Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech President Rick Koubek

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Technological University approved changes to President Rick Koubek’s compensation package during Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Koubek will get additional compensation annually and at the end of his presidency, in recognition of his work over the full term, according to the board resolution approved as part of the consent agenda.

He will receive an additional $55,000 for 2023-24, going up in $5,000 increments through 2027-28.

When Koubek’s term ends, the board can also look at his body of work over his tenure and award him another $325,000 — the total amount covered in the five-year agreement.

The board also heard details about this year’s fall enrollment at Friday’s meeting.

This year’s 7,430 students represent an 8% increase from 2020, said John Lehman, vice president for university relations and enrollment at Tech.

The university is also maintaining the ratio of enrollment around the benchmark of 80% undergraduate and 20% graduate students, Lehman said.

The freshman high school grade-point average is at an all-time rate of 3.84; while there has been GPA inflation nationwide, the academic caliber of students has outpaced that, as evidenced by increases in SAT and ACT scores, Lehman said. First- to second-year retention is at an all-time high at 88.7%.

“Part of our job in admissions is to make sure that we admit students who are qualified to be successful here and when we go out and talk to parents and to students, one of the first thins we say is that Michigan Tech is a very rigorous institution,” he said. “That said, we’re providing the students the tools to succeed, and we’re admitting the students that we have very high degrees of confidence can succeed.”

The percentage of Michigan Tech students who are women is slightly below 30%, giving the university its highest-ever total number of female students, Lehman said. Domestic student diversity is also at an all-time high of 714 students, which the university expects to see grow, Lehman said.

Tech also has students from 48 states.

“We’re soliciting recommendations for students from Delaware and Montana,” he said. “So if you’ve got contacts there, please let me know.”

In other action, the board:

• Approved the creation of a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering. There are only four other bachelor’s aerospace programs between Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, according to the proposal.

• Approved the five-year capital outlay plan and capital project request to be sent to the State of Michigan. The university is seeking $30 million in state funding for the new Center for Convergence and Innovation, to pair with $26 million in university funds. The project would include 70,000 square feet of new construction, and have an estimated range of fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2029.

• Approved emeritus rank for Stephen Kampe, a professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.