Legislative Accomplishments

Thanks to  generous support, we were able to successfully advocate for an increase in the SVSU Budget from our friends in Lansing. First with a 5% increase in state appropriations this year which translates to a $1.6 million increase in operations to our existing $32 million. Alongside an additional appropriation of $203,900 to continue to support the North American Indian Tuition waiver. Helping to keep our school affordable for Native American Students.  

The Saginaw Bay Environmental Science Institute, is led by SVSU faculty and supported by internal funding, it was established in 2013 to focus on research that directly impacts the restoration of Saginaw Bay.  The Institute helps prepare k-12 students and SVSU Undergraduate and Graduate students gain valuable skills and experience that can help them in the fields of research upon graduation. They need a much larger space with direct access to the Saginaw River.  

Thanks to the efforts of SVSU faculty including Dr. Andrew Chubb and Dr. David Karpovich and other lobbying efforts Saginaw Valley was able to successfully obtain $7.5 million to support the Institutes Research Station. The station will allow SVSU to expand research capabilities and help leverage additional funding from state and federal agencies to help improve the program. The access to the Saginaw River will help improve experimental learning opportunities to prepare students for employment and research positions upon graduation. Saginaw Valley has committed approximately 25% of the 11 million needed to execute this project. The added help from the Capital Outlay will help bring this to reality.  

The SVSU College of Education began the Accelerated Certification with Residency Program in 2016. It has provided qualified individuals the opportunity to gain experience and obtain the ability to teach much quicker than the traditional method. Saginaw Valley State University and Saginaw Public Schools are collaborating to increase the number of certified teachers in classrooms, thanks to the $2 million grant from the State of Michigan. 

The program will expand upon the existing Accelerated Certification with Residency Program to help public Schools grow their own. Allowing Saginaw Public School employees who have a bachelor's degree to complete the requirement to become a certified teacher. Helping to grow our local schools and providing students with quality education from certified educators.  

In 2022, Senators Kim LaSata, Jim Stamas and Ken Horn; along with Governor Gretchen Whitmer proposed and pushed the Michigan Achievement Scholarship (MAS).  The MAS passed and dedicated $250M to financially supporting the high school graduating class of 2023 beginning at an institution of post-secondary education in the fall. A student attending a public university may qualify for over $5,500 of funding per year, for up to 4-years.  

This Program has helped the current SVSU class of 2027 and will continue to help future classes at SVSU keep education at Saginaw Valley affordable for all students. This year SVSU was able to obtain an additional 50 million to continue to support this program for SVSU Students thanks to your donations. We will continue to advocate for additional funding to help benefit the next high school class graduates.  

Saginaw Valley State University is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for SVSU students, staff, and visiting community members. Part of this commitment is providing programs that aim to help improve the safety of students. This year SVSU worked on new efforts like launching the New SVSU Safe application and also updating maps of the SVSU Campus. 

Continued support has allowed for us to Secure funding to support campus mapping for public safety purposes. These campus mappings will help SVSU in emergency situations including evacuation plans, community-wide safety, and situational awareness during critical situations.