Board of Regents approves FY2026 budgets, personnel updates and authorizes petition to use land-grant earnings for IT modernization

The University of Guam Board of Regents voted on a series of routine and substantive resolutions at its Feb. 20 meeting, approving student-aid budgets, administrative position changes, a revised pay range for a capital projects manager, the FY2026 general operations budget and authorization to seek legislative approval to use land-grant endowment earnings for an IT modernization project.

Votes at a glance - Resolution 25-01 — Approve FY2026 student financial assistance program budgets: Moved by Regent Mililai; seconded by Regent Nohalua. Motion carried by voice vote. The committee reported a requested budget of approximately $4,500,000 with historical receipts near $3,636,000; the operations budget remains at 10%. - Resolution 25-02 — Update position: Associate Director of Telecommunications and Distance Learning Operations to Director, Center for Online Learning: Moved by Regent Mililai; seconded by Regent Duenas. Motion carried by voice vote. The change updates the position title and salary range and was described as part of administrative streamlining and accreditation-related recommendations. - Resolution 25-03 — Update administrator salary scale with revised capital projects manager pay range: Moved by Regent Mililai; seconded by Regent Nohalua. Motion carried by voice vote. Committee materials noted competing market rates, four active construction projects on campus and an additional project-management role for an off-campus $750,000 shrine project. - Resolution 25-04 — Authorize the president to petition the Guam Legislature to utilize land-grant endowment earnings for IT modernization and to seek relief from legislative oversight of expenditures from the fund: Moved by Regent Duenas; seconded by Regent Nohalua. Motion carried by voice vote. The board was told the land-grant corpus provided in 1974 has grown to over $20,000,000 and that, under the withdrawal method approved in 2021, 4% of a three-year moving average of earnings may now be accessed; the president will seek legislative authorization to use earnings for the IT modernization project. - Resolution 25-05 — Approve FY2026 general operations budget and special appropriations budget: Moved by Regent Nohalua; seconded by Regent Duenas. Motion carried by voice vote. The meeting record shows the university sought legislative actions to address a local shortfall identified in the appropriation; senators had introduced supplemental appropriation legislation after the appropriation shortfall was identified. - Tenure: Board approved tenure for Xinhua Li, Assistant Professor of Education Counseling in the School of Education. Motion to approve was made in open session following executive session; motion carried by voice vote.

What the board discussed - Budget context: Committee reports explained that the currently enacted territorial appropriation left a local shortfall that the university and legislators are negotiating via supplemental appropriation proposals. The administration said auditors are working to finalize draft financial statements to meet legislative timelines. - Facilities and IT modernization ties: The physical facilities committee updated the board on capital projects (Student Services Center, School of Engineering projects, School of Health and a combined Water and Environment Research Institute/School of Health project) and on IT modernization needs. The board approved advancing the IT modernization plan and authorized the president to approach the legislature to request use of endowment earnings for the effort.

Procedure and voting notes - All recorded approvals in open session were carried by voice vote; the transcript records that motions were moved and seconded and that the chair called for aye/ opposed; no roll-call tallies with named counts were recorded in the open-session transcript.

What was not specified - The open-session transcript does not include a roll-call vote listing each regent’s individual vote or a numeric tally for the voice votes; it records the motions, seconders and the chair’s announcement “motion carries.”

Next steps and implementation - Administration was authorized to proceed with the actions described in the approved resolutions, including posting or implementing position updates, proceeding with contract pay-range adjustments, executing FY2026 operational spending consistent with the approved budget, and pursuing legislative authorization to use land-grant endowment earnings for IT modernization. Specific implementation tasks and reporting will follow under the relevant vice presidents and committees.