The board welcomed Regent Leisha Barry, class of ‘84, who was appointed to the board by Governor Michael Kehoe on Oct. 20 filling a seat previously held by Roxanna Swaney. The board also recognized former Regent John Moore, who was in attendance, despite resigning from his position in June. Moore’s seat remains unfilled.
Regents heard an update on campus cybersecurity measures, and reviewed appointments to the University Police Department as well as 8 adjunct faculty members.
Amidst the celebrations of Bearcat pride, there were recognitions of challenges facing the institution and the world of higher education, both in Missouri and beyond. Vice President of Finance and Administration Stacey Carrick addressed the university’s funding request which is being submitted to the state’s Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (DHEWD). The department will now submit the university’s request to lawmakers.
“DHEWD will ask for an increase on our behalf for the fiscal year 2027,” Carrick said. “I will try to manage expectations; we can anticipate that those funds will stay flat. We could even see a decrease,” she said.
Higher education is funded through general revenues, and Missouri is bracing for a decrease to those revenues in coming years due to a lowered corporate tax rate. Tatum added the potential funding decrease is concerning educators across the state, not just those in higher education.
“There have been some early exercises in asking K-12 education to look at different funding reduction scenarios, anywhere from a 5% to 20% reduction. That did create some panic amongst those in education. But we’ve been assured those are only ‘what-if’ scenarios,” he said.
December will bring a clearer picture of future state revenues, Tatum said.
The university is also requesting funds to expand its nursing program into a full four-year degree, with additional offerings in behavioral health, physical therapy, and other healthcare fields. At a committee meeting of the Regents on Oct. 21 President Lance Tatum said developing that program is a “critical need” for the institution.
Currently, the university offers an abbreviated nursing program. Tatum explained it is “disappointing to recruit students to the university for a short time and then send them off to someone else to finish their [nursing] studies.”
Tatum said regional hospitals have told Northwest their current healthcare workforce needs are unmet, and additional training opportunities would serve the region.
The university is requesting a one-time grant of roughly $87 million for building a facility alongside annual appropriations of $15 million to run the center. Carrick recognized securing such substantial funds “is a longer term ask – easily five years out, if not longer – but we need to start laying the groundwork for that at both the state and the federal level.”
In the President’s Report, Lance Tatum addressed ongoing university business from the provost search to campus enrollment numbers for the fall semester. Enrollment growth is a top priority for the institution.
“We did see some key areas of growth, including transfer students and returning students increase,” he said. “We also saw some increases in dual enrollment. The area where we saw the most decline, which was not a surprise to anyone, was graduate international student enrollment."
The university has reported an 80% decrease in its international graduate student body. Tatum recognized this was due to “geopolitical activities.”
He said the university is nevertheless committed to diversifying and growing its enrollment and recruiting international students.
Tatum ended the meeting with a series of staff recognitions, specifically naming Head Tennis Coach Mark Rosewell who will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame next month, and KXCV Station Manager John Coffey who recently marked his 500th consecutive football broadcast.
Tatum closed his remarks by speaking forcefully of the university’s position.
“We are in a very strong position to a be a leader in higher education in this state and in this region. That comes from the people who work here and the activities they are involved in,” he said. “We are on the precipice of something unbelievable as a university."
