News
SMC Approves Faculty Contract, Adopts FY ’27 Budgets
Published on June 11, 2026 - 9 a.m.
At its regular monthly meeting on June 10, the Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement reached with the faculty union and adopted budgets for fiscal year 2027.
The $30.7 million general fund for July 1, 2026-June 30, 2027, anticipates $13.4 million from tuition and fees, $8.5 million from property taxes on 2.3510 mills, $8.4 million in state appropriation and $0.4 million from other revenue.
The new faculty contract runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, and includes base annual salary increases of 3 percent, with some seniority-based adjustments.
Board Chair Tom Jerdon said, “We value all of senior leadership’s work on this undertaking since November and appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved. This new contract increases compensation not only for faculty, but all College employees will receive the same percentage increase, which has been the steadfast position of this Board, since all team members devote themselves to our students and campus community.”
Trustee Beth Cripe presented Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field Head Coach Zac Sartori with his five-year service pin.
Chief Marketing Officer Mike O’Brien introduced Sartori, who joined SMC in June 2021.
He is a former college runner at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and Loyola University-Chicago. Sartori earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and his master’s degree in sport and exercise psychology from Northern Illinois University.
Sartori served as the men’s and women’s volunteer assistant track and field and cross country coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 2013-16. He worked as the assistant boys’ track and field and cross country coach at Lockport Township, Ill., High School from 2016-21 and also served as assistant men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coach at the College of DuPage.
At SMC, Sartori rebuilt cross country from scratch, with multiple top-20 finishes nationally on both the men’s and women’s sides, finishing second in Region XII on both sides in 2023.
Last season, the Roadrunner women won the MCCAA Western Conference. Owen Saylor finished 24th in the country, becoming SMC’s 34th cross country All-American and 69th overall.
In addition to helping with the scoring table for volleyball and basketball, measuring and approving courses for Steve’s Run and the fall Turkey Trot, this year he also ran point on reviving the men’s and women’s track and field teams, with two men, Luke Long and Maguire Johnson, qualifying for nationals in Hobbs, N.M., last month. The foundation is being built to grow that program into a regional contender.
Zac lives in Dowagiac with his wife, Kate, a physical therapist in Mishawaka and an SMC adjunct instructor.
“I’ve witnessed you mentoring students in our upward climb to success,” Jerdon said. “It’s really memorable because you were our very first fulltime coach” since SMC returned to intercollegiate athletics.
In his President’s Report, Dr. Klint Pleasant said, “The team knocked it out of the park on summer enrollment — the highest headcount we’ve had since 2014. Fall, we’re tracking about 11 percent ahead of this time last year. We’ve had 221 attend new-student orientations, compared to 192.”
Housing demand remains high.
“We purchased an additional 20 bunk beds,” Vice President for the Student Experience Katie Hannah said. “We have 440 applications as of yesterday, and we have 452 total beds.”
Director of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Mick Valeris briefed trustees on how SMC guards against proliferating cybersecurity threats.
Trustees, who do not meet in July, also accepted one gift to the college for $140 and acknowledged 10 donations to the SMC Foundation totaling $34,512.34.
