Not just the budget guy: Garrison works as administrator and student at CMU 

By Ariana Strzalka

As the smell of coffee wafts through his home at 3:45 a.m., Joe Garrison begins his day by working on his dissertation before heading into work as Central Michigan University’s Director of Financial Planning and Budgets.

At 40 years old, Garrison is not only one of the top administrators of the university, but he is also a student working on his doctorate in higher education leadership.

“As I progressed as an administrator, I needed… the respect and trust of other high-ranked [faculty members]. One of the ways to earn respect is to go through what they went through,” Garrison said. “I want to be able to break down some barriers between conflicts when faculty, staff and administrators are coming together.”

The Financial Planning and Budgets team has three full-time employees who work with the board of trustees and President Bob Davies' cabinet, especially when planning university capital projects. The board and financial team are currently working together on the new Chippewa Champion Alumni Center. Garrison is one of the people planning the budget for the center.

Construction of the center has faced criticism. Some students and faculty have complained that university simply doesn’t have the $32.5 million for this project. In spring 2017, CMU very publicly addressed its $14 million deficit for that fiscal year. Garrison said critics don’t understand the funding concept behind the project.

“Some donors are staunch supporters of this and have put up seven-figure donations specifically for this project,” Garrison said.

Board of Trustees Chair William Weideman told Central Michigan Life at the Sept. 27 board meeting that two-thirds of the total cost will be paid with game guarantees and pledges from donors. At the time of construction, the remainder will be paid for with university reserves. Those reserves will be replenished with donations received after construction of the center.

Trustee Bill Kanine, who completed his term as trustee on Dec. 31, is a supporter of the Chippewa Championship Alumni Center. A Petoskey resident and a 1982 alumnus, Kanine said this project is an opportunity to put a new face to the university.

“The center needs to be a starting point to show what CMU is; kind of like our front porch,” Kanine said.

Garrison said his job allows him to come at an issue from multiple viewpoints, while most people only see an issue from a personal perspective. Cooperation and handling conflict are part of his daily work. His job requires him to work with many different areas of the university. Speaking with different officials in different sectors gives Garrison a broader perspective, he said.

His previous experience in finance for public school districts and CMU charter schools led him to CMU. Before coming to the university, Garrison travelled around the state as an accountant auditing various companies.

“There was one summer where I was in the office for one day during the summer," Garrison said. "I was on the road, living out of hotels and paying for a place to stay back in Midland and said, ‘Why do I even have a place if I’m in and out of hotels every week?”

Being on the road so much eventually led Garrison to seek a career change.

He found an opening working for what is now the Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools at CMU. He oversaw financial compliance and performance for 25 charter schools that the university authorized.

“That energy was what made me want to stay in higher ed," Garrison said. "Seeing groups come through and progress was fulfilling."

Though he doesn’t have much contact with students, Garrison makes up for it by participating in university-wide committees and guest lecturing in the College of Business Administration and the College of Education and Human Services. He said he tries to guest lecture at least twice a year even with his busy schedule.

He is a member of several committees, not just financial committees. Garrison is the only remaining member of the Shared Governance and Communications Committee from when the committee began.

"Some people look at that and say, 'Why is the budget guy co-chairing an academic committee?'" Garrison said. "But I'm also a bit of an academic. I have other interests."

In his free time, Garrison likes to go to concerts. Garrison said he’s been to about 300 concerts across the country. He's likes music of all genres, although he's not a big country music fan. He is also a Boston Red Sox fan and likes to cook, which are two passions that he brought together in 2014 at a burger-making competition.

“I won the burger contest for the Red Sox, so my burger was featured on the stadium menu for a month,” Garrison said.

Garrison aims to eventually become a university president. His current job, and all the work he’s putting in, is preparing him for that goal. He said he even sees himself in current CMU President Robert Davies.

“It’s pretty funny because… there are many similarities in (President Davies’) past that are like mine,” Garrison said.

Kanine has worked closely with Garrison on some projects. He said getting his Ph.D. will benefit Garrison and the university as a whole.

“He’s a very diligent and very studious person," Kanine said. "Getting his Ph.D. will make him better at his job and prepare him for his plans to be president in the future. CMU is personable and makes everyone feel at home; Joe Garrison is one of those people. He’s a maroon and gold kind of guy.”

Board appointments not a reflection of CMU community's diversity  

By Ariana Strzalka

Central Michigan University's Board of Trustees has one less female member since new appointments went into effect on Jan. 1. 

Outgoing governor Rick Snyder appointed Edward Plawecki and Todd Anson to replace trustees Bill Kanine and Patricia Mooradian, whose terms expired at the end of December 2018. 

After the new appointees took their positions on the board, chairperson Tricia Keith is the only woman out of eight board members. There are also no minority populations represented on the board of trustees.  

Women made up 55 percent of total campus enrollment in 2017. Since 1980, women have represented the majority of on-campus students, as high as 60 percent in 2001.

In comparison, the representation of women on the board was 25 percent in 2017, with two women: Keith and Mooradian. 

Heather Smith, director of University Communications, said the university supports diversity, equality and inclusion.

“Trustee Keith clearly believes in (supporting diversity) and the university’s mission. She is a role model for women – something she takes seriously,” Smith said on Keith’s behalf. “She works hard to uphold other women.”

In Fall 2018, minority student enrollment made up 18.5 percent of the student population. 

According to an April 2019 report by Academic Planning and Analysis, the number of minority students on campus in Fall 2018 was 3,103: 1,713 African-American, 342 American Indian/Alaskan Native, 395 Asian/Pacific Islander and 653 Hispanic. 

CMU might support diversity, but the university has no say in who is appointed to its governing board.

The governor appoints trustees to the board. People interested in a board position at a Michigan university need to apply online first. If the governor’s office finds someone they think would be suitable for the position, it will prompt them to apply online first. 

The applications get sifted through many divisions before reaching the governor. The Appointments Division reviews applications to match up a candidate’s background with possible openings. Then, the Governor’s Office takes these possible candidates and does a complete vetting, and the Appointments Division takes the remaining applications and makes recommendations to the governor to consider. Only then does the governor review applications to appoint a trustee.

This process is what happens at public universities in Michigan except for Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Boards at these universities are elected. 

In order to make the change from an appointed board to an elected board, it would require a Michigan constitutional amendment, said Shawn Starkey, communications director for Michigan Department of State. 

Although CMU might support diversity on the board of trustees, the state legislatures must also support diversity for colleges across Michigan to have an equal representation of women on the board.

Central Michigan Life reached out to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office for what her policies and procedures will be when it comes to appointing trustees for Michigan's public universities. Her office did not provide comment. 

Whitmer spoke at the Michigan Press Association annual convention Feb. 1 at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, where she shared what some of her policies will be the appointment of trustees during her time in office. She said affordability and student safety will be key issues when appointing trustees. 

"When it comes to (appointing trustees at) universities, it's about demanding answers to questions regarding student safety, to affordability, to ensuring that our universities are able to live up to our high expectations of delivering a great education," she said. 

Student Government Association member Matt Hood said a lack of diversity on the Board of Trustees is a problem.

“If we have a lack of diversity, we won’t be able to represent our students,” the Dewitt junior said.

In CMU's most recent board at the end of 2018, the board consisted of members with backgrounds in business. Five board members were presidents and Chief Executive Officers of companies. There were two Executive Vice Presidents. One member was a Certified Public Accountant. 

The CMU College of Business has 2,450 undergraduate students with a signed major in the college, representing about 13.7 percent of on-campus students. 

Hood said this may be a problem when it comes to the "educational side" of higher education.

“By not having educators on our board, the board is becoming more business-orientated,” Hood said. “This isn’t a problem in terms of the university, but for the staff and students, it may cause small ruptures as business will collide with the education side of school.”

Part of the job is to govern the business and affairs of the university, as well as approve long-range plans, and ensure financial solvency, according to the State of Michigan. The other part of the job is to have ultimate responsibility for academic matters and assess educational programs.

New appointees Plawecki and Anson have backgrounds in business and education. 

Plawecki received a degree in education from CMU and a law degree from Detroit College of Law. He worked as general counsel and director of government relations for many corporations and is a former adjunct faculty member at the University of Michigan and Davenport University. 

Anson obtained a degree in mathematics from CMU and a law degree from the University of Michigan. He was an adjunct faculty member at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business from 1985 to 1990. Anson has an extensive background in business and entrepreneurship, and is currently a managing member of One Pacific Sports. 

Central Michigan University loses over $11.5 million in tuition when freshman don't return for 2016-2017 school year 

By Ariana Strzalka

It was lunch time on a Saturday and Michael Spurlock frantically put together orders at CJ’s Sports Grill.

“Michael that sandwich should have no tomato on it with extra ranch; I forgot to write it down,” Lacy, one of the waitresses, said.

“Got it,” Spurlock said, slicing open a new box of bacon from the freezer.

Spurlock didn’t expect to be working as a cook, but after leaving Central Michigan University after his freshman year, this was the job that was available in his hometown of Pinconning, Mich.

“The cost [of tuition] was too much and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life at the time,” Spurlock said. “It didn’t add up to stay at CMU.”

The 21 year old’s situation isn’t uncommon among college students. From the fall of 2015 to fall 2016, 23.5 percent of all freshman, or 1,017 students, didn’t return for their sophomore year at Central Michigan University.

CMU’s retention rate is lower than competing Michigan public universities at 76.5%. Western Michigan University reported a 78.1% of students returning in the fall of 2016, Grand Valley State University reported a 89.7% retention and Michigan State University reported a 91% retention into fall 2016.

​Most students average 28 credit hours each year, and accounting for 2016 tuition rates of $405 per credit hour, CMU lost about $11.5 million in the 2016-2017 school year in tuition by not retaining these freshmen into their second year.

The loss in funds is accounted for in the budgetary planning process. Robert Roe, executive director of academic planning and analysis, said the office looks mostly at historical trends to determine how many students will be enrolled the following year.

“We’re usually within one percent of how many students will be returning for the following year when we look at the university projections as a whole,” Roe said. “We typically under project and have a more conservative plan to make sure we have enough money.”

The projections also include national data about high school graduates and what proportion of graduates will choose CMU for their post high school path.

“We go to state meetings with other administrators at colleges throughout the state,” Roe said. “They say what different programs they have in place to help retain more students so that helps us to predict how many students might be going to their college versus CMU.”

After the Office of Academic Planning and Analysis predicts how many students will attend CMU the next year, the numbers are approved by the dean’s office and then make their way to the Office of Financial Planning and Budgets.

The Director of Financial Planning and Budgets Joe Garrison said they project three years out for the budget. Enrollment information and the average number of semester credit hours that students will take are used mostly to project the amount of tuition dollars that will be brought into the budget.

​From 2012 to 2017, CMU’s freshman enrollment went from 4,270 students to 3,559 students, making freshman enrollment down 16.7 percent over those five years. If the trend continues, in the next five years in 2022, freshman enrollment will be down to 2,966 students.  

Garrison said that when enrollment decreases, it will affect the university for the next four years following a low turn-out of freshman coming to CMU. When students leave from this class, it negatively impacts the university budget, but those generating the budget account for a projected low turn-out.

“Having that three year look, it also factors in retention rates. We don’t automatically think that we will retain every student that originally enrolls here,” Garrison said. “They build in our annual retention rates to our budgeted semester credit hours.”

Garrison said programs that didn’t exist previously may be helping to bring students to CMU and help them stay in school.

“The more that students are engaged the more likely they are to be retained,” Garrison said. “We’re looking at the opportunity to do multi semester scheduling. That helps students in that it would allow them to plug in the whole year at one time and that gives them a plan and it’s one more stop before they can stop out.”

Rachel Catoni, a peer advisor for the Science and Engineering Residential College in Woldt Hall, said in just the one semester of her job an advisor, a lot of freshman have come to her asking for advice on how to stay in college.

“I feel like I have a lot of influence over whether students have a pleasant time in school, especially if they’re freshman. It’s a very stressful time for them and a big adjustment,” the Fraser sophomore said. “I was trained to help people through stressful situations and help them stay in college.”

Catoni said a few freshmen have expressed not coming back in the spring semester, mostly because of adjustment to a college life.

“They feel like they aren’t ready or just jumped into [college] because of the pressure to go right from high school to college,” Catoni said. “They weren’t comfortable coming to college and jumping right into it and I think that pressure will always exist.”

Many factors go into a student’s decision to not come back to college after their first semester or first year, whether it be an adjustment problem or like Spurlock’s situation, a financial decision.

Spurlock did express that he’d like to eventually come back to CMU, maybe starting with online classes to ease back into the school routine.

“Eventually, I’d like to go back to school it’s just a matter of when and what’s going to bring me there,” Spurlock said. “For right now I’m just kind of staying here at work.”