Regents to meet in Flint

This month's meeting of the University Board of Regents is unique from many others.

It marks the last official meeting among the board's current members before Michigan voters go to the polls Nov. 3 to decide who will sit on the University's executive board for the next eight years.

But Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) said the topics that come up at an average board meeting are not "election sensitive," so this month's meeting is unlikely to have much bearing on how Michigan voters will cast their ballots for University regent.

"I don't think that the meetings per se have a whole lot to do with what happens in the election," McFee said.

The other distinction from most regental meetings is that the board will head to the University's Flint campus - a yearly fall tradition for the board.

The regents will meet on the Flint campus at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, where they will hear a presentation on the current state of one of the University's two branch campuses called "U-M-Flint - Its Unique Contributions."

McFee said that visiting both the Flint and Dearborn campuses is always important. "The interesting thing about this is that we have an interim chancellor at Flint, and it will be the first time we meet with her on the Flint campus," McFee said.

The regents approved the appointment of Beverly Schmoll as interim chancellor of the University's Flint campus during the summer.

Former Flint Chancellor Charlie Nelms announced his resignation in January, and Schmoll stepped up from her position as dean of the graduate programs and research and as a physical therapy professor.

The board will continue its meeting Friday at 9:30 a.m. in the Regents' Room of the Fleming Administration Building, as it does each month.

At the Friday meeting, the board will review the University's 1998 financial statements and a progress report on the Year 2000.

10-14-98