Collection, 2018-2024

Summary

Creator:

Davies, Robert O., 1968-

Abstract:

The collection consists of material collected about President Robert O. Davies, including clippings, reports, updates, publications, and university-wide emails. This collection is not composed of his official presidential papers.

Extent:

1 cubic foot (in 2 boxes)

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Marian Matyn

Background

Scope and Content:

The collection, 2018-2024, consists of material collected about President Robert O. Davies, including clippings, reports, updates, publications, and university-wide emails. This collection is not composed of his official presidential papers. It consists mainly of printed material sent in emails, CMU and other media announcements, and major reports. Topics mainly include the decline in student numbers and its impact on the CMU budget, efforts and plans to make CMU more competitive and attractive to students, the impact of and reaction to COVID-19, international and national political and social events, racist events on campus, the 2018 double murder on campus, his provosts, racism, and the football sign stealing incident. The collection is in alphabetical and chronological order and is in good physical condition.

Biographical / Historical:

Biography:

Robert O. Davies (1968-) earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management from the University of Nevada, Reno, a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and marketing from the University of Oregon, and a doctoral degree in higher education administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He attended the prestigious Harvard Institute for Educational Management as well as leadership seminars for both new and experienced presidents. He served as president at both Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, and at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Oregon. Over the course of his career, he also held leadership roles in university relations, alumni relations and advancement.

On September 1, 2018, Davies was unanimously appointed as the fifteenth president of Central Michigan University (CMU) by the CMU Board of Trustees. His focus on the recruitment and retention of students, and commitment to rigor, relevance, and excellence fit the qualities CMU wanted in a leader. He was officially invested as CMU’s President in 2019. In November 2019, Davies appointed his friend John Veilleux the new vice president for University Communications and Chief Marketing Officer. One of Davies’ primary goals was to counter the decline in student numbers and its impact on the CMU budget by making CMU more competitive and attractive to students. The significant impact on the budget resulted in a cut to the base university budget and union members getting a zero percent raise for several years.

Within his first year Davies launched a Strategic Envisioning Process to prepare CMU for rigor, relevance and excellent in 2030 and beyond. This process engages multiple stakeholder groups including students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the Board of Trustees in an ongoing and iterative reimaging of the university’s goals, offerings and operations. Davies unveiled additional “moonshot” goals for the process, which establish CMU’s unique identity and role in the state; promote greater diversity and inclusion at the university while focusing on student success; and address the changing needs of students and stakeholders. Process outcomes will showcase the unique value CMU offers for students, families, communities, employers and our state; significantly increase and equalize degree attainment rates; and extend the reach of the university.

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred during Davies’ tenure as president, profoundly affecting campus and the world. CMU’s campus closed in March 2020 and reopened in fall 2021. Before Davies was at CMU, the college, like many in the state and nation, had experienced nearly twenty years of declining student enrollment. During the start of the pandemic at CMU and afterwards many people on campus and in the Mount Pleasant community experienced high levels of anxiety and stress. Classes and work transitioned to online, student enrollment continued to decline, as did student credit hours, budget cuts, resulting in staff layoffs. Most of Davies’ and CMU’s focus shifted to address the many short- and long-term of pandemic challenges and impacts.

In 2021 the new CMU Master Plan was announced which included the destruction or renovation of eighteen campus buildings to provide newer buildings and more green space. Due to decreased funds and the pandemic, many of the changes were delayed until at least 2025.

On September 28, 2023 the CMU Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a five-year strategic plan, noting that student numbers had increased annually since 2022, that student numbers and funding needed to increase, and that the use of Artificial Intelligence in classrooms needed to be addressed. In October 2023 the BOT approved a new Academic Plan based on the United Nations (UN) Strategic Goals to Elevate the Human Condition. The goal of the plan is to rejuvenate CMU and make it more competitive. Every year for six years beginning in 2024 three UN goals will be selected to develop new cross-disciplinary certificates, programs and classes to develop transferable and problem-solving skills, integrate them into CMU Leadership standards; increase partnerships with other educational communities; enhance the online class community. The hope is that this plan will lead to new classes, programs, speakers, degrees, collaborations, and increase its student body and competitive viability beginning with new classes in 2025. Infrastructure changes to support these goals began with the implementation of UltraBlackboard in 2023 and the purchase of BOTS for external website information of OIT, UComm, Athletics, and Admissions.

Another major change on campus was in July 2024 when the CMU College of Medicine (CMED) announced its plan to move the campus to Saginaw by 2028. This followed an invitation from Saginaw after its received a development project grant to expand medical services, the Medical Diamond Project. The Dean of CMED had wanted to move the school entirely to Saginaw for several years. The new campus is estimated to cost $200 million. Prior to this, CMED students usually spent their first two years in Mount Pleasant and their last two at Saginaw Hospital. The Hospital having its own medical Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviewed CMED’s IRB proposals, except for the first few years CMED existed. The Michigan Legislature approved $30.3 million in funding during the 2023-2024 budget for Saginaw’s Medical Diamond project to be built on Washington Avenue in Saginaw. In early December 2024, the CMU Board of Trustees approved the construction.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed Davies to serve on the Michigan Workforce Development Board. He chaired the Central Michigan University Research Corporation board. Davies served on the boards of CMU Medical Education Partners and the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, and on the Board of Trustees at The Children’s Foundation. He was appointed to the Mid-American Conference representative on the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum and the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics.

Davies was president during a challenging time when campus and our nation were affected by significant national and international politics, including war between Ukraine and Russian and war in the Middle East, Palestinian protests and increasingly public racist behavior and rising antisemitism, which prompted reviews of free expression. Nationally campus was affected by the significant political divide, increased animosity towards higher education, libraries, LGBTQ+, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Black Lives Matter movement, book ban efforts, economic challenges, COVID-deniers, a push to ban vaccines, climate change, and increasing concerns about impact of artificial intelligence.

Another major challenge to CMU was a double murder on campus, in which a mentally disturbed student shot and killed his parents in March 2018. After a day on lockdown all students were sent home while Davies and the Provost met anxious parents. The shooting led to necessary improvements in door locking systems in classrooms, alert systems, and department safety committees, which met for about a year, to review and improve building processes and training.

Davies enjoyed highlighting student stories during Commencement ceremonies. He talked with students and their families in the parking lot prior to the ceremonies and would share their stories and introduce them to the commencement crowd during the ceremony. This resulting in more energizing and personal ceremonies than previously experienced at CMU.

During the CMU opening football game against Michigan State University on September 1, 2023, Connor Stalions, formerly employed by the University of Michigan (UM) football team, stole sign signals for plays during the game from the sidelines, to which he somehow got access. An investigation found that he purchased tickets to attend thirty-three games of eleven opponent teams of the UM. Rutgers, Ohio State and Purdue admitted stealing UM sign signals. The scandal led to a NCAA investigation. The Big Ten Conference suspended UM head Coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 season although they found no connection between him and Stalions. On November 17, 2023, the UM linebackers coach Chris Partridge was fired for allegedly instructing current members of the team on how to respond to sign stealing questions.

Davies and his wife, Cindy, had one daughter, Katie, who graduated from CMU during his presidency.

On January 31, 2024 Davies announced his retirement by December 31, 2024. His last day as CMU President was October 31. He received emeritus status as president and temporarily served as Professor in the College of Business Administration. Neil MacKinnon became the next CMU President on November 1, 2024. (This information is from the CMU President’s short Bio on the CMU webpage, CMLife and Midland News articles, accessed in late 2024, and observations of Archivist Marian Matyn.)

Acquisition Information:

Acc# 78081

Arrangement:

The collection is organized alphabetically and chronologically.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Strategic planning--Michigan--Mount Pleasant.
Artificial Intelligence--Educational application.
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023--Social aspects.
Racism--Michigan.
Mount Pleasant (Mich.)--History.

Names:

Central Michigan University. Administration.
Central Michigan University--History.
Central Michigan University--Presidents.
Central Michigan University--Sports--History.
Central Michigan University. Office of the President.
Central Michigan University. Athletics.
Davies, Robert O.