New fees and academic programs approved by Board of Trustees

At the Miami University Board of Trustees’ (BoT) last meeting of the year, the board created new academic programs and added two fee changes that will begin with newly admitted students next academic year.

Carole Johnson, associate director of university news and communication, wrote in an email to The Miami Student there were two fee changes for Miami students.

The first was an increase in the Farmer School of Business program fee from $110 to $125. This change will only apply to first-time students beginning in the 2022-23 academic year.

“Business program fees haven’t increased since the fall of 2016,” Johnson wrote.

The second change will introduce a new kind of fee to incoming students.

“A new mental health fee of $50 per semester for students taking 12 or more credit hours will be applied in fall 2022 to first-time students,” Johnson wrote. “These resources will be allocated to increase Miami’s mental health support services for students.”

While the changes were approved by the BoT, the fees will still need to be approved by Ohio's Chancellor of Higher Education, Randy Gardner.

The BoT also approved two new majors in biomedical science and sports leadership and management and two new Masters programs in medical science and sports analytics.

The BoT went on to approve the renovation of the Elm Street building that will be used for College@Elm.

Johnson wrote the BoT also voted to fund a central campus hot water conversion project, which will help the university meet its sustainability goals.

There were a few honoraries at the meeting as well. The board voted to award Nichole Mustard, Chief Doug Lankford, Richard Forsythe and Sylvia Stanfield Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees at its Fall Commencement.

Mustard graduated from Miami in 1995 and co-founded and worked as the chief revenue officer of Credit Karma. Lankford is Chief of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Forsythe graduated from Miami in 1961 and became an entrepreneur and founder of Forsythe McArthur Associates. Stanfield is a retired U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and a Western College for Women alumna.

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The BoT also approved the general counsel emerita status for Robin Parker. Parker announced her retirement earlier this month after working for Miami for 27 years.

Finally, the BoT accepted the Committee for Naming Campus Facilities recommendation for renaming three areas on campus.

The first two areas to dawn a new name were the “Dr. Sara and Mr. Brent Arter Debriefing and Conference Room” and the “Mary Jean Cohen Student Study Area” in University Hall on the Hamilton campus. The renaming of Beechwoods Hall on Western campus in honor of Herrick Black Young, president of Western College from 1954 to 1969, was also approved.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will take place on Friday, Feb. 25.

@abby_bammerlin

bammeraj@miamioh.edu