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Good afternoon.      

As part of my effort to keep the University community informed, I have just completed my Newsletter for this new semester. 

You may find the newsletter at https://www.mtsu.edu/newsletter/wp-content/uploads/sites/160/2025/09/6070-Fall-2025-Presidents-Newsletter-05251638-WEB.pdf

I invite your feedback on any items in this edition of the newsletter or any other matters. 

Your comments are always appreciated.

Sincerely, 
Sidney A. McPhee
President

To the University community,

It is with deepest sympathy that I share the news of the passing of Mrs. Denise Smith, wife of the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, Mr. Steve Smith.

Here is a link to the published obituary.: https://www.williamsonmemorial.com/obituaries/denise-smith

On behalf of all Blue Raiders, my wife, Elizabeth, and I wish to express our deepest condolences to the Smith family. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
President

Dear University Community:

I am pleased to inform you that on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, the Middle Tennessee State University Board of Trustees took formal action on my recommendation to approve a 1.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) salary increase or $750.00, whichever is greater, for MTSU employees. The COLA will be distributed to all unrestricted and restricted regular full‐time and part‐time benefit-eligible employees and participants in the post‐retirement service program on the payroll as of June 30, 2025. Each eligible employee will receive an increase equal to 1.8% of their current salary or $750.00, whichever is greater. The minimum payment will be prorated for part‐time employees. 

Increases for grant employees are part of the salary adjustments, and their increases will be charged to the appropriate grants, and increases for auxiliary employees will be funded from auxiliary revenues. 

For administrative and clerical staff, all increases will be effective July 1, 2025, and will be reflected in the July 31, 2025, paycheck. Faculty increases will be effective August 1, 2025, and will be reflected in the August 31, 2025, paycheck.  

Based on the availability of funding from additional resources this fall, the University may recommend additional salary increases. Please know how much I value each of you and appreciate your good work. I am pleased that our Board was in agreement and that we are able to give these salary increases to our employees.

Sincerely, 

Sidney A. McPhee

To the University Community,

Earlier this summer, on June 10 and June 17, I sent University-wide communications to keep you informed of efforts that we must take to ensure compliance with state and federal mandates regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Following those communications, my office worked closely with the Office of the University Counsel, the Provost, and our Vice Presidents to identify programs and activities impacted by the various executive orders, court rulings, and legislation to assure compliance with all applicable orders and laws. As such, the University has taken the following actions to comply with the referenced DEI-mandated directives:

• Restructured and modified existing scholarships by removing any reference to identified, prohibited criteria in compliance with DEI directives;
• Closed the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students;
• Closed the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs;
• Identified and removed website references to diversity, equity, and/or inclusion with the intention to remove or adjust as appropriate (this continues to be an ongoing process);
• Restructured the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance to be the Office of Civil Rights Compliance to better reflect its new responsibilities, specifically eliminated the review functions of employment equity; and
• Closed the Center for Fairness, Justice, and Equity in the College of Education.

In addition to the above actions already taken, the university will finalize its decision and take then necessary actions to address the following to be effective on or before Sept. 1, 

• Identifying and removing references on MTSU’s websites that are counter to the referenced DEI directives (this review is ongoing);
• Restructuring the functions and activities of the Office of the Assistant to the President for Community Engagement and Inclusion to eliminate its inclusion functions;
• Reviewing University support for affinity groups or programs that focus on characteristics that fall within the referenced DEI mandates, with the intent to adjust and/or eliminate where warranted; and
• Reviewing policy references to diversity, equity, and/or inclusion or related activities, as defined by the referenced DEI mandates, with the intention to adjust and/or eliminate where warranted.

As I have previously noted, our work to comply with the state and federal laws and mandates have been comprehensive.  If subsequent reviews identify additional impacted areas not noted above, we will address them using the same standards and make any necessary adjustments to the affected units, programs, and/or services.

Also, again, we know these changes have caused some concerns across our community. However, let me reiterate, MTSU has, and will continue, to serve all students and provide the resources needed to succeed. That commitment is unwavering.

I am confident that, working together, we can provide our Blue Raider family with the resources needed to thrive in our ever-changing world.

Sincerely,

Sidney A. McPhee
President

Dear Campus Community:

To follow up on my campus-wide email from last week concerning the state law and federal executive orders regarding DEI, I wanted to provide additional information on a couple of issues of concern.

In regard to the impact on student scholarships, the University could no longer award scholarships that were diversity-based as defined in the state’s Public Chapter 245, and as a result, all unawarded funds were immediately suspended by our institution. However, our intent is to honor scholarship awards made prior to this new law, and students who have been notified of an award should expect to receive that aid this coming year.

Moving forward, we will continue to explore the opportunities available to best support the needs of our students. With legal challenges to a number of the Executive Orders and federal agency directives, we have chosen to suspend future awards until we have greater clarity.

Also, we are still reviewing our programs and activities to ensure they are in compliance. I anticipate we will have this analysis completed in the next few weeks and, if required, will take appropriate action at that time. Until then, unless you have received specific instructions or notification of any change, please continue normal operations. 

I recognize that there are more questions than answers at this time, which can be unsettling. We are committed to resolving these issues as quickly as possible, balancing the needs of our community with the requirements of these new laws.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging time.

Sincerely,

Sidney A. McPhee
President

Dear Colleagues: 

I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Dr. Danny Kelley as the Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, effective July 1, 2025.  As you are aware, Dr. Khalilah Doss has tendered her resignation as Vice President and Dean of Students to assume a similar position at a university in California. 

Dr. Kelley brings significant experience to the Student Affairs Division at our University.  He has served since 2010 as Associate Dean of Students and Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at MTSU.  He is currently responsible for the areas of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Student Organization and Services, Student Programming (SPARE), Student Government Association, June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, and Intercultural Diversity Affairs. 

In addition, prior to his tenure at our university, Dr. Kelley held various university-level positions at American University in Washington, DC, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, MD, and with the organization Phi Kappa Tau in Oxford, OH.  

I am confident that Dr. Kelley will serve effectively in this interim role as we pursue a national search for a permanent appointment.

Please join me in welcoming him to this very important position. 

Sincerely, 

Sidney A. McPhee
President

To the University Community:

I hope this message finds you well and that your summer has gotten off to a great start. I am writing today to update you on the impact on our campus of President Trump’s executive orders and Tennessee Public Chapter 458 concerning DEI at state colleges and universities, which became effective May 2025. As a result, the university administration has been conducting a comprehensive review of these legislative mandates and the actions needed to comply.  

Public Chapter 458, known as the “Dismantling DEI Departments Act,” is now law in Tennessee. This state law and the recent executive orders prohibit public institutions of higher education, like MTSU, from maintaining, authorizing, or supporting programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). While MTSU has not functioned in a way that discriminates against students, faculty, staff or our overall community, the parameters of the President’s executive orders and Tennessee law requires us to reevaluate our operations to ensure that we remain in compliance around how we support students, nonacademic programs, and some academic support programs. As we continue to assess the impact of these requirements on our operations, while also making certain that our current and future students feel supported, the University has been working over the past few months to sunset offices and programs at a time that would cause the least disruption to the campus community.

The University is required to make the necessary adjustments to achieve full compliance with state law and executive orders. This includes: 

• Restructuring and, in some cases, the elimination of selected units, programs, and services that are explicitly focused on DEI efforts; 
• Removing references to DEI on our website and in publications; 
• Adjustments to scholarship programs that include DEI-based criteria, including donor-supported scholarships;
• Elimination of sponsorship and or support of any initiatives, programs, or services related to DEI or various affinity groups, both internal to the University and external as relates to community activities and functions. 

As we continue to conduct a comprehensive review of our programs and services, it might be necessary to take additional actions to eliminate other programs, services, and/or personnel.  While we recognize the impact this may have on many campus community members, we remain committed to fostering an environment where all students can thrive.

We understand that these actions may raise questions and concerns. Our administration is actively working to ensure that our university employees and students continue to feel supported as we address these challenges.  We are aware that these laws will impact our community in a way that will cause angst and frustration, and we want to assure you that our commitment to serving all students has not changed. I want to assure our University community that we will continue to provide access and support for all our constituents, including faculty, staff, alumni, students, and friends, as we strive to fulfill our educational mission while enhancing the lives and opportunities for our entire Blue Raider family. 

Sincerely,

Sidney A. McPhee
President

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Mr. Drew Harpool to the position of interim vice president of the Division of Business and Finance, starting June 1, 2025.    Drew served previously as associate vice president for business and finance and succeeds Alan Thomas, who is retiring May 31, as our vice president, and after almost four decades of service to the State of Tennessee, mostly in higher education. 

During his years at MTSU, Drew began as the Assistant Vice President for Compliance and Enterprise Risk Management but has been in the position of Associate Vice President for Business and Finance for the last couple of years.    He was previously at the Tennessee Department of Education, where he was responsible for billions of dollars of K-12 funding as their Chief Financial Officer (CFO).   In that role, he was responsible for distributing state and federal funding to school districts statewide. During his time at the Department, he also served as their Director of Internal Audit, Director of Fiscal Strategy, Fiscal Director, and Finance Manager for over nine years.

Drew is now responsible for the management of the University’s budget and financial planning; the Office of Business and Finance; Campus Planning; Facilities Services; Human Resource Services; University Police; Administrative and Business Services, which includes the MTSU Post Office, Phillips Bookstore, Vending, Procurement and Logistic Services, Contract Office, Distribution Services, and Receiving and Moving Services; and Events and Transportation, which includes Event Coordination; Parking and Transportation Services; Murphy Center Complex; Tennessee Livestock Center; and the Tennessee Miller Coliseum.

Please join me in congratulating Drew and welcoming him to his new role.

Sincerely,

Sidney A. McPhee

Good morning.

Governor Lee presented his 2025-26 budget to the 114^th Tennessee General Assembly this past Monday evening. We have conducted a preliminary analysis of the details of the Governor’s Budget, and I wanted to outline how his proposed budget could affect our University if approved by the General Assembly.

Highlights of the budget as they relate to MTSU’s institutional needs and priorities are as follows:

• Net operating appropriations will increase by $319,100.
• Salary pool funding based on a 2.6% increase, totaling $3,215,500 in new state appropriations. As in years past, the salary pool appropriation is only partial funding, and the University would need to fund the remaining pool amount from other revenue sources. The University will receive an additional $761,100 to cover group health insurance premium increases for a partial year.
• The Governor recommended $487.5 million in capital improvements funding for all higher education. MTSU will receive $53 million in funding for additions and improvements to the Murphy Center. The Governor also recommended $49.8 million in capital maintenance funding. MTSU will receive $3.5 million as partial funding for one of the thirteen capital maintenance projects MTSU submitted. These funds are for the replacement of building envelope components, structural repairs on multiple buildings, and related work.

As the General Assembly debates the final budget, we will continue to review additional information as it becomes available and incorporate the impact into the University’s budgeting process for the upcoming year. As future developments are known, I will keep the campus updated on the Legislature’s actions.

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
President