President K. (Trent) Noland told trustees that enrollment and retention metrics remain a central focus for ETSU and described recent budget and salary actions discussed in committee.

Noland said the university will implement a 3% across-the-board salary increase (effective Nov. 1) with a $7,000 ceiling and a $15-per-hour floor; the administration also plans market-based adjustments using a $3.2 million pool for salary gaps and a targeted 1% pool to bring total salary investments above 6% this fiscal year. "These salary recommendations will be distributed as follows, a 3% across the board increase with a $7,000 ceiling and a floor of $15 per hour," Noland said.

The board's finance committee approved October 2024 budget revisions earlier in the day; those committee-approved items were included in the consent agenda adopted by the full board. The president emphasized liquidity and reserves, noting the university's "rainy day fund" is approaching $30 million and that the state reviews reserve accounts during budget hearings.

Noland also reviewed state funding context and THEC recommendations: the state’s formula would yield roughly a 1% increase in base operating funds under the outcomes formula, with targeted appropriations for Gatton College of Pharmacy and Quillen College of Medicine noted in THEC's recommendations. On capital needs, Brown Hall was listed as a top THEC priority (phase 2) and a utility infrastructure (steam/electrical) project received a perfect score from reviewers and was the highest-scoring newly submitted capital project.

Trustees asked clarifying questions about reserves, salary timing and how vendor data could change post-graduation outcome figures. The consent agenda carried and thereby recorded committee actions including the budget and committee-approved salary items; the board did not separately amend the budget at the full-board level beyond adopting the consent agenda.