Board of Trustees discusses increase in student enrollment: Unexpected costs in Linsley renovation addressed

By Francisco Omar Fernandez Rodriguez

Associate Editor

The Board of Trustees discussed the increase in enrollment and the FY2026 budget at their Sept. 16 meeting.

In her report, President Nancy Niemi said the University exceeded its enrollment goal for first-year and transfer students.

She said there are 855 new students, with 75 percent being first-year students and 30 percent being transfer students.

Among new students, 62 percent are first-generation, 59 percent identified as a student of color, and 63 percent met the criteria for the Framingham State Tuition Promise, Niemi said.

She said the Tuition Promise ensures any admitted student with a household income of $85,000 or below won’t pay anything in tuition or fees after applying for financial aid and grants.

“We are seeing the results of that promise and return on that investment as they are staying,” Niemi said.

She said housing is at 93.9 percent capacity, not including what is currently impacted by the Linsley Hall renovation.

Niemi said she has met people from across the country who are shocked and surprised that the University can renovate Linsley Hall into housing for faculty, staff, graduate students, and area educators.

“It’s an exciting, not often accomplished piece of work at a university,” Niemi said.

Vice President of Finance, Technology, and Administration Robert Totino said Studio Enée was selected as the lead architectural firm through a bidding process and will work on the renovation of Linsley Hall.

An unplanned $500,000 is needed to deal with the asbestos in the building, according to Totino. 

With the other improvements needed in major systems, including HVAC, electrical, and plumbing, the renovation is going to need an extra $4 million in total, Totino said.

With Linsley under renovation, another building needs to be fitted for summer programming, and Miles Bibb Hall was determined to be the best option to receive air conditioning installations, which would be about $3 million, he said.

This would be important for the students who stay on campus during the summer as well as for the summer conferences, he said.

Niemi said one of the administration's strategic goals is to have 100 percent student participation in career-related work experiences.

The reality of making this the experience for everyone is “complicated and absolutely worth it,” Niemi said.

Over 300 students went to the Job Fair on Sept. 16, she said. 

Students got to meet with employers and practice elevator pitches, she added.

Niemi also spoke about the open spot for vice president of equity and inclusion, which used to be known as diversity, inclusion, and community engagement (DICE).

She said the job has been posted for about a week and there have already been over 50  applicants.

It is a signal that “others know that equity and inclusion are central to our mission, and they know that we mean it, that we’re committed to it, and they would like to be part of that,” Niemi said.

She intends to work with the campus community to find the right person for the job, she said.

During the Board’s summer delegation of authority, there were no decisions made on the board’s behalf, she said.

The Board discussed Niemi’s performance as University President in a three-year review.

Chair Claire Ramsbottom said, “Happy to say, we’re very happy with Nancy’s performance.”

The Board unanimously approved a resolution regarding an evaluation and accompanying compensation recommendations for Niemi done by the Board’s Presidential Compensation Review Committee. 

The report was submitted to Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega. It recommended Niemi receive the maximum compensation increase as authorized by the Department of Higher Education.

Student Trustee Jamie Kuenzel introduced herself as a senior with a double major in Spanish and political science, and she said she’s excited to work with the Board.

She said there were about 19 people running for Senate in SGA at their candidates’ night on Sept. 15.

Totino presented financial data for FY2027.

Undergraduate enrollment is about 3 percent over budget as of the add/drop period, he said. The Division of Graduate Continuing Education (DGCE) ended up “a little bit below budget as far as the fall semester,” Totino said. 

However, their revenue projection for the year is on target, he added.

State appropriation for FY2027 includes about an extra $700,000 from the “senate-level,” Totino said.

The budget approved by the Board back in May was for about $46 million, and in July, the governor signed off on a budget of $46.7 million, Totino said.

He said funding will help cover the bargaining increases in the contracts of the three unions on campus.

For state appropriations, the state universities in general, including FSU, have been beneficiaries of the Fair Share amendment, also known as the “millionaire’s tax,” Totino said.

He said that, in terms of the $8 million the University receives from the Commonwealth to fund financial aid, there was a reduction of over $200 per student who receives the Mass Grant, which adds up to a $140,000 reduction.

“Instead of reducing the aid packages for those 660-plus students and their families, we have elected as an administration to fund that out of college operations,” Totino said.

“We did have that extra $700,000 that was over budget as far as our state appropriation. We will be taking it from that to cover that shortfall and repackage that Mass Grant into an institutional grant for FY27,” Totino said.

Niemi said the University was promised that level of state aid over the summer and the cut came afterward.

If aid from the state starts to decrease, they’re going to need to “wrestle with what we promise to our students,” Niemi said.

For the moment, the situation has been handled, she added.

The Board unanimously passed a motion to approve delegating the audit of FY2026 to the finance committee in order to meet the deadline of Oct. 31.

As is tradition at the Trustees’ meetings, during Niemi’s report, she recognized a Student in the Spotlight. 

LaToya Lewis recently graduated from the Accelerate the Future Program, which is a branch of the Master’s in Counseling Psychology Program.

Lewis shared her history and how she overcame many difficulties as a woman of color to reach this point in her life. She thanked the Board for granting her the opportunity to achieve this degree when she thought it would be impossible because of the financial side of it.