“Our rolling three-year financial plan reflects our continuing progress towards financial sustainability,” said President Brad D. Smith in his remarks to the board. “Grounded in our enduring financial principles, we’ve reduced our original $27.7 million operating deficit in FY’23 to $2.9 million in the next year, with a forecast to transition to a positive net position in calendar 2027.”
In staying with the university’s enduring financial principle of growing students and not fees, the board approved a nominal 2.5% tuition increase for residential undergraduate and graduate students, which is below the rate of inflation. Additional small increases in housing, dining and fees were also approved. Tuition rates for metro, non-resident and international undergraduate and graduate students will remain flat.
In other action, the board OK’d the purchase of a parcel of land at The Foundry development, for the future home of the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center. Pending grant approval, the purchase sets the stage for the new facility, which will be adjacent to MAMC’s welding program center that is currently under construction.
In his report to the board, Smith also highlighted his Listening Tour 2.0, which will conclude next month. The feedback gleaned from campus constituents will help inform an updated university roadmap, along with input from external sources on AI and other trending topics.
“In doing so, we’ve enlisted the partnership of Paul LeBlanc, the former president of Southern New Hampshire University who now works for the Gates Foundation,” Smith said. “Paul has successfully led transformation in higher education during key technology shifts and has deeply researched AI trends.”
Smith said LeBlanc will co-lead strategy sessions with campus leadership this summer as Marshall works to responsibly integrate AI.
Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium will shine brighter this football season with the planned installation of new lighting. The stadium’s original system will be replaced through a $500,000–$600,000 upgrade this spring and summer, funded by a private donation. Athletics officials say the new lights will enhance safety and energy efficiency while also enabling more night games, which typically generate higher revenue.
In its ongoing faculty recognition program, the board congratulated Dr. Jagan Valluri, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. Valluri and former Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine professor Dr. Pier Paolo Claudio developed ChemoID, a precision oncology diagnostic tool, which recently reached a major milestone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reviewed the submitted clinical data and granted ChemoID Breakthrough Device Designation, recognizing its potential to significantly improve care for patients facing certain types of lethal brain cancer.
The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for June 10.