Office of the President
Presidential Perspective
July 2009
The Right Investments
Dear Colleagues:
Everyday, each of us makes decisions about how best to leverage and invest the resources we have available in order to maximize our impact on the communities we serve. In recent weeks, Western Michigan University has seen a number of such investments attract praise and additional financial support for the goals we are trying to achieve.
Our investments have been about doing the right thing, and these investments of time, energy, creativity and capital listed below run the gamut. They range from a 17-year effort funded by the National Science Foundation to a year-long pilot project aimed at doing the right thing for one of the nation’s most poorly served college-aged populations. We’ve met with success in each initiative, and I share this information in the hope that you will find ideas worth considering.
Seita Scholars with namesake John Seita, right, and me at campus event.
Doing the right thing for students who have aged out of foster care
Just over a year ago, Western Michigan University launched an effort to reach out to young people who have aged out of foster care, but do not have the finances, personal support networks or basic navigation skills to apply and enroll in college. Despite the enormous promise of such students, only 2 to 3 percent ever earn a college degree. That’s a figure we found totally unacceptable.
In 2008, we launched an initiative that provides free tuition for former foster youth who meet our admissions standards. Our program also ensures they have a place—our campus—to call home as well as the kind of support system and safety net families usually provide. We thought we might attract 15 to 20 students for our first class of Seita Scholars, named for a WMU alumnus who is a leading advocate for foster youth. Instead, we began last fall with 51 students.
After a full academic year of success, and a solid base of lessons learned, we’re moving forward with the second year of our program and have recently garnered the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The foundation has provided $100,000 per year over the next five years to provide a full-time dedicated program director and ongoing assessment of our students’ needs and successes.
The Detroit Free Press recently did a wonderful job of capturing our program’s impact—both on the students involved and on our own campus. I invite you to read and get a sense of the possibilities. This is not a proprietary effort, but rather one I hope is widely emulated.
Laying the right groundwork for 21st century mathematics literacy
We recently learned that the Core-Plus Mathematics Project (CPMP), a long-term Western Michigan University effort to develop and support implementation of a high school mathematics curriculum that will meet the nation’s current and future needs, has won the praise of an organization made up of high-profile corporate CEOs, agency chiefs and university presidents like you from around the nation.
CPMP is a high school mathematics curriculum that has been in development and evaluation at WMU since 1992 with funding from the National Science Foundation. Already designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an exemplary program, CPMP was singled out this month by the Business Higher Ed Forum (BHEF) for recognition on its Web site. CPMP is June’s featured program, lauded as one that works and can make a difference in U.S. schools.
As you know, the BHEF is made up of Fortune 500 CEOs, prominent college and university leaders and foundation leaders, “working to advance innovative solutions to our nation’s education challenges in order to enhance U.S. competitiveness.” I could not be more proud of our researchers’ long-term commitment to this critical effort.
Using the right technology to turn existing buildings ‘green’
Most of us have made the commitment that new construction on our campuses will meet the standards established under LEED—Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. But our campuses are full of wonderful facilities built before that commitment. At Western Michigan University, we invested an enormous amount of time, energy and innovation in applying LEED standards to an existing building.
First higher ed facility to win LEED-EB Gold.
Our College of Health and Human Services Building is the first higher education facility in the nation to earn gold status through the new LEED-Existing Building standard. We are delighted to have this national recognition for a facility we regard as a special building in its own right and a symbol of the commitment this campus has to sustainability.
This process took us two years, but it has changed our campus culture when it comes to maintaining and operating our physical plant. The lessons we learned in this initiative will be implemented on our campus for years to come as we continue to build a more sustainable physical environment for our campus community. Here’s how a national trade journal, Building Design and Construction, described our effort.
If you have questions or comments about any of these initiatives, please do not hesitate to contact me at john.dunn@wmich.edu. I look forward to knowing about the right investments you choose to make.
Best regards,
John M. Dunn
President