Jan 6, 2026
SCSU President Gregory Tomso addresses Faculty and Staff during Jan. 6 Convocation
By Shay Lelonek / News Director
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The new president at St. Cloud State University has officially started, and his top priority is student retention.
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, President Gregory Tomso started the second day of his presidency with a convocation to SCSU faculty and staff. The main topic of this presentation was student retention.
“I want to set a very ambitious goal. In three years, I want our first and second year retention rate to increase by 10% … and we need to meet that goal,” Tomso said during the convocation.
To do this, Tomso also wants to create a 3-year strategic plan for the university. During the convocation, he asked faculty and staff to start thinking about the strategic planning process.
“I’ll be tasking our senior leaders with creating an inclusive process that will be both on campus and off-campus to gather responses … about what we need to do and what we would like to become,” said Tomso.
Tomso hopes to have the plan completed by the end of the spring 2026 semester.
Other priorities for Tomso include stabilizing the budget, increasing transparency with faculty and the community, campus restructuring, and assessing emergency preparedness and staff training.
Budget
Tomso “has a pathway in mind” for stabilizing and growing the university budget, he said.
“Here’s what I predict: we’re going to get a little bit leaner, and then we’re going to stabilize, and then we’re going to grow, and that is my vision,” Tomso said.
Part of that plan is tuition. While “the system is hoping for tuition increases,” Tomso said he doesn’t want the university to rely on raising tuition. He hopes to keep tuition costs as low as possible.
Campus Restructuring
In August 2025, SCSU proposed a new strategic restructuring initiative. Tomso plans to stick to that plan.
According to an article from SCSU, some changes include:
- Merging the five current colleges into three larger, more integrated colleges
- The College of Business, Engineering, and Technology focuses on high-demand, career-oriented programs.
- The College of Arts and Sciences would bring together the university’s liberal arts programs while supporting foundational skills for advanced study.
- The College of Education, Health, and Human Services would combine the education and health-related programs.
- Consolidating administrative positions.
- Ending on-campus childcare
- Moving academic offerings at SCSU’s Plymouth campus to a community college partner.
“Beginning today, I want to be as clear as possible with all of you that there is a strategy. There is a logic. There is a reason that we’re doing the things that we’re doing,” Tomso said to the faculty and staff in attendance at the convocation.
Other Notes…
- Tomso wants to have a formal community advisory board for members of the community to give feedback to help develop opportunities and partnerships. He said more information would be sent out as it develops.
- Tomso wants to create a way to better track student progress.
- Tomso hopes to fundraise enough to make it possible for every student who comes to SCSU to have access to a scholarship. “It’s a big goal. It’s a hard goal. But it is going to be one of my number one fundraising goals.”
