Grand Valley State University is declared a top performing Michigan university in the last seven years. That is according to the State of Michigan’s performance funding model. 

In 2005, the privilege and honor of being appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to serve an eight-year term as trustee for GVSU was given to me. I will always be grateful to the governor and the people of the great state of Michigan for this opportunity. 

The first order of business for a new trustee is to learn. In fact, a trustee goes through a never-ending orientation process. Academic programming, strategic planning, budgeting, revenue, expenses, accreditation, enterprise risk management and much more are all part of the process. As a GVSU trustee, I witnessed in many profound ways that it is an institution of higher learning that truly is dedicated to student success. The faculty, staff and administrators take seriously the mission to educate students to shape their lives, their professions and society. 

Most things I learned as a GVSU trustee are overwhelmingly positive. A listing of all the positive things could fill this entire publication and perhaps much more. 

However, the lives of our graduates are the best example of the things happening at GVSU. Our graduates are heading out into the world and making a positive difference: lives enriched; communities made better; careers enhanced. Witness a GVSU graduation ceremony someday and you will see, hear and feel the dynamic energy coming from our graduates. Look around at our community and you will see a host of GVSU graduates in important leadership roles making our community a better place. 

Unfortunately, there is one thing I learned that is very negative. The State of Michigan is dramatically underfunding GVSU relative to all other Michigan universities except one. If you accept the premise that the State of Michigan has an interest in helping Michigan residents secure a college degree, you will be appalled to learn that GVSU receives only $3,500 per student from the State of Michigan. Our friends at the University of Michigan receive $19,600 per Michigan student. That is a 560 percent or $16,100 per student advantage. This is wrong. 

You can learn much more about this issue and the many ways GVSU impacts Michigan by reading our accountability report at https://www.gvsu.edu/accountability.

The numbers are nearly as bad for GVSU when compared to Michigan funding for Michigan State University, Wayne State University and Michigan Technological University. Every Michigan university except Oakland University receives more funding per student than GVSU. The students and communities GVSU and Oakland University serve should not be treated so unfairly. 

Governor Snyder and the legislature do deserve some credit for instituting a measure of performance funding into the State of Michigan appropriations process. Each Michigan university is ranked in a series of criteria. A portion of the performance funding is determined by a points system. According to the points system, GVSU was ranked as the number one or number two performing university in Michigan in the past seven years. 

The problem is only approximately 2 percent of the annual State of Michigan appropriation is based on performance funding. 

Let’s put GVSU’s State of Michigan funding in perspective. The typical GVSU undergraduate student tuition is $12,484. That means the University of Michigan receives more state aid per student than GVSU charges in tuition. Grant GVSU the same amount of per student funding and students can go to college for free. 

There is approximately $1.5 billion of Michigan higher education funding that should be reallocated based on a system that supports Michigan residents to seek and earn a college degree. This is a serious failure to support the opportunity to further educate our high school graduates. These are the people who must lead our companies, hospitals, cultural institutions, churches and places of worship, schools and governments. 

A logical question is “Since GVSU is so under funded by the State of Michigan, how is it possible its student outcomes are so superior?” The answer is three-fold. First, GVSU students are a superior group that comes to school to work hard and work smart to earn a valuable degree. Second, the faculty, staff and administrators are highly motivated professionals dedicated to student success. Third, the generosity of our donors is beyond the ability of words to adequately describe. 

My request is that everyone addresses this issue with your State of Michigan Representatives and State of Michigan Senators and our new Governor. 

Shortly, President Tom Haas will step down after 13 years of distinguished service to GVSU. During his tenure, the University has grown and prospered. When Tom took over as our President, he had the good fortune of following the giants of presidential leadership we received from Mark Murray and Don Lubbers. 

Soon Philomena Mantella will assume the office of GVSU president. Her credentials, record of accomplished, demonstrated leadership ability and engaging personality are outstanding. The selection process leading to her appointment was highly rigorous and most rewarding. Philly was the enthusiastic and unanimous choice of all the Trustees. She deserves everyone’s full support.