The University of Michigan Board of Regents met Thursday at the Alexander G. Ruthven building to approve an agenda that included the dismissal of professor Robert Stephenson from the School of Nursing, the approval of a new Michigan neurology care network and an amendment to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities. The Regents also heard public comments from U-M community members regarding concerns about the University’s handling of pro-Palestinian activism on campus and ongoing contract bargaining by Michigan Medicine healthcare workers.
President Santa Ono opened the meeting by congratulating University Regent Katherine White (D) and University Regent Mark Bernstein (D) for their appointment as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the board.
The chancellors of U-M Flint and Dearborn then provided reports on their respective campuses. The meeting marked the first regents meeting of U-M Flint Chancellor Laurence Alexander, who was recently approved to the position by the board. U-M Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso said the satellite campus had met or exceeded all of its fall forecasts for enrollment, including at the graduate level.
“While many regional universities in Michigan and around the country are facing enrollment challenges in the coming years, we are very proud to announce that we are going to meet or exceed all of our fall forecasts for enrollment, for incoming students, transfer students, graduate students and returning students,” Grasso said.
The board passed the consent agenda unanimously, which included reports on investments, a new United Michigan Medicals Allied Professionals bargaining unit and a report of research expenditures, submissions and awards.
The board unanimously approved the dismissal of Robert Stephenson, former professor at the School of Nursing. Investigations by the University Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX office revealed that Stephenson had violated the University’s sexual misconduct policy and sexually harassed two of his former students. Stephenson also allegedly forged documents and attempted to destroy evidence during the initial investigation.
When introducing the vote for dismissal, Ono referred to the agenda item as Regents Bylaw 5.09.
The bylaw stipulates certain procedures must be conducted prior to the dismissal or demotion of any University faculty member. A faculty member is afforded this right if the Board of Regents has granted them permanent tenure or has attained 10 years of full-time instructional faculty appointments. Stephenson was a tenured faculty member.
The Neuro Care Network, a joint operating agreement between Michigan Medicine and Michigan State University Healthcare, was unanimously approved by the Regents. Marschall S. Runge, Dean of the Medical School and executive vice president for medical affairs, recommended that the board approve the agreement to provide Michiganders with greater access to neurology care.
“The Neuro Care Network is a joint operating agreement that will include practitioners from both institutions to care for patients with a vast spectrum of neurological conditions,” Runge said. “The agreement will enhance neurosurgery and neurology treatment for patients in the mid-Michigan area and provide a new level of care, of convenience and of innovation, while keeping service close to home.”
Afterward, the board discussed a new online masters program that will be offered at the School of Education, which will see its first students introduced in 2025 pending further approval from the Michigan Association of State Universities. Additionally, the board unanimously approved the implementation of an online masters of public affairs program at the Ford School of Public Policy effective January 2026.
Effective immediately, the board approved changes to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, which is the primary policy that the University utilizes to implicate students for academic misconduct. In addition to faculty, staff and students being able to file complaints, the University will now be able to file complaints as an entity. The resolution process for future violations of the Statement will also be accelerated and is expected to be complete within 45 days for each case. Complainants will continue to have six months after an incident to issue a complaint.
The meeting concluded with comments from the general public.
Anthropology lecturer Leigh Stuckey presented her concerns with the cost of the University’s preschools. Stuckey said the cost to enroll her two children in a U-M child care program for the coming year would be $46,920, but as a fifth year lecturer with a nearly full time appointment, her yearly salary was $47,300 last year. Stuckey said she would like to see the U-M preschool be available, and no longer cost prohibitive, for all of University employees that it claims to serve.
“I am asking you to seriously consider immediate solutions, like child care subsidies, so that the perspectives of talented, dedicated teachers who are also parents will not be excluded from our academic community,” Stuckey said.
UMMAP president Penni Toney spoke to the board about the union’s first contract and their petitions for significant wage raises. According to Toney, the salaries of healthcare professionals at Michigan Medicine are often not determined by their level of experience, and recent employees are paid the same salary as long-term employees. Toney said she is frustrated with the current state of salary bargaining with the University.
“The negotiations have been unnecessarily slow and insulting,” Toney said. “Management has insulted us at every step of the way, calling us not the same class as other professions. This is very disheartening. UMMAP members are a very important part of this healthcare system.”
LSA rising junior Dylan Cohen said the University’s current policies of pursuing disciplinary and criminal charges against students involved in pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus carried on a legacy of mistreatment of Jewish students. Cohen said that much of the language used by administrators, in particular Regent Mark Bernstein (D), ignored the presence of Jewish students participating in protests urging the University to divest from Israel.
“I am a proud anti-Zionist Jew, and I demand that you, President Ono and the Board of Regents, drop the charges and divest from genocide now,” Cohen said.
Summer News Editors Bronwyn Johnston and Claudia Minetti can be reached at jbronwyn@umich.edu and cminetti@umich.edu.
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