Campus fire addressed at Board of Trustees meeting

By Sarah Daponde

Editorial Staff

Dylan Pichnarcik / THE GATEPOST

The Board of Trustees discussed the recent fire at Corinne Hall Towers, the Campus Master Plan update, and the University’s retention rates, among other agenda items on Nov. 12. Vice President for Student Affairs Meg Nowak Borrego informed the Board about the fire on Nov. 12, which occurred on the sixth floor of Corinne Hall Towers. Students evacuated the building around 1 a.m. and 23 students could not return to their residence hall after the fire was extinguished, said Nowak Borrego. The fire was caused by a lamp and was put out by the sprinkler system. “We ended up having pretty reasonable water damage from the sixth floor down to the ground floor,” said Nowak Borrego. There was significant water damage in 24 rooms, along with the hallways and closets. “We anticipate three of the rooms are damaged enough that we need to move the people into another space because we’re going to have to take the drywall off,” she added. The 23 displaced students were able to go back home, stay with friends, or relocate to Linsley Hall, said Nowak Borrego. She said the Dean of Students Office is working with the impacted students to understand what was lost and how to help them replace it. She estimated the total damages to be between approximately $100,000 and $200,000. Nowak Borrego said University administrators, such as herself, President Nancy Niemi, and Robert Totino, vice president of Finance, Technology, and Administration, stayed with the students during the emergency. She said the University is working hard to get students back to their residence hall as soon as possible. Board of Trustees Chair Anthony Hubbard said, “I’ve always viewed [the University] as a small town that is being run here - medical, fire, police, all the elements of it, so I really want to commend you all for coming together.” Niemi said she would not be discussing updates from the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE) or the University Advancement Division at the meeting. Niemi said she had a few “delightful things” to discuss at the meeting, including the celebration for the Danforth Art Museum’s 50th Anniversary on Nov. 22. “What an achievement and, sometimes, an ordeal it was in order to make that happen. It truly has been a partnership that has been better for the community,” she added. Niemi also introduced the new Director of External Affairs, David Halbert, whose role is to develop and implement initiatives to strengthen the University's relationships with local organizations, businesses, and residents. “We realized that the University needed an interface between internal work and the external community, so we envisioned that the person in this position would be a key liaison between Framingham State and the surrounding community,” said Niemi. During his report, Totino discussed a joint meeting between the Board’s Compliance, Audit, and Risk Committee and Finance Committee, and the initiatives taken to complete an audit of the University. “The auditors noted no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies,” he said. Totino said the successful fiscal year involved a “huge amount of effort” from many departments, including the Business Department, Student Accounts, and Financial Aid. Totino said the Campus Master Plan is being updated and prepared for the final draft report. The draft will be reviewed at the next Finance Committee meeting on Jan. 20 and brought to the full board for approval at the Jan. 28 meeting. Totino said after the updated plan is approved, the next steps will be determined. There are currently “11 or so major building projects” in the Master Plan, which will each go “on its own little timeline” of one to three years. “Framingham State has done a lot of work on sustainability and decarbonization. … [We’re] finding out the next few buildings that we’d like to look at for decarbonization purposes,” he said. Totino said an executive mandate from former Governor Charlie Baker required all universities to strive to reduce their fossil fuel emissions by 95% by the year 2050. Totino commended Framingham State for already achieving its 2030 carbon emission reduction goal. Provost Kristen Porter-Utley and Vice President of Enrollment Management Iris Godes updated the Board on enrollment numbers. Porter-Utley said there was an increase of 11% in the enrollment of graduate students in the Fall 2025 semester, but a decrease of 8% in first-year students. Godes said the University recently partnered with enrollmentFUEL, a campaign focused on engaging with high school students in their sophomore and junior years through the use of emailed and printed advertisements. The University plans to send out more physical advertisements, such as postcards, in case prospective students do not check their emails, said Godes. Godes said the University has lost a significant percentage of student enrollment because of the new state initiative to make community colleges free. Godes said other public institutions are also competition for FSU, including Bridgewater State, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, and Worcester State. She said Bridgewater State University committed to a plan last year guaranteeing free tuition and fees for anyone with a household income under $125,000, which brought them a 14% increase in enrollment. “It was cost prohibitive for us, and frankly, every other state university,” added Godes. Niemi announced the “Student in the Spotlight,” Aili Schiavoni. Schiavoni was introduced by the Chair of Fashion Design & Retailing, Haewon Ju. Ju said it was an honor to introduce Schiavoni, a senior fashion design student and president of the Fashion Club. “When I think of her, the first word that comes to my mind is ‘enthusiastic.’” Schiavoni then gave a presentation on her journey at FSU and her goals for the future. Student Trustee Luke Yubeta said, “Your passion is what makes Framingham students great and what makes our campus unique.” Yubeta said SGA recently elected new eBoard members, including a new vice president, Shubham Valand, and secretary, Ling Zhang. They also elected three new executive board members, a publicist, and new senators. “It seems at this point, we are adding new senators at every senate meeting, which occurs biweekly, so it’s very impressive,” added Yubeta. Yubeta also discussed the ad hoc Safety and Security Committee, a temporary committee established through SGA with Senator Nathan Piette as the chair. The committee plans to undertake a safety walk on campus Nov. 13. Their goal is to check a list of safety features on campus to determine which ones function and which should be updated. Yubeta said the Administrators’ Forum is scheduled for the following week. Hubbard said there will be a retreat for the Board on Dec. 8 at the Danforth Art Museum. “It is not for deliberating and making decisions. That meeting is a training session.” Hubbard added, “We didn’t have any real meaty discussion here at this meeting, but there’s been a lot at the committee level that has been going on … and a lot going on with the students.”