro Transit and the University were talking about this project, they turned to hundreds of students through a Minnesota Student Association survey. A majority of students said they would be willing to pay the extra cost for the UTP, according to the survey, Kerr said.

“When students say they will pay the cost and use the transit, we have to listen to that,” Kerr said. “We’re really excited about this and have wanted to do it for a long time.”

There is no option for students to opt out of the UTP, Allanson said. He said every student will get charged the $45 fee since the UTP will be on every student’s U Card. There will, however, be an op-in process for students who do not pay the transportation and safety fee.

Allanson and Kerr both said they were excited about the opportunities the UTP offers for students.

“It gives great access to affordable and healthy food options, access to retail shopping, access to other activities they might want to engage in, visiting family and giving them more options for housing,” Allanson said.

Kerr said having access to different types of transportation exposes people to public transportation and provides them with the opportunity to learn how to use it.

“Being able to have that transit experience, it’s a good foundation to have,” Kerr said.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the amount of the original U-Pass. In 1999, it cost $50 per semester. A previous version of this article misstated who sent out the student survey. It was a Minnesota Student Association survey. 

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents announced in June a tuition increase for University students. Some other universities in the Big Ten also decided to increase tuition, while others kept tuition frozen for the 2022-23 academic year.

In addition to tuition increasing and the average student debt rising, college students who live off campus said they also have to worry about paying monthly rent and groceries as inflation continues to rise.

Looking at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University and the University of Iowa, here are the tuition increases, average student debts and costs of living between these Big Ten universities.

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

The University is raising tuition 3.5% for resident and nonresident undergraduate students at the Twin Cities campus.

In-state tuition was $13,532 and is now $14,006 while out-of-state tuition was $32,122 and is now $33,246. This is only for tuition and does not include any fees. Cost of attendance, which includes tuition and fees, for the 2022-23 academic year is $16,108 for in-state students and $35,340 for out-of-state students.

“The decision to increase tuition, I want to be very clear, is always a last resort,” President Joan Gabel said in an interview with the Minnesota Daily. “It’s because our expenses go up. We only have so many sources of revenue as an institution. Tuition is the last thing for us to increase, but as we all know we’re in an extremely acute inflationary environment.”

The average student debt for students at the University in 2020 was $26,644, according to the Office of the President’s website.

Purdue University

Purdue University will not increase tuition this school year and has not raised tuition in the past 10 years for their students.

In-state tuition and fees at Purdue is $9,992 while out-of-state tuition and fees is $28,794. According to an article written by the Purdue University communications team, “Purdue students and their families have collectively saved more than a billion dollars since 2012-13” because of their decision to freeze their tuition rates.

Additionally, over 60% of students at Purdue graduate debt free. The average student debt was $3,389 for the 2021-22 school year, according to the article.

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) is not raising tuition for resident undergraduate students this upcoming school year, but it will raise tuition for nonresident undergraduate students 2%.

In-state tuition and fees at UW-Madison is $10,766, while out-of-state tuition and fees was $38,654 and will now be $39,354, according to the UW-Madison website.

UW-Madison’s average student debt for 2021-22 was $26,513, according to the University’s 2021-22 budget report. John Lucas, UW-Madison media spokesperson, said despite this number, almost 60% of students did not take out any loans.

“Only 40.3% of undergraduate students borrowed while attending UW-Madison, continuing a six-year trend where well over half of graduating seniors did not borrow loans while earning their degree at UW-Madison,” Lucas said.

Michigan State University

Michigan State University (MSU) is increasing tuition 3% for families that make more than $75,000 a year.

In-state tuition and fees for MSU is now $15,436 for students whose families make more than $75,000, while out-of-state tuition and fees is now $40,726, according to the MSU website.

“The decision to increase tuition was made last year as part of a three-year tuition package approved by the MSU Board of Trustees in June 2021 that laid out tuition prices and allowed families to plan for the increases by knowing ahead of time what they would be,” Emily Gerkin Guerrant, MSU vice president and university spokesperson, said.

In the 2020-21 school year, the average student debt for MSU students was $32,519, Gerkin Guerrant said. Gerkin Guerrant said MSU is investing in over $208 million in financial aid this year in hopes to help lower student debt.

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa (UI) is raising tuition for resident and nonresident students 4.25%.

In-state tuition and fees at UI is now $9,942, while out-of-state tuition and fees is $31,905, according to the UI website.

The average student who attends UI graduates with about $28,841 in student debt, UI Public Relations Manager Steve Schmadeke said. Schmadeke said about 49% of UI students graduate with no debt and that UI grants nearly $70 million in scholarships and financial aid.

“Within the last several years, we’ve added additional financial literacy officers to provide one-on-one debt counseling to students – encouraging them to live frugally and borrow only what they need,” Schmadeke said.

Cost of Living

The average cost of living for off-campus students who attend these Big Ten universities is about the same all around.

Rent for apartments near these universities ranges from about $600/month to about $1,300/month. The average cost of groceries between these five states that the universities are located in is about $258.60 per month, according to Education Data Initiative.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved former regent David McMillan as the two-year interim chancellor for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) campus at their meeting on Wednesday.

The board also talked about President Joan Gabel’s performance bonus pay and the University’s campus safety plan heading into the upcoming academic year.

McMillan as the interim chancellor for UMD

Despite the recent controversy surrounding McMillan’s application for interim chancellor, the regents approved McMillan for the position in a 9-2 vote after the search committee presented him as its recommendation. Regents Darrin Rosha and James Farnsworth were the two regents to oppose McMillan’s appointment.

Before the board voted, Gabel said at the meeting the allegations made against her and McMillan are inaccurate, “hurtful” and “cause reckless damage.”

On Tuesday, the board received a letter from Minnesota state representatives and senators. The letter stated the board should be careful about how they approach the decision with McMillan, Regent Steve Sviggum said at the meeting.

Sviggum said it was “wrong” for the legislators to send the board a letter because it was based on “baseless allegations.” He said the University “has so much to be proud of” and these allegations put them “down in the muck.”

“There has been no quid pro quo,” Gabel said. “I have always acted in the University’s best interest.”

Gabel recused herself from the candidate selection process in June and also left the meeting on Wednesday when the board discussed the search committee’s recommendation and voted.

Several members of the board, including Regent Mary Davenport, said at the meeting McMillan is qualified and the right person for this position.

Board Chair Ken Powell said at the meeting the board was not able to disclose who the other candidates for the position were due to protecting private personnel data. He said it was “grossly unfair to suggest that following privacy laws is suspicious.”

Regent Mike Kenyanya said at the meeting he trusted the search committee’s recommendation, even though the committee’s original search was deemed a failed search. He said “search committees do fail” sometimes.

Regent Kodi Verhelen added to Kenyanya’s statement, and said at the meeting, “unusual doesn’t mean that it’s wrong.”

Multiple regents brought up the media and how it played a role in the controversy. Regent Janie Mayeron said at the meeting the media have made “baseless allegations by a variety of people who do not have the facts in front of them.” She said the “baseless claims” are what is ruining the public’s trust, not the board itself.

At the meeting, Rosha said this issue is not about McMillan, it is about the board’s possibly unethical actions.

Farnsworth said at the meeting if there is a potential conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict of interest choosing McMillan for this position, the board should wait to make a decision to protect public trust in the board and the University.

Prior to the vote to approve McMillan, Rosha proposed a motion for the board to wait to vote until an outside party could conduct a legal review to determine if appointing McMillan has an appearance of a conflict of interest. The board voted 9-2 against the motion.

Rosha then moved to change the two-year term for the interim position to a six-month contract, after which it would be a month-by-month appointment. The board voted 9-2 against the motion before voting to approve McMillan as the two-year interim chancellor.

The board voted 9-2 to award McMillan a $250,000 annual salary, which is the same starting salary as a first-year chancellor in the University system. He will also receive an additional $25,000 housing allowance annually, which chancellors typically receive, Powell said.

The $250,000 salary is below the current comparable market value for a chancellor position, according to the Annual Workforce & Human Resources Strategy Report.

“In concert with then-regent McMillan’s statement to me that this was just about helping the institution, I felt that we might be more aggressive in being able to provide this leadership at a lower value,” Rosha said. “I do appreciate it’s lower than these other amounts, but for most Minnesotans, this is a very substantial salary.”

These monetary provisions will go to McMillan for his approval along with the full contract. The contract will go back to the board for negotiations if McMillan does not approve it.

The contract was not available prior to the meeting because of “significant controversies that were going on and responses that we had to make,” Sviggum said.

Determining Gabel’s performance pay

Powell announced to the rest of the board that Gabel will receive a $50,000 performance pay bonus, a decision the chair now makes without approval from the other regents and after consultation with the Presidential Performance Review Committee, according to language in Gabel’s 2021 contract. Powell said the committee unanimously agreed to award Gabel the $50,000 bonus.

“Feedback on President Gabel’s performance was overwhelmingly positive,” Powell said. “We believe the University of Minnesota is benefitting greatly from President Gabel’s leadership.”

Mayeron motioned to ratify that the board supports the chair deciding Gabel’s performance pay amount so they can give reassurance to the University community after some community members raised questions about the chair’s sole authority to do this.

Rosha motioned for an amendment to change the 2021 contract’s language to reflect that all regents have a say in Gabel’s performance pay as well as her goals, metrics and objectives.

After multiple regents brought up concerns about not being prepared to vote on both Mayeron’s motion and Rosha’s amendment, both regents withdrew their motions for the board to possibly discuss the issues at a later date.

MSafe public safety planning for the 2022-23 academic year

Myron Frans, the senior vice president for finance and operations, discussed the University’s plans for campus safety for the upcoming school year.

After investing more than $60 million in safety actions for the past two years, Frans said the University is going to keep pushing for more resources because “safety is a top priority.”

There are several new goals for campus and public safety next year, including having more police officers on patrol, improved lighting around campus and sending SAFE-U alerts out faster for students.

Matt Clark, UMPD Police Chief, said he understands that getting more police officers may be difficult, but UMPD is doing everything they can.

“It’s the primary goal to make sure that crime is down,” Clark said.

Approving the Universal Transit Pass

The board approved the Universal Transit Pass for fall semester for all University students who pay the transportation and safety fee.

In March, the Minnesota Student Association pushed for the Universal Transit Pass and met with administrators. The pass allows University students to ride the Metro Transit light rail and buses for free with their U Card.

Gabel said she is excited for the pass to be given to students and that it was a great accomplishment for the University.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved former regent David McMillan as the two-year interim chancellor for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) campus at their meeting on Wednesday.

The board also talked about President Joan Gabel’s performance bonus pay and the University’s campus safety plan heading into the upcoming academic year.

McMillan as the interim chancellor for UMD

Despite the recent controversy surrounding McMillan’s application for interim chancellor, the regents approved McMillan for the position in a 9-2 vote after the search committee presented him as its recommendation. Regents Darrin Rosha and James Farnsworth were the two regents to oppose McMillan’s appointment.

Before the board voted, Gabel said at the meeting the allegations made against her and McMillan are inaccurate, “hurtful” and “cause reckless damage.”

On Tuesday, the board received a letter from Minnesota state representatives and senators. The letter stated the board should be careful about how they approach the decision with McMillan, Regent Steve Sviggum said at the meeting.

Sviggum said it was “wrong” for the legislators to send the board a letter because it was based on “baseless allegations.” He said the University “has so much to be proud of” and these allegations put them “down in the muck.”

“There has been no quid pro quo,” Gabel said. “I have always acted in the University’s best interest.”

Gabel recused herself from the candidate selection process in June and also left the meeting on Wednesday when the board discussed the search committee’s recommendation and voted.

Several members of the board, including Regent Mary Davenport, said at the meeting McMillan is qualified and the right person for this position.

Board Chair Ken Powell said at the meeting the board was not able to disclose who the other candidates for the position were due to protecting private personnel data. He said it was “grossly unfair to suggest that following privacy laws is suspicious.”

Regent Mike Kenyanya said at the meeting he trusted the search committee’s recommendation, even though the committee’s original search was deemed a failed search. He said “search committees do fail” sometimes.

Regent Kodi Verhelen added to Kenyanya’s statement, and said at the meeting, “unusual doesn’t mean that it’s wrong.”

Multiple regents brought up the media and how it played a role in the controversy. Regent Janie Mayeron said at the meeting the media have made “baseless allegations by a variety of people who do not have the facts in front of them.” She said the “baseless claims” are what is ruining the public’s trust, not the board itself.

At the meeting, Rosha said this issue is not about McMillan, it is about the board’s possibly unethical actions.

Farnsworth said at the meeting if there is a potential conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict of interest choosing McMillan for this position, the board should wait to make a decision to protect public trust in the board and the University.

Prior to the vote to approve McMillan, Rosha proposed a motion for the board to wait to vote until an outside party could conduct a legal review to determine if appointing McMillan has an appearance of a conflict of interest. The board voted 9-2 against the motion.

Rosha then moved to change the two-year term for the interim position to a six-month contract, after which it would be a month-by-month appointment. The board voted 9-2 against the motion before voting to approve McMillan as the two-year interim chancellor.

The board voted 9-2 to award McMillan a $250,000 annual salary, which is the same starting salary as a first-year chancellor in the University system. He will also receive an additional $25,000 housing allowance annually, which chancellors typically receive, Powell said.

The $250,000 salary is below the current comparable market value for a chancellor position, according to the Annual Workforce & Human Resources Strategy Report.

“In concert with then-regent McMillan’s statement to me that this was just about helping the institution, I felt that we might be more aggressive in being able to provide this leadership at a lower value,” Rosha said. “I do appreciate it’s lower than these other amounts, but for most Minnesotans, this is a very substantial salary.”

These monetary provisions will go to McMillan for his approval along with the full contract. The contract will go back to the board for negotiations if McMillan does not approve it.

The contract was not available prior to the meeting because of “significant controversies that were going on and responses that we had to make,” Sviggum said.

Determining Gabel’s performance pay

Powell announced to the rest of the board that Gabel will receive a $50,000 performance pay bonus, a decision the chair now makes without approval from the other regents and after consultation with the Presidential Performance Review Committee, according to language in Gabel’s 2021 contract. Powell said the committee unanimously agreed to award Gabel the $50,000 bonus.

“Feedback on President Gabel’s performance was overwhelmingly positive,” Powell said. “We believe the University of Minnesota is benefitting greatly from President Gabel’s leadership.”

Mayeron motioned to ratify that the board supports the chair deciding Gabel’s performance pay amount so they can give reassurance to the University community after some community members raised questions about the chair’s sole authority to do this.

Rosha motioned for an amendment to change the 2021 contract’s language to reflect that all regents have a say in Gabel’s performance pay as well as her goals, metrics and objectives.

After multiple regents brought up concerns about not being prepared to vote on both Mayeron’s motion and Rosha’s amendment, both regents withdrew their motions for the board to possibly discuss the issues at a later date.

MSafe public safety planning for the 2022-23 academic year

Myron Frans, the senior vice president for finance and operations, discussed the University’s plans for campus safety for the upcoming school year.

After investing more than $60 million in safety actions for the past two years, Frans said the University is going to keep pushing for more resources because “safety is a top priority.”

There are several new goals for campus and public safety next year, including having more police officers on patrol, improved lighting around campus and sending SAFE-U alerts out faster for students.

Matt Clark, UMPD Police Chief, said he understands that getting more police officers may be difficult, but UMPD is doing everything they can.

“It’s the primary goal to make sure that crime is down,” Clark said.

Approving the Universal Transit Pass

The board approved the Universal Transit Pass for fall semester for all University students who pay the transportation and safety fee.

In March, the Minnesota Student Association pushed for the Universal Transit Pass and met with administrators. The pass allows University students to ride the Metro Transit light rail and buses for free with their U Card.

Gabel said she is excited for the pass to be given to students and that it was a great accomplishment for the University.

Kim Than, a fourth-year retail merchandising student in the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, won a national design competition using a virtual reality (VR) software from the University’s VR studio.

Than was selected as a finalist for the WindowsWear Mentorship Program where she created an immersive fashion store using VR. Her prize was a paid internship in New York City with Kate Spade, the designer fashion brand Than tailored her project to.

The finalists for the competition were announced online with each finalist then discussing their project to the judges over Zoom. There were 10 finalists from universities across the country.

“I was so happy. I didn’t think I was going to win, but I was so excited to see that I did,” Than said.

Juanjuan Wu, the College of Design professor who taught Than’s VR retail merchandising class, presented the opportunity to enter the competition to her students by offering them extra credit if they modified their final project and submitted it to the competition.

Than decided to take on the challenge and worked on the majority of her project during finals week, making the desire to have the perfect project that much harder. Luckily, she had her friends supporting her along the way.

“I told my friends that we could go for second place,” Than said. “My friends said ‘You really have potential, why don’t you just try your best and go for first place?’ They were my emotional and physical support.”

Along with her friends, Than’s biggest supporter was professor Wu.

“I gave Kim feedback and we bounced off ideas with each other,” Wu said. “She did very well and I knew she had good potential.”

Wu added that Than did extensive background research on past projects from the competition and pushed herself to make her project stand out compared to everyone else’s by adding intimate details and putting in extensive hours.

“Her work is going to be seen by Kate Spade executives, and they are going to help her expand her talent,” Wu said. “It’s exciting for her.”

Than and Wu worked closely together throughout the entire project, and Wu said Than already thanked her several times before Than even knew she won the competition.

Another exciting part of Than’s accomplishments is the recognition it brings to the University.

Steve Yang, assistant dean for student services for the College of Design, said he was excited for Than and the opportunities her accomplishments will provide for the new VR Studio, which opened in September 2021 inside the University’s Health Sciences Library

“Kim’s curiosity and drive to apply design principles and thinking to new platforms is something the entire college community is proud of. We love to see our students applying what they learn in class to the real world, and we can’t wait to see what she does next,” Yang said in an email to the Minnesota Daily.

The VR Studio is open to anyone and everyone, and Charlie Heinz, who runs the VR Studio and gave instructions for Than’s class, said he is looking forward to seeing people like Than coming into the studio to be inspired in their work.

“This space, the professor’s innovative idea for instruction and the student’s initiative made it possible for the opportunity to happen,” Heinz said. “I think that’s really cool.”

As the 2021-22 academic year comes to an end, so does the leadership term of Minnesota Student Association (MSA) President Abdulaziz Mohamed and Vice President Samiat Ajibola.

The pair sat down one last time to talk to the Minnesota Daily about what they have accomplished this year, what they are proud of and what they will remember going forward.

Give me the highlights of what you accomplished this year.

Mohamed: “We have found this to be a very successful year for our student advocacy. We awarded over $40,000 in grants to student organizations. We passed over 19 resolutions and statements of support through our Forum body. We got the Mobile Market on campus, and we’re tackling transit equity through the universal transit pass. The student referendum passed with over 95% approval for a $15 minimum wage. Sami and I set out some lofty goals based on the platforms for our campaign and listening to student groups, and I’d like to think we did a pretty good job.”

Ajibola: “We did a lot of work on making MSA a more inclusive place to be. We reconstructed our first-year program, where instead of it being a process you apply for, we selected everyone. Our sexual assault task force passed a resolution on having more transparency in the process of victim survivors getting more academic accommodations. We also did our “You Are Not Alone” campaign, which was a benefit concert for the Aurora Center and raised almost $1,500. A lot of work cannot be done in one year sadly because there’s so much that happens, so we have carried over a lot of work that is going into the next presidential team.”

Personally, what is the MSA goal you are the most proud of accomplishing this year?

Mohamed: “I would say it would be rolling out the Mobile Market on campus. In our campaign, we talked about food insecurity rates on campus. We brainstormed a lot of ideas on how we could slow down those rates and the Mobile Market was something we didn’t anticipate to be done this year, but I’m happy to say that it was. I’m immensely proud of the food insecurity work we were able to largely do in our organization. More specifically, it was the Mobile Market, but largely it was food insecurity advocacy in MSA.”

Ajibola: “I am so proud of how much work we’ve done outward facing this year. A lot of times, MSA’s work is very internal, but this year we’ve turned to partner with our student body on a lot of campaigns. We partnered with so many people at the University and got to hear them speak on what they are passionate about, and that was beautiful to see. We were able to put our practices into what we were doing and have it not only affect students in the organizations but students everywhere.”

What lesson can you take away from being in the leadership position of MSA?

Mohamed: “There’s a lot of lessons that still need to be learned, but to make sure that you can build meaningful relationships with the people in your life. I think that MSA is a very big organization with a lot of different students and often times it can be very difficult to sit down and speak with each student, not only to hear about their story but to what drove them to be a part of the organization and what drove them to be a University of Minnesota student. I think there are so many stories with students, so just making sure you’re taking the time to build meaningful and intentional relationships is something that I was able to learn in this role and [am] still learning to this day.”

Ajibola: “Sometimes there can be this pressure, like ‘It’s my goal to get all these things done; it’s my goal to advocate for students,’ but there’s just so much to do. I learned that it’s okay to take it one step at a time; it’s okay if you don’t complete every single goal or didn’t make every single student feel accepted. It’s a long battle that cannot be won in a couple of months and that’s something I’ve had to learn how to deal with. There’s so many people who come into this organization, into this role, and have to leave, like I think I’m one of the first vice presidents that hasn’t left the organization in a really long time, and that says a lot to how much work has to go into this. I have to remind myself that it’s okay to not get everything done. We have to put ourselves first because we’re all students first at the end of the day.”

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.