Board of Trustees approves Miami Plan changes, AI in majors and departmental mergers

Miami University’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the Miami Integrated Learning Experience (MILE), the addition of AI across all majors, departmental mergers and increasing tuition and fees for the incoming cohort.

MILE, the successor to the Miami Plan, restructures the general requirements for all students who attend Miami. The new curriculum is slated to be implemented in fall 2027. In addition to approving MILE, the board also approved the Miami Integrated Learning Office (MILO), which would help direct and oversee MILE.

Jessica Greene, assistant city manager of Oxford, presented on economic developments and events that impact both the city and the university to the board. Specifically, she touched on housing availability, which has been a consistent issue for both Oxford residents and university students searching for off-campus housing.

Greene also discussed phase five of the Oxford area trails, which will be completed in the summer, and a plan to bid for funding for a water softening project that would reduce hardness in water for the city and the university.

Nathan French, vice chair of the University Senate, spoke about the work the senate completed over the past year, including looking at scholarship policies, undergraduate certificates, the merging of the biology and microbiology departments and more.

Additionally, Miami President Gregory Crawford spoke about trends in higher education, particularly regarding enrollment numbers and the need for universities across the nation to adapt to the needs and desires of incoming students.

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The board also heard public comments from faculty members. Elena Albarrán, a professor of history and global and intercultural studies and the executive vice president of the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM), talked about the difficulty she had getting a whiteboard for her class. She also discussed larger ways in which funding is allocated across the university.

“Students noticed the jarring disconnect between the announcement of a nearly $300 million arena project at a university where their professor could not get a chalkboard,” Albarrán said.

Ken Irwin, a librarian and member of FAM addressed the board and spoke about the librarians’ collective bargaining agreement with the university administration. He expressed frustration with the consistent rejections from the university.

“We unionized because we could envision a better Miami, one that would value our work and protect our scholarship,” Irwin said. “The university has met our efforts with foot dragging, low balling and gaslighting every day.”

mahones5@miamioh.edu