Several academic senators reported several grievances to President Neil MacKinnon about the university’s event planning platform, 25Live, at the Academic Senate meeting on Sept. 15.

"This system seems so woefully inefficient and so bent on wanting to waste people's time," Senator Cole Bartels, a professor in the School of Music said.

The platform was implemented in 2024, and has been in use for close to a year. The University Transformation Office, which was launched in April 2025 as a vehicle to guide different projects across campus, has been in charge of reorganizing the way meetings and events are scheduled online.

MacKinnon said the office has implemented several changes to the platform including introducing a simplified event request form, adding an Event Facilitator and establishing a cross-campus advisory group to make event planning simpler.

“We are being told that 25Live is working well for many scheduling needs,” MacKinnon said. “At the same time, we recognize that the experience has not been as effective or consistent for everyone, particularly for more complex events involving multiple spaces, services or approvals.”

Despite this, several Registered Student Organizations and other groups across campus have faced challenges booking events through the portal.

Since last April, Senator Alejandra Rengifo said the Spanish Club and other organizations have been working together to invite prominent elder Abuela Celia to give a talk for Indigenous Awareness and Heritage Month. Despite putting in a request for a room at the University Center that month, she said the club did not get a response back for a room until last week.

“We didn’t even ask for the Rotunda,” Rengifo said. “We asked for the three rooms next to the rotunda and we submitted it in April. We got a confirmation this past week, and now we’re rushing to advertise it and everything.”

Bartels said the School of Music hosts nearly 200 events per year. The paperwork for events go through one person at the School of Music, he said.

“We do a lot of things, and every time this program seems to be made more quote-unquote efficient, we get saddled with more and more busy work,” Bartels said.

MacKinnon said the university’s focus will now be to ensure the program is working consistently across the university and address any current issues.

A new Employee Value Proposition is being implemented through the university as a way to analyze employees' work experience and work place culture at the university.

Joe Garrison, the executive director of financial planning and budgets at the university, has been working on the project. He said this kind of proposition will be used to help improve employee’s experiences.

“We want to have a consistent onboarding experience, give folks opportunities to get to know one another, know what professional development offerings they have available to them,” Garrison said.

Garrison said the framework for the project has been completed. Now, he said there will be several sessions throughout the fall semester to introduce the proposition and talk with employees to learn from their experience.

In other news:

Provost Paula Lancaster announced that CMU and the CMU Faculty Association have started to discuss potentially moving the Fall Wellness Break and cancelling classes for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Break. If approved, these changes will happen in Fall 2027.
A record breaking $82.8 million in fundraising was given back to the university during the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The university received a $30 million dollar capital investment from the state of Michigan during the summer to renovate Brooks Hall.