Systemwide Realignment

The following letter was sent to Leadership Council from Chancellor Scott Olson on Oct. 26, 2026 with a subject line of "Updates on Strategic Initiatives."

Strategic Realignment

It has been one month since I announced that we would embark on the Strategic Realignment of Minnesota State. I know that these few weeks have been challenging as students, employees, and members of the public contemplated what this would mean for themselves and for the colleges and universities in their communities. These are not easy conversations or decisions that we will engage in but tackling this now will provide us with the opportunity to do this work together.
Following our discussion at Leadership Council today, I wanted to codify the updates that I shared.

First milestone: January update

The January 2027 board meeting will be my first official update to the board. I want to reiterate what I shared at the October Board meeting; I will not be bringing in a list of campus closures or mergers. Doing so would negate the very process that has been discussed in the past several months. With advice from the Long-Term Strategies Taskforce, my intention is to bring in initial ideas, scenarios, and analysis of impact and opportunities. The board will engage in discussion and provide guidance on the ideas that are to be pursued and studied by the workgroups and the taskforce in more depth over the remainder of spring 2027. The goal is to bring the board recommendations for a future structure for Minnesota State in the Fall of 2027.

Workgroups and Taskforce

The first critical step in advancing this work is standing up the two workgroups and taskforce made up of students, faculty, staff, and campus leaders. I would like to thank the individuals who have agreed to serve on the Strategic Academic & Facilities Planning Workgroup, the Allocation Model Redesign Workgroup, and the Long-Term Strategies Taskforce. All three will play a critical role in the months ahead. The rosters are included with this communication. Note that there are a few spots still to be finalized. Final rosters will then be shared.

The timeline and charges for each group is below:

Long-Term Strategies Taskforce: The purpose of the Long-Term Strategies Taskforce is to provide strategic oversight, coordination, and decision-making for the work conducted by the two affiliated workgroups. The Taskforce ensures alignment with organizational goals, resolves cross-workgroup issues, monitors progress, and advances recommendations for leadership consideration and approval. The Taskforce initial work will be to review the different scenarios under consideration and recommend evaluation criteria keeping the following in mind: student, academic, employee, and workforce and community impact; geographic coverage, and operational effectiveness. The Taskforce will begin meeting in November.

Strategic Academic and Facilities Planning Workgroup: This workgroup is charged with leading the comprehensive systemwide planning effort. It will evaluate the system’s overall structure, academic programming, workforce, and physical footprint against long-term financial and enrollment realities, and develop recommendations that ensure Minnesota State can sustainably fulfill its mission across all campuses and leased spaces. The initial meeting of the workgroup will be in mid-late November with their work ramping up after the January board discussion.

Allocation Model Redesign Workgroup: This workgroup is charged with leading a review of the Allocation Model — evaluating the current model's components, weighting, and methodology, exploring alternative models/approaches, and developing recommendations for the Chancellor and Board of Trustees on how the model can better serve the system's institutions and students and the future Minnesota State structure. The workgroup will begin meeting in late November/early December, focusing first on current state and exploring alternative models. The group’s work in the spring will focus on developing future state recommendations for how an allocation model redesign can support the new structure.

Realignment Leadership

It became apparent early on that if we are to truly take on this work, to meet the board’s expectations, and to do so in a manner that works with stakeholders, we must have someone singularly focused on this work. I can think of no one with more experience or passion for Minnesota State than Bill Maki. Bill has dedicated his entire career to our colleges and universities with leadership experience in both sectors. He understands our organizational structures, our academic and financial approaches and models, and more importantly through his leadership he embodies the mission of Minnesota State and our focus on our students.

I intend to bring to the November board meeting my recommendation to appoint Bill Maki as the Executive Vice Chancellor for Strategic Realignment. This will be a two-year temporary position (November 2026-January 2029). In addition, he will lead Enterprise Shared Services and will continue to serve as an important part of the team advancing our legislative request this year. I am grateful to Bill for taking on this critical initiative at a critical time for the system. He has the heart, wisdom, and passion to lead this work for Minnesota State.

I intend to launch a search for an interim vice chancellor for finance and facilities. This will be a two-year temporary position with the goal of bringing forward my recommendation to the January board meeting.

As you know, Jaime announced her intention to depart after 10 years as the chief of staff. Jaime has been a critical component of Minnesota State and her leadership was to be missed. Therefore, I asked Jaime and she agreed to stay on to work with Bill on the realignment work. She too will be in a two-year temporary position (November 2026 -January 2029). I am thankful that Jaime will continue to share her talents with Minnesota State.

Both positions will be funded through a combination of funds from the Enterprise Shared Services set-aside and Collaboration funding.

Communication

By early November, we intend to launch a public webpage where information can be found, including workgroups and taskforce rosters and a FAQ developed from the questions that were received during the virtual town hall. This will serve as a public repository of strategic alignment and related projects. We are reviewing feedback received during the virtual town hall and opportunities to continue to utilize this format to share information and to hear from our faculty and staff. We will work with LeadMN and Students United to identify the best format to engage with students and more importantly to respond to their questions.

Administrative Hiring

For the remainder of the fiscal year, when administrative vacancies or transitions present themselves, I am asking you to evaluate the position and consider options or alternatives. Before posting an administrator position, I am asking you to share with the appropriate vice chancellor and the chief of staff. System office vacancies will be brought to me and discussed with executive cabinet. This is to help us to be thoughtful and aware of administrator hiring across the system. We will re-evaluate this at the end of the fiscal year.

New Academic Program Approvals

As we advance the strategic realignment initiative, it is important that we thoughtfully evaluate how future academic programming supports student success, workforce needs, operational sustainability, and the long-term vitality of our colleges and universities.

For the remainder of the academic year, approval of new academic programs will be paused. We will re-evaluate this at the end of the academic year. We recognize that there are programs currently in development, so exceptions include:

• Programs that completed the Notice of Intent process within the past year and require minimal investment
• Programs required to meet accreditation, legislative, grant, or regulatory obligations
• Accelerated BAS proposals included within approved pilot initiatives
• Workforce-focused credentials like micro-credentials and Workforce Pell-aligned initiatives
  Campuses should continue to submit requests related to existing academic awards, including:
• Curriculum revisions and updates
• Changes to program attributes
• Credit-length waiver requests
• Program modifications necessary for accreditation, licensure, transferability (transfer pathways), or workforce responsiveness
• Other routine academic program maintenance activities

If you have questions about this, please discuss with Sr. Vice Chancellor Green-Stephen.

NextGen Leadership

As NextGen continues to advance, Minnesota State is taking a deliberate step to strengthen executive leadership, accountability, and oversight for NextGen and the Workday Student project. Steve Reed will serve as the executive leader and sponsor for both initiatives. I am confident that with Steve’s extensive leadership experience in Minnesota State, having served in multiple campus leadership roles including IT, Academic Affairs, and Finance along with his commitment to strengthening the connections between our institutions and the NextGen effort that he will ensure our system’s largest digital transformation initiative will be successful.

This decision incorporates feedback received through multiple channels, including the Project Risk Review provided to the Board of Trustees, and reflects Minnesota State’s commitment to responding proactively to identified opportunities for improvement.

This approach does not change the involvement and leadership by the ASA team nor the involvement of the many campus and student affairs leaders working on NextGen. This leadership approach builds on the substantial work, expertise, and commitment already demonstrated across Minnesota State while providing focused executive leadership, governance, and accountability necessary to move NextGen forward with discipline, transparency, and a continued focus on successful outcomes.

Artificial Intelligence Readiness

As AI rapidly reshapes how students learn, how employees work, and how employers define workforce needs, Minnesota State must take a coordinated, system-level approach to AI readiness. There is a growing importance of integrating AI readiness into the system’s core academic and student success priorities, ensuring that our colleges and universities are prepared to responsibly leverage emerging technologies to advance teaching, learning, workforce development, and operational effectiveness. Therefore, I have asked Dr. Satasha Green-Stephen to lead this work as the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and Chief AI Officer for the system. This change recognizes that AI is not simply a technology initiative, but a transformational force shaping teaching, learning, student success, and workforce preparation.

Working in partnership with the Interim Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, this effort will focus on advancing AI readiness across the system through strategic leadership, governance, policy, and capacity building.

Importantly, this work is intended to complement, not duplicate, the innovative AI leadership already underway at Minnesota State University Moorhead and across our colleges and universities. The system-level focus is on creating shared frameworks, alignment, and support that enable all institutions to benefit while preserving and leveraging local expertise and innovation.

Chief of Staff announcement

This summer, I launched a search for chief of staff to identify Jaime’s successor. I am pleased to share that Jessica Medearis will be joining the system office on November 12! Jessica will dive right in participating in the November joint Leadership Council and Board of Trustees meeting.

Jessica joins the Chancellor's Office with 20 years of strategic and operational experience in public higher education, leading across administration, student affairs, and public policy in the college, university, and non-profit sectors. Since 2019, she has served as chief of staff to President Kent Hanson at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Anoka Technical College, where she provided strategic guidance and managed projects across college portfolios.

Prior to her time at Anoka-Ramsey and Anoka Tech, she directed strategic initiatives across undergraduate education as the assistant to the associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. Jessica also served as associate director for the Minnesota State College Student Association (MSCSA, now LeadMN), where she led advocacy, student leadership development, and operations for nearly a decade.

Jessica holds a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law (Now Mitchell Hamline), and a B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

Jaime will help Jessica with her transition into the office over the next several weeks. Jaime will continue to lead executive searches for the year.

View/download this memo in its original PDF format

The following letter was sent to the Minnesota State Community from Chancellor Scott Olson on Sept. 21, 2026 with a subject line of "Making the Case for Change: Sustainability of Minnesota State."

As we begin a new academic year, we do so at a pivotal moment for all of us at Minnesota State. The challenges facing higher education are real, and the strategic decisions we make in the coming months will shape the future of our colleges, universities, students, and communities. I want to share with you the plan to address these challenges.

Fiscal challenges and realities

Minnesota State has experienced enrollment growth over the past few years and that is something to be proud of. Yet that enrollment growth has not provided the same level of revenue that would have accompanied it in the past.

State operating support has been constrained with competing demands in other areas of state government as well as within the higher education budget. Annual tuition increases beyond the rate of inflation are not sustainable over the long term and even with increases approximating twelve percent this biennium, there was still a shortfall in operating revenue.

At the same time, the cost of delivering a high-quality education keeps rising – inflation, compensation, benefits, utilities, technology, and deferred maintenance. Colleges and universities have coped with these revenue challenges by cost cutting and/or using one-time measures to balance budgets. These mechanisms are unsustainable in the long term and compromise our ability to follow through on our commitment to keep higher education affordable and accessible to all students.

In November, when the fiscal year 2026 annual audited financial statements are complete, the system expects approximately 1 in 4 institutions will trigger the system cash financial health indicators. Many of these institutions are among the largest in the system having a more material impact on the overall system financial condition than we have ever seen previously. Some of the current allocation framework proposals being considered were only intended to be stop gap solutions until long-term strategies could be developed and implemented.

It is clear that institution-by-institution solutions that may have worked in the past are not producing the needed results. Individual college and university solutions will not provide long-term sustainability not only for the affected institution but are and will also impact the system’s overall financial position.

This is not a new conversation for Minnesota State as, over the years, we grappled with demographic, financial, and enrollment pressures and prepared for future challenges on the horizon. However, continuing to address these issues within the current organizational structure, business model, and resource allocation processes will likely create several unintended consequences. Our position as a system provides the opportunity to look at how we, together, do the work to educate and train the workforce our state needs and depends on. Systemness allows us to continue to stand by our commitment to serve students in every corner of the state. We can no longer afford to take incremental steps if we are to continue to fully serve our mission on behalf of Minnesota and must accelerate the needed work to ensure the long-term viability of Minnesota State.

Call to action

Last week, the Minnesota State Board of Trustees held its annual retreat and gave leadership a clear mandate to address our financial and academic sustainability. They were direct:

• We must act urgently.
• We must approach planning with an open mind.
• We must “right-size” our system.
• We must use a common set of evidence to inform our decisions.

Beginning today, we are launching a Strategic Realignment of Minnesota State built around two objectives:

1. College/University Sustainability
   We will analyze potential alignments of institutions — weighing the benefits and risks across economics, academics, administration, and geographic footprint. Any alignment would mean a single academic program array for the institutions involved, with single accreditation explored at a later stage, and a single administrative structure. We will also present recommendations for administrative integration for standalone institutions.
2. Support for the New Structure
   There are additional administrative efficiencies and approaches to this work. We will bring forward recommendations to expand shared services beyond the financial aid and application processing, cybersecurity, and procurement work approved by the Board in June. We will focus on services that can be designed to scale systemwide and reduce risks. We will conduct a systemwide IT assessment to determine what enterprise technology framework, architecture, and support model is needed for the new structure. And we will analyze and recommend what the system office itself — its organization, authority, and budget — should look like to support a new alignment of colleges and universities.

Learning from our history; shaping our future

Our history as a system was built on aligning the three higher education systems in the state. Throughout our thirty-year history, we have witnessed new institutional structures:

• Minnesota West Community and Technical College was created in 1997, through the merger of Worthington Community College and Southwestern Technical College. This union brought together multiple southwestern Minnesota campuses to form a single comprehensive two-year college.
• The Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) was formed in 1999 as a collaborative alliance of five separately accredited northeastern Minnesota colleges. In 2022, the institutions officially consolidated into a single accredited multi-campus entity named Minnesota North College.
• Minnesota State Community and Technical College was created in 2003 through the merger of Fergus Falls Community College and three campuses of Northwest Technical College (located in Detroit Lakes, Moorhead, and Wadena).
• Administrative consolidations have occurred at Bemidji State University & Northwest Technical College and Anoka-Ramsey Community College & Anoka Technical College.
• Minnesota Valley College is the planned name for the upcoming merged institution combining Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College, scheduled to launch in May 2027 pending final approvals.

We are not alone in this work. Across the country, systems and institutions are rethinking how they organize, collaborate, and allocate resources in response to demographic shifts, enrollment changes, financial and other external pressures. These efforts are driven by a common goal: ensuring they can continue to serve students effectively and fulfill their mission long into the future.

Unwavering commitments

In all that is ahead, our work will be guided by our commitment to the students, communities, and economies we serve. We know what we must protect:

• First and foremost, serve students well;
• Preserve academic excellence;
• Serve our communities and the workforce needs of Minnesota;
• Be the most affordable and accessible option;
• Adhere to collective bargaining agreements (CBAs);
• Act transparently;
• Make trade-offs equitably;
• Modernize; and
• Serve all of Minnesota.

Next steps

This systemwide assessment will take place over the next several months with an update on initial ideas to the Board of Trustees in January 2027. This will require all of us to engage in the work to generate ideas and to ask questions. To help support the work, the Long-Term Strategies Taskforce, endorsed by the Board in June, with representatives from all bargaining units, statewide student associations, and campus and system leaders will convene in early October. Their perspectives, along with external advisors, will help inform the early stages of this work.

Following the January discussion, a series of conversations will occur with students, faculty, staff, campus and system leaders, and policy makers. The final structure will be approved by the Minnesota State Board of Trustees.

Once a structure is finalized, the systemwide workgroups (Academic and Facilities Planning and the Allocation Model Redesign) also endorsed by the Board in June, will play a primary role in developing how we move forward to develop a comprehensive academic and facilities plan and an allocation model to support the new structure.

The Board of Trustees will meet in the next few weeks to discuss this plan and approach. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for all members of the Minnesota State community to join me in a virtual town hall. Dates and times will be announced in the coming week.

Moving forward

I won't pretend this is easy news, or that every question can be answered today. What I can tell you is that the alternative — doing nothing while costs keep rising faster than our two revenue sources— is not an option.

As one of the largest systems of colleges and universities in the nation, I am proud of the extraordinary education Minnesota State institutions provide. We help students create a better future for themselves, for their families, and for their communities. That responsibility is too important to stand still. We must move forward with purpose, make difficult decisions when necessary, and remain steadfast in our commitment to their future.

Thank you for your commitment to Minnesota's learners, and for the work ahead.

View/Download this memo in its original PDF format