Office of the President
Newsletter
The President’s Perspective
Dear Colleagues:
It’s hard to believe, but we are at the end of the major portion of our 2007-08 academic year. Thank you for your support and effort throughout the year. My first year here has been a memorable one due to your hard work, the manner in which you have welcomed me, and, most important, your continued commitment to our students. While many of you will remain on campus for summer sessions and to do the important work that goes on year round, I know some of you will be leaving soon for a summer of research and other scholarly activity. I wish each of you a productive summer, and one that is filled with opportunities to renew and reflect.
A celebration of success for graduating students
This has been a year of remarkable student achievement. The signature moment to mark our students’ success will come this weekend when nearly 2,600 students walk across the Miller Auditorium stage to receive the degrees they’ve earned. It’s a marquee moment for this University. If you are a member of the faculty, I hope you will join your teaching colleagues and attend one of Saturday’s four ceremonies to sit on the stage and show your support for our students and their families and to congratulate them on their achievements. If you are one of the many staff members who work closely with our students, take a moment to congratulate those graduating and wish them well.
Time to welcome new group of students
Our enrollment outlook for fall continues to look promising. For our freshman class, we’re in the important yield period in which admitted students and their families make their final decisions. One of our most successful initiatives last year involved participation by faculty members in a special mixer for parents held on the first day of each summer orientation session.
We are getting close to the kick off for this year’s First-Year Experience Program, which includes New Student Orientation, Fall Welcome and First-Year Seminar. Please take the opportunity to get involved this year and help tip the scale for students interested in your discipline. Watch your e-mail, campus news items and departmental messages for details on how to participate. And please plan to attend the Wednesday, May 21, kick-off event for this year’s FYE initiatives. The celebration will take place at 4 p.m. in Room 210 of the Bernhard Center.
WMU Day at the Capitol is May 28
While we’re telling our University’s story to prospective students, there’s another important audience to whom we need to sing the praises of WMU—our state legislators. May 28 is WMU Day at the Capitol, and we’re planning to have everyone on the grounds of the Capitol in Lansing that day be overwhelmed with information about WMU and its impact on Michigan. We have hundreds of faculty, staff, students and alumni already registered to take part, but we want to keep that number growing. Sign up by going online to www.wmich.edu/wmuday.
College of Aviation inducted into Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame
The University’s College of Aviation was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame in a ceremony Saturday, April 19, at Kalamazoo’s Air Zoo.
WMU’s aviation college was honored with the 2008 Spirit of Flight Award during an evening of celebration that included a keynote address by astronaut Jack Lousma. The annual award is made for outstanding achievements made by aviation or space organizations. The University’s aviation program was honored for its more than 60-year history of striving to “establish and maintain state-of-the-art, world-class professional aviation programs that are among the best in the world.”
Congratulations to the students, faculty, staff and alumni who have built the college’s wonderful reputation over the past 69 years.
NCAA certification initiative is a success
Our effort to achieve recertification for our intercollegiate athletic programs has been a success. Last week, the NCAA announced that WMU is one of 35 Division I schools around the nation to be certified in the association’s most recent round of assessments. An 18-person steering committee led by Vice Provost Eileen Evans began meeting in September 2006 to guide the University’s recertification process, which included a detailed self-study and a site visit by peer evaluators that took place last November. Dr. Evans and her committee have our gratitude for the time and extensive efforts they spent on this important initiative, which is designed to ensure the integrity of our athletics programs.
Faculty/staff accolades
Our faculty and staff continue to make enormous contributions to their disciplines, sometimes continuing well into retirement. Here are two examples.
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Angles wins prestigious translation grant
Dr. Jeffrey Angles, assistant professor of Japanese, has won a prestigious PEN Translation Fund grant to complete a translation of the memoirs of one of the most prominent poets of contemporary Japan. Dr. Angles is one of just eight recipients chosen from 123 applicants this year for the honor. During the next year, he will translate “Twelve Perspectives,” the 1970 memoir of Mutsuo Takahashi in which the prominent poet describes his youth and sexual coming of age against the backdrop of the rise of the Japanese empire and World War II.
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Emeritus Micklin is co-author of Scientific American article
A retired WMU faculty member who helped raise an international alarm in the 1980s over the demise of what was once the world’s fourth largest lake has published an update on the Aral Sea disaster for Scientific American. “Reclaiming the Aral Sea” is a featured article in the April edition of Scientific American. Dr. Philip Micklin, professor emeritus of geography, is the co-author, with Nkolay V. Aladin, head of the Brackish Water Laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Zoological Institute in St. Petersburg. Together, the pair provide a look at progress made over the past three decades to save the Central Asia lake, which was once larger than Lake Michigan, but is now just 10 percent of its original size.
Student accolades
Congratulations are in order for many of our students. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned of a number of awards and external recognition for students from every part of our campus. These are just a few of many items I could mention.
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WMU student nabs Udall Scholarship
Michael A. Gregor, a junior and member of the Lee Honors College from Macomb, Mich., is the fifth WMU student to win the prestigious Morris K. Udall Scholarship since 2000. Michael, who is studying public policy, environmental studies and nonprofit leadership, was one of only 80 students from more than 500 applicants nationally selected to receive this premier award for students in the fields of environmental studies and public policy. He will receive $5,000 for tuition, room and board and other educational expenses. In addition to Michael, another WMU student was lauded in the annual scholarship competition with an honorable mention. That student is Janelle K. Garchow, of Belmont, Mich.
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Marketing students extend program’s ‘top-three’ streak
A team of our marketing students has again won third-place honors in national competition at the American Marketing Association’s Collegiate Conference in New Orleans. This is the second consecutive year a WMU team has secured a top-three finish and the fifth time in seven years a WMU team has secured a top spot in this competitive event. More than 100 teams from around the nation began the quest for a top finish. Only eight were invited to the finals. WMU’s team was made up of Marisa Archey of Stevensville, Mich.; Dan Corbett of Grand Haven, Mich., Brittany Miller of Livonia, Mich., Melissa Demetriou of Dexter, Mich., Bryan Emmendorfer of Almont, Mich., Marvin Lee of Ypsilanti, Mich., Megan Collins of Augusta, Mich., Lauren Stawara of Livonia, Mich., and Jessica Scholti of Royal Oak, Mich.
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Two from WMU win Bucknell Poetry Fellowships
Two of our graduating seniors are among 12 undergraduates nationwide to be named fellows of the selective Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets. Jennifer Dempsey of Romeo, Mich., and Rebecah Pulsifer of Charlotte, Mich., were chosen from among more than 1,000 applicants to attend a three-week poetry seminar at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. A panel of professional writers and educators based their selection of fellowship recipients on the level of promise and achievement shown by the applicants. It is an honor for any school to have a student selected for the seminar and exceedingly rare for two from the same school to be chosen to attend during the same year and work with the country’s most accomplished poets.
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Grad student is lead author of Geology article in April issue
A WMU graduate student is the lead author of an article in the April issue of Geology magazine that explores how the crust of the Earth behaves after being hit by a comet or asteroid and could shed light on how the moon’s surface was formed. Travis Hayden, a graduate student in geosciences from Portage, Mich., is among seven authors who contributed to the article, titled “Impact effects and regional tectonic insights: Backstripping the Chesapeake Bay impact structure.” Travis’ main advisor, Dr. Michelle Kominz, professor of geosciences, also contributed to the article, which examines the impact of an object, probably a comet or asteroid, that struck the Earth in the Chesapeake Bay area about 35 million years ago. Published by the Geological Society of America, Geology is one of the most popular and widely read earth science journals in print.
Men’s and women’s tennis teams capture MAC regular season titles
Congratulations to both the WMU men’s and women’s tennis teams for wrapping up undefeated Mid-American Conference regular-season championships last Saturday. It’s the men’s second consecutive regular season title, which they captured with a 7-0 victory over Northern Illinois. The win gives the Bronco men (18-7, 5-0 MAC) their 20th league title, pushing them past Ball State for most in conference history. For the women, a win against Bowling Green meant they finished 8-0 in the MAC to capture their fourth consecutive conference title.
Provost search in final stage
Finally, I’d like to thank Dean Earlie Washington and the Provost Search Advisory Committee for their fine work in narrowing the field to four outstanding candidates for the position of provost. I know you all realize how important the provost position is to the success and smooth operation of our University. I encourage you to share your thoughts on the candidates with the committee to help them make their recommendations to me. If all goes well, when those of you leaving for the summer return, you’ll find a new provost in place and ready to lead for the 2008-09 academic year.
Best regards,
John M. Dunn
President