KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Meeting in formal session Wednesday, March 14, in Grand Rapids, the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees will cap off two days of intense focus on its longtime ties to that city and review new initiatives that will impact all of West Michigan for the coming decades.
Gathering in formal session at 11 a.m. at the WMU-Grand Rapids Beltline location at 2333 E. Beltline SE, trustees will take up two action items. They will consider approval of a new policy governing how University policies are set and reviewed, and they will consider another recommendation to amend an easement affecting the planned expansion of WMU's Business Technology and Research Park in Kalamazoo.
Also on the agenda for the March 14 meeting are various consent items, including reports on curricular changes, personnel moves, and gifts and grants recently received by the University.
Information items the board will hear include a report on WMU's new High Impact Leadership for School Renewal Project that is funded by a $12.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The three-year effort, announced last fall and endorsed by West Michigan's Talent 2025, is working with 150 schools in the region to improve student achievement and build a strong pool of practicing school leaders. Dr. Patricia Reeves, who is one of the project's leaders, will outline the effort and report on progress already made.
In another presentation, WMU Associate Provost for Extended University Programs Dawn Fortin Mattoon will showcase how the University is partnering regionally to meet the area's entrepreneurial education needs. She'll outline partnerships with Aquinas College and Forest Hills Public School, the new Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Lab in downtown Grand Rapids and work with educators, nonprofits, government entities and employers throughout West Michigan. Fortin Mattoon oversees all of WMU's regional locations around the state, including WMU-Grand Rapids, which traces its roots back to 1909.
As is the case with all meetings of the WMU Board of Trustees, the event will be live streamed online at http://bit.ly/1Go6KLc. Background materials on items the board will consider at the March 14 meeting are posted at wmich.edu/trustees.
Trustees will be in Grand Rapids all day Tuesday, March 13, as well and will spend the day touring area educational facilities and meeting with area business and education leaders.
For more WMU news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.