Gov. Rick Snyder

Plans have changed on the potential of a new biosciences building at Central Michigan University.

The new building was one of the projects scheduled to receive $30 million in state funding from the capital outlay bill in December, when former Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved 23 college infrastructure projects, but now Gov. Rick Snyder is rethinking funding the building, along with others statewide.

A letter from the governor’s office was sent to University President George Ross April 1, stating the university must submit a preliminary design by Nov. 4 to be considered, along with 20 other projects statewide.

“There is no guarantee of funding — we will consider it and look at it in comparison to all of the others,” said Kurt Weiss, spokesperson for the state budget office.

Although Snyder had been elected at the time of the approval, he was not yet in office.

As a precaution, legislators working for Granholm checked with incoming Snyder legislators to see if there was any reason they should hold off on designating the funds. They wanted to prevent universities from being guaranteed the money, only to lose it when Snyder took office.

“They did not give them any disprovals, so they signed and moved forward,” said Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Governmental Relations and Public Affairs.

It is unknown how many of the projects will be chosen to receive funding. The maximum amount the state can give to a project is $30 million, Wilbur said.

The governor’s office has yet to receive a design by any other universities considered, including CMU, Weiss said.

“I think all the schools are doing the same thing we are at this point,” Wilbur said, referring to working with architects and submitting contracts.

If the biosciences building is not chosen to receive funding now, it may be chosen later, since there is no set time for when funding for capital outlay projects is offered.

Wilbur estimated if the building received funding this time, it would be up and running in the next one to five years.

There is no way to indicate the cost, location, or timeline for construction of the building, however, CM Life was given an estimated total cost of $65 million for the building last year.

The building would house lab rooms and teaching facilities for biotechnology and medical classes, and provide more options for Brooks Hall.

It has not been decided which classes will be held in the biosciences building and which will stay in Brooks Hall, said Stephen Lawrence, associate vice president of facilities management.

Former Grand Rapids graduate teaching assistant Matt Igleski said he would have liked to see something done to support research in existing buildings like Brooks Hall instead of investing in the biosciences building.

Igleski spoke to the Board of Trustees in February about his concern regarding the priorities of the board, but received no response.

Igleski said a power outage in Brooks Hall destroyed samples that needed to be refrigerated, setting his research back. The 1965 building also flooded in summer 2010.

“I’m very confident that we’ll do well in the process,” Wilbur said. “But, it is a different process than we’ve had in the past,” Wilbur said.

The next Speak Up, Speak Out forum will give students a chance to voice their opinions the elections at a forum entitled “Elections 2010: What Do the Experts Say?”

The forum will take place Tuesday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the University Center Auditorium.

David Jesuit, a political science associate professor, will facilitate the forum.

Jesuit said the panelists will give their predictions for the state and local elections. He said the race for governor between Democrat Virg Bernero and Republican Rick Snyder is an important race for Michigan.

“The gubernatorial election will be a major focus,” he said.

Panelists for the event will be Maxine Berman, Griffin Endowed Chair and Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s director of special projects; state Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant; Bryant English, Jackson junior and advocacy chair of College Democrats; Battle Creek senior Travis Faber, first vice chair of College Republicans; and Chris Owens, an assistant political science professor.

Jesuit said the panel will also discuss possible outcomes of the elections, such as a Republican control of Congress and its potential effect on the economy.

tudents do not need to have a strong knowledge of politics to attend the forum, he said.

Berman said she hopes the audience will get involved and ask questions. She said the panel will focus on topics the audience is interested in.

“I’m hoping we’ll have a lot of discussion,” she said. “I want to give people the opportunity to talk about what they want to talk about.”

Berman said the panel includes Democrats and Republicans with diverse perspectives and will be respectful of all views.

Caul, who has served six years in the state House, said he will speak about his experiences as a politician.

“I can give a perspective of what it takes to run a campaign,” he said.

Caul hopes the panel will be able to educate people and make them more responsible voters. He said it is important for people to learn about the issues and candidates.

“You can never go wrong getting as much information as possible,” he said.

Jesuit said he expects a big turnout. He believes many students who became politically active in the 2008 presidential election will be interested in the midterm elections.

“Ultimately,” he said, “we should care because this is how public policy is determined.”

The Texas sophomore will no longer be allowed to use the chemical incense drug K2 without fear of legal ramifications after Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill banning it Thursday. The drug had been used as a legal alternative to other drugs, like marijuana.

The ban went into effect Friday, and its users will now face a 90-day misdemeanor for possession or usage. Stores can no longer sell K2.

VanderWilp was prepared for the ban and plans on using it in states where the drug is still legal, like his home state of Texas.

“When I go home, I would still use it and I could probably get my friends to mail me some in Michigan,” VanderWilp said.

State Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, proposed the ban and said it has been in the works since the beginning of the year.

“It’s a case of greed over safety of human beings,” Jones said. “I was very happy that the governor went along with the immediate effect.”

He pushed for prohibiting the drug because of adverse side effects, such as schizophrenic behavior, making users’ hearts race and seizures.

There may also be more severe long-term side effects that are still being researched. Using it without knowing those effects could be unsafe, Jones said.

“The purpose has been to get stores to stop selling this, what I consider poison,” he said.

Hospitalizations have been reported across the entire state. Central Michigan University Police Sgt. Cameron Wassman said they have run into a “handful” of similar incidents this year.

VanderWilp said he has experienced many more positives than negatives in comparison with marijuana.

“It’s not as harsh on my body as weed was,” VanderWilp said. “I feel great afterwards and I’m not hacking up phlegm.”

K2 has a shorter, but more intense high than marijuana. VanderWilp said the high lasts between 15 and 20 minutes.

“We have to make (stores) aware of the detrimental nature of the product themselves,” said state Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant. “We’ll make them not only aware of it, but more responsible.”

Jones said the drug has found its way into common usage despite warning labels saying the product is not intended for human use. A lot of K2 is manufactured in China, so U.S. scientists are still unsure of all the components.

Wassman said the new law is good for his department, but it has to find out exactly how to enforce it.

“We have not received any official documentation on how that law reads,” Wassman said.

State Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, said Central Michigan University was allocated $80,132,000 for the 2010-11 school year — a loss of $2,304,000 from 2009-10.

Caul said the legislature had a target to hit in order to balance the budget, but did not want to cut any more scholarship dollars.

“We were able to still meet the target which allowed us to pass the budget (in committee),” he said.

The original proposed reduction for higher education funding was 3.1 percent, but was dropped to 2.8 percent after some negotiations, he said.

The bill was passed by both the Senate and House separately only a few hours after committee approval. It now must be signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the legislature chose to protect tuition grants for students attending private colleges instead of cutting them to balance the budget.

Granholm proposed a budget that did not cut university operations, but eliminated the tuition grants instead.

“They obviously have a different position on the issue and we will simply be reviewing the budget when it comes to the governor’s desk,” she said. “The governor obviously would have preferred the legislature adopted her proposal.”

According to the university operating budget, CMU estimated receiving $67,800 less from the state than what was ultimately allocated for this year.

Carol Haas, director of Financial Planning and Budgets, said CMU has been planning for budget cuts since last year, when Granholm proposed a budget reduction that brought the university down to the $80 million level.

“We’ve been in flux over the budget so far, so we went with what the governor’s proposed amount was last year and this year,” Haas said.

Haas said the university continues to plan for budget cuts because it’s an election year and newly elected officials could modify the budget in 2011.

“We are prudently trying to accommodate for any budget cuts come January,” she said.

The university has reduction plans in place to fall back on and the higher-than-expected enrollment numbers for this year will help buffer any future reductions in state appropriations, Haas said.

Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Government Relations and Public Affairs, said the legislature will have a more difficult time next year balancing the budget.

She said next year’s state budget is predicted to be at least a $1.6 billion shortfall, which could mean a 20 percent reduction in state appropriations for CMU.

“I think the legislature was very careful and cautious this year about cuts,” Wilbur said. “I think next year will be a different story.”

Jacqueline Pridgeon, interim director of benefits and wellness, said the results meet the original prediction of 60 to 100 employees retiring early.

“It’s right in line with what we were projecting,” Pridgeon said.

Under the legislation, all active employees enrolled in MPSERS who do not choose to retire early will have a 3 percent pay deduction which goes toward retiree health costs starting July 1.

She said Academic Affairs has 42 employees retiring, Financial and Administrative Services has 39, Government Relations and Public Affairs has two, the presidential division has one and University Advancement has two.

Pridgeon said Academic Affairs has been impacted the most because it is the largest division on campus in terms of employee count and covers all the faculty and staff in the administrative area for the university.

She said out of the 86 early retirees, only eight are faculty, either being regular tenure track faculty or temporary faculty.

The rest are staff employees including office professionals, service maintenance and professional and administrative employees, Pridgeon said.

She said the feedback she has heard from employees has seemed positive.

“It’s an opportunity for them to increase their pension in retirement,” Pridgeon said.

Illegal?

But not everyone is happy with the legislation.

Five Michigan Education Association members filed a class action lawsuit Friday in the Michigan Court of Claims stating the three percent pay deduction is unconstitutional and illegal.

The lawsuit is a three-part complaint including a breach of contract, said Arthur Przybylowicz, the general council for the Michigan Education Association.

Przybylowicz said a hearing on the issue will take place at 2 p.m. Monday, June 28.

Pridgeon declined to comment on how the lawsuit could affect the university if successful.

Provost Gary Shapiro said Academic Affairs plans on filling the positions of the retirees by hiring new employees.

“We will lose some institutional memory because most of these people have been with us for many years,” Shapiro said. “There will be many qualified applicants for the positions we choose to fill.”

Shapiro said each individual office and unit will carry out its own hiring and training.

The decision to request an extension will be finalized by the president, provost and vice presidents by June 11, according to an e-mail by Lori Hella, interim associate vice president of Human Resources.

The university found out about the eligibility early last week from Michigan’s Offices of Retirement Services, said Jacqueline Pridgeon, interim director of benefits and wellness.

Pridgeon said some employees are retiring as early as June 30.

“It’s such a short time frame, some departments have to make relatively quick decisions on how to handle their services knowing they have employees that will be retiring,” Pridgeon said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation reforming the MPSERS into law May 19.

Starting July 1, all active employees enrolled in MPSERS who do not choose to retire early will have a 3 percent pay deduction which goes toward retiree health costs.

Pridgeon said she was not sure how long it took to find out about the 16 eligible positions.

She said they were trying to get the information out as soon as they could to the schools.

“The normal retirement process may take several months and, with only having 30 to 90 days to prepare, departments may feel like they are under a time crunch,” Pridgeon said.

Hella sent out an e-mail on May 26 stating some departments are going to feel very constrained preparing for early retirements given such short notice.

“Departments may face difficulty supporting employee’s requests to use their vacation balances down to the 160 vacation payoff maximum prior to their retirement date,” the e-mail states.

A four-step process for requesting an exception is also detailed in the e-mail.

The email states if departments are unable to grant an employee extra time before retirement, the employee then must request for their supervisor to grant an exception.

Pridgeon said they have not been receiving many calls about the changes in legislation.

These retirements could strain department resources to continue operating as they are now, according to an e-mail about the MPSERS retirements sent out by Cali Clark, director of employment and compensation.

Jacqueline Pridgeon, interim director of benefits and wellness, said it is too early to determine how this will affect employees in individual departments.

“There may be some departments that have more than one (employee affected), and some won’t have any,” Pridgeon said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation reforming the MPSERS into law May 19.

Starting July 1, all active employees enrolled in MPSERS who do not choose to retire early will have a 3 percent pay deduction which goes toward retiree health costs.

School employees have until June 11 to indicate whether or not they plan on retiring this summer.

“It’s a big decision to make,” Pridgeon said. “The retirees want to know what is happening and how this impacts them. They want to make sure they’re prepared for their retirement.”

Pridgeon said at this point she does not know which department will be most affected and she has not heard any feedback about departments possibly being understaffed.

Clark’s e-mail said the retirement incentive creates an opportunity for the university to consider reorganizing to generate base budget savings.

To assist in workforce planning, the e-mail states that departments should work closely with Human Resources and Employment Services and that all vacancies need the approval of Provost Gary Shapiro before posting.

It listed several recommendations for departments, including considering the long-term implications related to filling a vacancy.

Clark’s e-mail also detailed the MPSERS retiree earnings limitations.

“Retirees cannot work the first full calendar month after their retirement, that includes not being able to volunteer,” the e-mail stated.

Pridgeon said it is difficult to determine whether the incentive could create new jobs.

“It’s having an impact on the university but it’s too early to tell,” Pridgeon said. “We need to understand how many people are actually going to take the incentive and which departments they’re retiring from.”

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation reforming the MPSERS into law Wednesday.

Starting July 1, all active employees enrolled in MPSERS who do not choose to retire early will have a 3 percent pay deduction which goes toward retiree health costs.

About 200 CMU employees are eligible for early retirement, said Jacqueline Pridgeon, interim director of benefits and wellness.

“It could mean early retirement for a lot of people,” Pridgeon said.

She said people looking toward retirement next year may consider retiring this year depending on their individual situations.

School employees have until June 11 to indicate whether or not they plan on retiring this summer.

Pridgeon said of the approximately 200 people at CMU eligible for early retirement, about 80 to 100 are expected to take advantage of the incentive.

To be covered under MPSPERS, an employee must be considered a regular full-time retiree.

“It could effect any employee, group or regular staff,” Pridgeon said. “They have to meet the critera.”

To meet the criteria, a retiree would have to be at least 60 years old with 10 years of service or 55 years old with 30 years of service.

Gov. Granholm said the retirement reforms are expected to save the state about $265 million in the 2011 fiscal year and $1.97 billion in the next 10 years.

Granholm said the incentives will encourage about 47,000 people in the state to retire this year.

“The reforms in this legislation will save state government and Michigan school districts hundreds of millions of dollars,” Granholm said in a press release.

His classmate’s death is one of many reminders that keeps him from sending texts on the road. He supports the new texting while driving ban, which goes into effect July 1.

“I think it is a good idea,” Picard said. “Driving already is a huge multi-task and you are adding another factor onto it.”

The bill makes writing or reading text messages while driving a primary offense. This means police officers are allowed to pull over drivers if they spot them typing on their phone while their vehicle is in use.

Violators can be fined $100 for the first offense and $200 for the second.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm will sign the bill Friday during a safe driving rally in Detroit that will be broadcast on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Michigan will be the 23rd state to ban texting while driving.

“I don’t think they will be able to enforce it,” Picard said. “How will they? There aren’t enough police to stop everybody.”

State Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, did not initially support the bill. He questioned the subjective nature of police searches and how they could be conducted.

Caul supported the modified bill on its second pass.

“I’m concerned about those pieces of legislation that put another requirement on law enforcement when they are already busy with things to do,” he said. “There are a whole host of reasons why we need to pay attention while driving.”

Brighton junior Heather Kardas feels conflicted about the new bill because it could be effective, but may also be a difficult adjustment for her.

“I think people are very dangerous when they drive and their attention is not where it should be,” Kardas said. “But I’m kind of upset that it is going to be illegal because I do text.”

She said the fines are not comparable to a potential death on the road.

David Lopez, engineering and technology associate professor, said the bill is a good idea and should have been drafted years ago.

He and several students were almost struck by a girl on campus who was text messaging at the wheel, Lopez said.

“She was so busy texting she could have hit us,” he said. “I was thinking at the time she could have killed all of us.”

Steve Smith, director of Public Relations, said she resigned July 9, 2009 for personal reasons. That information was first reported last week when three new Trustees were appointed, one replacing Garrett.

Smith said Garrett’s name was removed from the Board of Trustees Web site in July for the public to notice.

Granholm was not aware of Garrett’s resignation until July 29, 2009, said Tiffany Brown, a Granholm spokeswoman.

Brown said when a member’s term is up or when one resigns, neither Granholm nor her administration publicize the news.

“People find out about vacancies (through) word of mouth, terms that expire, (and) resignations,” she said.

Conversation in a Central Michigan Life live chat during a February Board of Trustees meeting touched on Garrett’s absence.

Royal Oak senior David Veselenak, CM Life’s online editor, noted the vacancy of her chair during the Feb. 18 meeting.

“It looks like there are a few trustees missing. Torreano, Garret(t) are the noticeable ones,” Veselenak typed during a live chat on cm-life.com.

Renee Walker, associate vice president of University Communications, commented on the chat under the name “CMU UComm.”

She discussed her comment with Veselenak after the meeting.

About 15 minutes after the initial comment about missing trustees, Walker mentioned how many were there.

“Good morning. Thanks for the live chat. It’s a great opportunity to share important information. There are six trustees attending the meeting with one of them via conference phone,” Walker typed.

She also noted the fact Vice Chairwoman Marilyn French Hubbard was taking part via teleconference.

“Yes. Vice Chair Marilyn French Hubbard is participating via the conference phone,” Walker said.

Brown said the governor’s office receives applications for the board constantly, so the application process is not affected if news of a vacated position stays silent.

The application is accessible on michigan.gov and those who apply are required to provide letters of recommendation.

The process also includes, but is not limited to, background checks and an interview with Granholm’s administration, Brown said.

Meet the new Trustees

Three were appointed to the Board of Trustees last week to replace Garrett and also outgoing Trustees Gail Torreano and Stephanie Comai.

“Gov. Granholm believes that all three appointees are leaders in their community who are committed to higher education and CMU,” Brown said.

Ronald C. Edmonds, vice president and controller of The Dow Chemical Co., will succeed Torreano and has a strong business tie in the community, Brown said.

Kevin F. Kelley, director of senior and veterans services for Wayne County, will succeed Comai and is a CMU alumnus.

Both will begin in January and have terms that last through December 2018.

Robert F. Wardrop II, president and attorney with Wardrop & Wardrop P.C. in Grand Rapids, will take Garrett’s place, effective immediately.

Wardrop graduated from CMU in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science degree in math and economics. He also taught economics at CMU for about two years.

“I’m very excited,” Wardrop said. “(I’m) really looking forward to doing what is best for Central.”

He also sat on the alumni board for 12 years and was president of the Alumni Association for two years.

He thinks he will bring a unique outlook to the Board with his involvement in university affairs since 1955.

When Wardrop was a student at CMU, he worked in what is now the Down Under Food Court in the Bovee University Center.

When the Board had its meetings, Wardrop managed their lunches.

“I used to serve lunch to the Board,” he said. “Now I am one.”

Wardrop said he applied for the Board two years ago, when there were open positions.

He said he was not aware Garrett had resigned until news came he would assume her position.

Wardrop’s father, Robert F. Wardrop, is in the CMU Athletics Hall of Fame. Wardrop’s brother, Mac, also graduated from CMU.

“I’m just looking forward to helping with the university and working with the other Trustees and the CMU Administration,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to helping other students and listening to their concerns.”