The University of Minnesota's Board of Regents closed out its summer meeting schedule on July 22 with a presidential report heavy on Washington's latest moves against higher education.
Two federal actions drove the discussion. The Department of Homeland Security announced a rule change on July 16 capping how long F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors can stay in the country, replacing the long-standing "duration of status" system with a fixed period tied to a program's length; the rule takes effect September 15. Separately, the Office of Management and Budget has proposed shifting federal grant review away from peer scientists and toward the administration itself. In a July 20 letter, Cunningham reaffirmed the university's commitment to peer-reviewed research and said the university opposes the OMB proposal.
The board also handled business closer to home. It voted 10-1 to extend Cunningham's contract through 2031, attaching performance- and retention-based financial incentives worth more than $2.1 million.
Regents also finalized the removal of the "Weaver" name from Weaver-Densford Hall. The All-University Honors Committee voted unanimously to strip the name, and Cunningham accepted the recommendation before it reached the board. The push traced back to the Kilduff family, who invoked the university's building-name revocation policy over Lawrence Weaver's conduct; the hall was named for Weaver and nursing leader Katherine Densford in 1996.
Cunningham also updated the board on the university's AI hub, launched in March, with Vice Provost for AI Galin Jones now building a university-wide blueprint for how the school adopts artificial intelligence across research and teaching.