Board of Visitors increases tuition, approves next year’s budget with dissent

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY The Breeze

JMU’s Board of Visitors (BoV) approved tuition increases for the 2023-24 academic year with dissent from several board members at the Friday, April 21 meeting concerning making a decision before the Virginia state budget and JMU’s state funding get finalized.

For in-state undergraduate students, tuition and fees will be raised 3%, or $484. Out-of-state tuition will be raised 1.5%, or $638, while out-of-state fees will share the same increase as in state. For graduate students, each credit hour will increase by $16 for in-state and $21 for out-of-state students.

Although the motion passed, several members appointed to the board last year by Gov. Glenn Youngkin voiced concerns about approving the increase at Friday’s meeting, especially because JMU’s fate in the Virginia state budget isn’t yet sealed.

Suzanne Obenshain and Jack White both mentioned a hesitancy to decide on an increase before the Virginia General Assembly has finalized the state budget for the 202324 fiscal year.

Obenshain said the 3% mark isn’t representative of the actual increase. Because JMU, like all Virginia universities, provided a one-time scholarship to cover last year’s 3% increase, Obenshain said families will now feel last year’s delayed increase in addition to this year’s.

After Obenshain mentioned her concerns at Thursday night’s Finance and Physical Development Committee meeting, the motion was amended to include a recognition that the state budget is uncertain and that the Executive Committee may reconvene to review adjustments to the increase if necessary.

“I still have angst moving forward because we don’t know what the state’s going to do,” Obenshain said at Friday’s meeting. “There are two months between now and when they [the state] have to do something, and we are supposed to be making decisions that are in the best interest of the parents and families of Virginia.”

Vice President for Finance and Administration Towana Moore presented the tuition and fees increase proposal to the board, saying she built it as conservatively as possible without knowing for certain what the state budget will look like.

Board member John Lynch said the tuition should be set now to avoid that uncertainty trickling down to families.

“They need to know the top number [for tuition costs] now,” Lynch said, especially as prospective students are deciding where to go to college. “If you tell them it’s uncertain ‘til June, you’re gonna lose kids.”

BoV approves 2023-24 budget, property acquisitions

After a lengthy discussion about tuition, the Board also approved JMU’s budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The university’s total operating budget comes in at $723.8 million, increasing 5.8% from last year.

In its education and general fund — things that use tuition or state funding — JMU will spend $271.4 million (67.3%) on instruction and academic support next year. JMU will also spend:

- $58.1 million on institutional support, like fiscal operations and public relations

- $45.1 million on physical plant things like land, buildings and furniture

- $27.2 million on student services, like the Counseling Center, the Career Center, etc.

- $1.7 million on public service, like seminars or projects that give back to the community Auxiliary expenses — those that aren’t supported by tuition or state funding but rather by charging for the service provided — add up to $242.5 million, including about $53 million on dining. This category also includes debt, scholarships, maintenance and other services.

At the end of the meeting, the board approved the purchase of 449 Eastover Drive in Harrisonburg, a one-story residential building, for $279,500. It also approved a quitclaim deed for 11352 Sassafras Ridge in Markham, Virginia, a suburban building in an agricultural district in Fauquier County. Quitclaim deeds are low-protection, non-warranty deeds, according to Investopedia.

Reports to the Board

In the academic excellence committee meeting, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Heather Coltman responded to her condemnation by JMU’s Faculty Senate, which passed overwhelmingly. Coltman said she’s committed to share governance in a time when higher education is going through a “much needed and transformational change” after the pandemic, which she said has been “dynamic and disruptive.”

JMU had 27 people in its first cohort of BRidge to Madison, a program that allows waitlisted applicants to live on JMU’s campus while attending Blue Ridge Community College their first year to build their academic skills before starting classes at JMU.

Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne expects a decision from the NCAA by the end of April on JMU’s request for a waiver that would expedite the university’s two-year transition from the FCS to the FBS, Jeff Lynch, the athletics committee chair, said. This reclassification period is part of JMU’s move to the Sun Belt Conference last year.

President Jonathan Alger reported, again, increased applications to JMU. The university had 37,001 first-year applicants this year, a 17% increase from last year. Of those, Alger highlighted:

- 46% are from out of state

- 34.4% are underrepresented minorities

- 21.5% are first-generation college students

First-gencollegestudents

Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship Anthony Tongen presented JMU’s Research Institution and Centers. He said as part of JMU’s reclassification as an R2 doctoral university, JMU’s taking part in funding programs to expand its access to resources for research. He also said he’s working with other departments at JMU, like government relations, the Career Center and more. He specifically highlighted the African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Center and the Center for Innovation in Early Childhood Development as departments JMU’s targeting with more resources.

CONTACT Charlotte Matherly at mathercg@dukes.jmu.edu.

SGA passes Liz Wheeler resolution, gives out teaching awards

By ASHLEE THOMPSON The Breeze

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate gave out the annual Madison Vision Teaching Awards (MVTAs) and passed a resolution to release an immediate statement regarding JMU’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom’s (YAF) lecture with Liz Wheeler, which took place Wednesday evening.

SGA addresses Liz Wheeler

A resolution passed to issue an immediate statement on behalf of SGA regarding YAF’s event with Liz Wheeler, a conservative political commentator. The resolution had one nay from graduating executive treasurer Brandon Market, who declined to comment.

The event’s topic and title, “The Ideology of Transgenderism”, was announced on YAF’s social media platforms April 17 and was met with comments from students condemning the event. SGA approved $3,000 in contingency funds to YAF on Jan. 30.

The statement, which was posted to SGA’s social media platforms directly after Tuesday’s meeting, acknowledged its role in the approval of the event’s funding and said it felt YAF’s request was “misleading”, as the topic chosen for the event wasn’t one of the topics presented.

“We fully support freedom of speech and an open forum for discussion of ideas on campus, and encourage those opposed to the event to exercise their first amendment rights,” the statement said.

Junior Mahek Shroff, finance liaison, said it’s “important” to acknowledge the event considering SGA provided the funding for the event. Junior Legislative Affairs Chair Marcus Rand said the students needed to hear SGA’s response to this and that “it will go a long way” to ease student concerns.

“We should absolutely clarify what happened,” Reagan Polarek, 2026 student body president, said, “for transparency’s sake.”

SGA passes MVTAs resolution

A resolution passed unanimously to award MVTAs to recognize the success of JMU faculty and to acknowledge the recipients of the award. Newly elected Speaker of the Senate senior Carlin McNeil Bumgarner gave out the MVTAs to three JMU professors.

The awarded faculty were:

Dr. Matthew Ezzell, professor of sociology and Sociology Program Coordinator

Dr. Chen Guo, associate professor, School of Media Arts and Design

Dr. Šarunas Jankauskas, associate professor, School of Music

Bumgarner said the MVTAs are given out to instructional faculty members that “excel” in encouraging engaged learning in students.

A one-time $500-$1000 educational grant will be given to the awarded faculty members, according to JMU’s website.

“These awards are unique on campus as the winners are selected entirely by students,” Bumgarner said. “This award was designed to give students a voice in recognizing excellent teaching.”

CONTACT Ashlee Thompson at thomp6ab@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.