Erdman, Bradley elected to leadership positions
The Board of Curators voted to elect Curator Warren Erdman to be the new board chairman. Curators voted to elect Curator David Bradley to be vice chairman.
Chairman Erdman addressed the board regarding his mission the coming year, and spoke specifically about potential increases.
"This is not a situation we would like to find ourselves in, but we're in it," Erdman said. "We're going to have to take a fresh look at tuition."
Erdman said the system will have to rethink the tuition situation.
"The university faces some difficult choices in our immediate future," he said.
He went on to speak about changes coming to retirement and benefits packages as the system and state budgets get even tighter. Erdman said he was very pleased with the progress made by Betsy Rodriguez and the project planning committee.
Erdman also spoke about the importance of Caring for Missourians, a state program that provides funds for universities and colleges in the state to train students in health care professions. He said he believed funding the program is essential, and suggested a modest increase to the state tobacco tax in an effort to find permanent funding for the program.
In addition, Erdman said he would like set up less formal meetings for curators to discuss deeper, longer term issues and challenges facing the university. Meetings without specific item agendas could be set to facilitate those discussions.
Finally, Erdman recognized the departing curators for their guidance and inspiration, as well as former Board Secretary Kathleen Miller.