Kicking off the year with a promise of change, the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees announced its unanimous decision to install board Vice Chair Denise Williams-Mallett as the new board chair beginning in January 2026.

The Board of Trustees’ policies and bylaws set term limitations for each board position. Todd Regis, the current chair, has reached the end of his term after two years. He is set to hand over the reins in December 2025.

“In order to have successful transition in leadership, you need to have some time,” Regis said. “So, let's make it public. Let's be able to work together. We don't need to have problems with our board. We need to keep that going so we can continue to build and support the president and the administration.”

As Mallet steps into a new role, Regis will accompany Edward Plawecki as co-vice chairs of the board starting in January.

This election was one of many change-driven actions the board approved in Thursday’s meeting. Other notable changes include:

Renaming Graduate Housing to University Apartments to more accurately reflect resident demographics;
Approving the 2025-26 goals and measures of the university’s Strategic Plan;
Approving new scholarships, awards and endowments;
Recognizing the new University Transformation Offices’ Change Champion Network;
Approving minimal revisions to the Board's bylaws.

Presidential reports and priorities

Throughout the meeting, CMU President Neil MacKinnon shed light on his administration’s progression in implementing the university’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.

MacKinnon cited several examples of this progress, including expanding opportunities for student faculty research via Go Grants, increasing community engagement, creating the University Transformation Office and breaking the fundraising record totaling $79 million.

He also presented his five presidential priorities for the 2025-26 academic year:

Completing and instituting the first year of the Strategic Enrollment and Management Plan (SEM Plan)
Implementing the changes recommended by CMU Online and Innovation and taking steps to develop recommendations for the next academic year
Reaching ‘satisfactory progress’ based on standards outlined in the Strategic Plan
Completing facilities master plan through 2030
Creating a ‘heat map’ to prepare for potential risks and develop mitigation strategies

With recent reports showing a decline in enrollment, MacKinnon said in an interview that the SEM plan is essential to CMU’s future.

“It really is a roadmap to enrollment growth,” MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon said that it’s an inclusive process involving ideas from an outside organization, faculty, staff and students.

“We've gotten to the point of identifying four key areas under those specific strategies or things we could be doing to help us,” MacKinnon said. “[It] might be some new marketing ideas; it could be some thoughts on what's the best mix of in-person versus online programming. It could be looking at how do we do a better job of retaining students here so that they continue all the way through to graduation. It's a major initiative that crosses academic colleges and administrative units.”

The Board of Trustees is set to review and approve the SEM plan in November.

College of Business Administration updates board on initiatives

Sanjay Kumar and Misty Bennett, associate deans of the College of Business Administration, were given the opportunity to speak to the board regarding the progress of new and ongoing initiatives.

Kumar highlighted the growth of various projects designed to promote engagement and enrollment among international students. He reported that the efforts, albeit recent, have shown promising results.

Bennett said that initiatives targeted toward incorporating professional development into curriculum have proved to contribute to student success post-graduation.

“We hear frequently from employers that you can count on CMU students to be prepared,” Bennett said.

Future action

The Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Oct. 27, 2025, to accept the university’s external audit report.