Board Chair Dan Kelly said Guskiewicz is exactly the candidate the President’s Search Committee was looking for, with “an intellectual vision, a broad worldview, and a personal personality that will inspire the university community to new levels of excellence.” “He is an experienced leader with integrity.”
In November 2023, State News reported that Guskiewicz, then president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was one of two candidates the board was considering for president.
Guskiewicz, whose tenure officially begins in March, spent the first few months of his tenure touring the university and learning about its various programs. Today’s ceremony was the first glimpse of what initiatives he plans to implement.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Debbie Stabenow and numerous university leaders said in prerecorded remarks that they were excited to have Mr. Guskiewicz in the role.
“I know you will be a strong leader,” Whitmer said.
MSU Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Kelly smiles after presenting the Michigan State University President’s Medallion to MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the Wharton Center on September 29, 2024. The inauguration ceremony celebrated the new leadership and formally conferred the authority of president. office.
—(Author) Photo by Alexis SchmidtState News
financial aid, student success
To close the graduation gap and promote “student access and retention,” Professor Guskiewicz announced the creation of merit-based undergraduate scholarships that will cover the full cost of attendance and study abroad experience.
The scholarship, which will begin in 2025 for new students, will be a way to attract “the best students from all over the country,” Guskiewicz said in an interview with state news earlier this week.
He also announced the expansion of MSU’s Spartan Tuition Advantage program to provide additional scholarships to Indigenous students.
Funding from Michigan’s “Sixty by 30” program, which aims to increase the number of adults in the state who earn skill certificates and college degrees, will help establish a “Transfer Student Success Center” on campus. Guskiewicz said it would help.
This will help students who have earned a two-year degree at another institution earn a four-year degree, he told State News.
MSU will begin offering community service and internship opportunities to Lansing-area high school graduates to prepare them for college, Guskiewicz announced.
Mr. Guskiewicz also announced the creation of the First Generation Center, which aims to help first-generation college students succeed.
Former MSU Interim President Teresa Woodruff stands and applauds after MSU President Guskiewicz’s speech was interrupted by pro-Palestinian activists calling for divestment in the Wharton Center’s Cobb Hall on September 29, 2024. Audience including. The investiture ceremony celebrated the new leaders and formally vested them with the authority to hold the office.
—(Author) Photo by Alexis SchmidtState News
Curriculum changes
A team of “world-class faculty” will make changes to MSU’s general education requirements following a review later this year, Guskiewicz said.
MSU’s general education curriculum hasn’t been updated in more than 28 years, Guskiewicz told State News. He hopes the faculty working group will consider the value of liberal arts and experiential education when reforming requirements.
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MSU has also established a council of civic, business and political leaders to “advise students on how to best prepare them to meet the needs of the current and future workforce,” Guskiewicz said.
“We need graduates who are prepared to take jobs that don’t exist yet, perhaps jobs that we can’t even imagine,” Guskiewicz said.
Diversity, equity and inclusion remain a focus for the university, Guskiewicz added.
“This is not a buzzword thing,” he said. “It’s about leveraging the perspectives and lived experiences of every Spartan…It’s really the foundation of our future.”
the study
Professor Guskiewicz announced that the university is “on track” to reach its goal of $1 billion in annual research and development spending by 2030.
The university’s research spending last year exceeded $800 million and is expected to reach about $900 million this year, Guskiewicz told State News.
MSU is also advancing seven new research proposals in the areas of space electronics, computational biology and public health, Guskiewicz said.
In early 2025, MSU will have the state’s only Ethics Institute, which will focus on “systemic reform,” Guskiewicz said.
civil debate
Since beginning his tenure about seven months ago, Guskiewicz has focused on promoting diverse perspectives and empathy on campus.
He continued that theme today, announcing a speaker series “focused on bringing thinkers and practitioners to campus in an atmosphere of civil discussion.”
Mr. Guskiewicz does not try to avoid controversial situations, former colleagues said in his opening remarks.
In higher education, “university presidents have to make difficult decisions that may not please anyone,” said David Perrin, dean emeritus of the University of Utah School of Health, who worked with Guskiewicz at the University of North Carolina. speaks.
“Do you agree 100% with Kevin Guskiewicz’s opinion? No, of course not,” Perrin said. “I can assure you, Michigan State University faculty and staff, you couldn’t ask for a president who will learn about you, listen to you, consider your perspective, and always have your best interests and the best interests of this situation in mind. Above all, it’s a great university. ”
Carol Folt, president of the University of Southern California, who Guskiewicz took over as president of UNC-Chapel Hill in 2019, said Guskiewicz is “running toward challenges as quickly as he runs toward opportunities.” .
“You can’t have leaders sitting behind closed doors on college campuses or anywhere these days,” Folt said. “And Kevin would never do that.”
Mr. Guskiewicz took office at a turbulent time in higher education, with students around the world demanding the withdrawal of educational institutions from Israel in response to Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza.
His response to activities at MSU has been praised by some. In April, Guskiewicz visited the pro-Palestinian camp within hours of its installation and spoke with student activists. The encampment remained peaceful and was over within a few days.
When divestment protests temporarily suspended board meetings over the summer, Guskiewicz met privately with student activists and agreed to meet with university officials to discuss their concerns. I promised. The Board of Directors’ meeting resumed without interruption.
Today’s ceremony was another example of Guskiewicz’s relationship with student activists. Minutes after his speech, activists began chanting “Kevin, Kevin, you can’t hide, you’re funding genocide” and “Free, free Palestine.”
Within minutes, students were led from the room.
“We love you, Kevin!” a protester shouted after the protesters’ chants could no longer be heard from the auditorium. The praise was met with applause and cries of “Go green” and “Go white!”
The demonstration, led by the Hurriya coalition, began 30 minutes before the inauguration. Protesters marched from Im East to the Wharton Center area, holding placards and chanting chants.
On September 29, 2024, pro-Palestinian activists interrupted MSU President Guskiewicz during his presidential inaugural address in the Wharton Center’s Cobb Hall, demanding divestment. The investiture ceremony celebrated the new leader and formally authorized him to hold the position.
—(Author) Photo by Alexis SchmidtState News
McKinsey
Many of the initiatives Mr. Guskiewicz announced Sunday were first recommended by controversial consulting giant McKinsey & Company.
MSU paid the company $2 million to advise Mr. Guskiewicz on his first major move.
The company proposed finding $150 million in new revenue sources to prepare for an impending “enrollment cliff” as the population of high school graduates declines in the coming years.
Guskiewicz told the State News that he hopes the research initiatives and student success programs he announced will make MSU a “talent for talent” and bring in much-needed revenue.
Absent from Mr. Guskiewicz’s speech Sunday were plans to pump more money into MSU’s Rare Isotope Beam Facility (FRIB) or to replicate the success of a world-class nuclear science facility promoted by McKinsey.
Asked about plans for the facility, Guskiewicz told the State News that he continues to see FRIB as “a model for how we can think big and bold.”
MSU President Guskiewicz and the Board of Trustees pose for a commemorative photo at MSU’s 22nd Presidential Inauguration Ceremony held at Cobb Hall in the Wharton Center on September 29, 2024. The investiture ceremony celebrated the new leader and formally authorized him to hold the position.
—(Author) Photo by Alexis SchmidtState News
discussion
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