The MTSU Board of Trustees met on Tuesday at 1 p.m. to discuss and approve the actions of its committees at the Miller Education Center.
Among the topics discussed was the 2.37% tuition and fees increase for students taking 15 hours or more. This issue was brought up for public comment from May 30 to June 13, 2019, before being discussed by the finance and personnel committee.
Joey Jacobs, chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee, said that every comment was compiled and the committee had considered the public’s concerns and that the trustees “have given careful consideration to the impact that any increase will have on student affordability.”
Even with the tuition increase, Jacobs said that MTSU would still be considered “very affordable” when compared to other public universities in Tennessee.
The tuition increase was unanimously approved by the trustees at the Tuesday meeting to be effective in the Fall 2019 semester. Raising the combined tuition of the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semester from $9,206 to $9,424 for undergraduate students.
Along with tuition increases, the Board of Trustees also approved adding a new Bachelor of Science in public writing and rhetoric, the first degree of this kind in the middle Tennessee region according to Pam Wright, chair of the Academic Affairs, Student Life and Athletics committee.
“Similar to degrees offered at many institutions, this degree will provide students with in-depth training in writing and rhetorical studies preparing them for a range of writing-focused careers that involve analysis, creation, and editing of texts as well as for graduate study,” Wright said.
Wright also informed the Trustees of the dean of Media and Entertainment Ken Paulson’s Free Speech Center, a First Amendment advocacy hub that will be integrated onto MTSU’s campus.
The meeting ended with MTSU President Sidney McPhee’s closing remarks. During so, he informed the Trustees that MTSU was on track to having a record-breaking number of incoming freshmen for MTSU. McPhee also announced that MTSU was the first choice for TN Promise students transferring from a community college to a four-year university according to recent data from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
No one applied for public comment to speak at the meeting and the meeting was adjourned at 1:43 p.m.
To contact News Editor Savannah Meade, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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