Leah Dupree Love of the Ingram Group delivered the governance committee’s legislative briefing, explaining the near‑term steps state officials take when a board is scheduled for a statutory sunset review. She said Tennessee State University’s board is set for a sunset review in 2026 and the board will be expected to present accomplishments and membership information at a joint education/health and general welfare subcommittee (the Ingram Group referenced a planned presentation on Dec. 16 but noted public calendars list Dec. 17 and that the date would be confirmed). She reminded trustees that confirmations for new trustees typically occur in February–March and that the board currently has two vacancies tied to recent legislative changes in appointment authority.

On federal grants, Dr. Quincy Quick provided an institutional perspective on federal research dollars and indirect cost discussions. Quick described a difficult eight‑month period for the research ecosystem and said award counts and IDC requests were down year‑over‑year (the presentation characterized some declines as large, citing a 57% reduction in certain IDC‑related measures and a ~40% decline in award counts in the presentation slides he referenced). He noted that with the government reopened and the passage of an appropriations measure, continuing resolution authority preserves agency funding through January 2026, and that the enacted bill included approximately $360 million of additional funds of which $60 million was directed to 1890 HBCU capacity research programs — funding Quick identified as institutionally relevant.

Quick also summarized ongoing conversations about indirect cost models (the transcript references a proposed FAIR — Financial Accountability and Research Model — approach being discussed among higher‑education associations) and advised trustees that the university should diversify industry partnerships and translation‑focused research to align with federal priorities.

What happens next: the board will prepare materials for the December sunset hearing and the administration will continue monitoring federal budget implementation and agency guidance on indirect costs; the grants office will brief trustees on impacts to research funding as federal details firm up.

Provenance: governance committee legislative update and federal grants briefing (SEG 1696–SEG 1952; SEG 2531–SEG 2896).