Office of the President

The President’s Perspective

We’re off and running on a busy spring semester. If I have not already had an opportunity to do so in person, let me wish you a Happy New Year. I’m optimistic that 2008 is going to be a time of great accomplishment and growth for Western Michigan University. The signs are strong and very positive.

Holiday closure savings

If you spent any time on campus during the holiday recess, you undoubtedly noticed a definite chill in the air. You have my thanks for any inconvenience caused, but I want you to know that the campuswide temperature setback during closure saved WMU more than $430,000.

Vice President Rinker and the staff of Physical Plant have been working hard over the past several years to control costs by avoiding energy expenditures whenever and wherever possible. We’re establishing a national reputation for our energy savings measures. Schools like Notre Dame and Michigan State are sending their teams here to learn more about our processes and successes.

Recognition

Student group lauded for volunteerism

We were barely back on campus before we received word that students in WMU’s chapter of the American Humanics Association won the organization’s national award for community service. Nineteen of our students traveled to Kansas City to accept the 2007 American Humanics Community Service and Volunteerism Award.

Our students, who are part of the School of Public Affairs and Administration’s nonprofit leadership certification program, spent more than 2,600 hours of individual time and 680 hours of group time working for such community organizations as Generous Hands, Gryphon Place, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Kalamazoo Gospel Mission, Western Student Association, Campus Activity Board, Ministry with Community, Planned Parenthood, American Cancer Society, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Log Cabin Quilters, Women’s Education Coalition, Kalamazoo Student Housing Cooperative, Drive Safe Kalamazoo, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Peace Jam.
Staff member praised for her role in community service

Meanwhile, longtime staff member Sue Oole has been named the 2007 recipient of the Michigan Campus Compact Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award. She’ll receive the award Feb. 6 in Lansing.

Sue was nominated by Lee Honors College Dean Keith Hearit for the award, which is the highest annual award MCC bestows on any faculty or staff member in the state of Michigan. She is being honored as the person on our campus who made the most outstanding contributions to community service learning during 2007.

New initiatives

Agreement with the Dominican Republic

For much of this week, I will be in the Dominican Republic to meet with government education officials there and sign an agreement with the Secretary of Education. That nation is tremendously excited about the prospects of the international education agreement that will, in the future, bring no fewer than 50 students to our campus annually. The Dominican Republic has similar successful agreements with Utah State and the State University of New York, but was looking for a Midwestern university with the right programs and the right support network for its students. We fit the bill. I know you’ll join me in welcoming students who come to us through this new outreach effort.
Seita Scholarships

Late last week, we announced our University’s Foster Youth and Higher Education Initiative, which includes a tuition scholarship for young people who have aged out of foster care and who are academically qualified to attend WMU. The effort also includes an extensive support system to address the financial, housing, counseling and career preparation challenges faced by young people who have grown up outside of any semblance of a traditional family and are completely on their own at a young age.

Our scholarship is named for John Seita, a three-time WMU alumnus and a former foster care recipient. John, a social work professor at MSU, is an example of the enormous potential in this underserved population. He has been working for months with Mark Delorey, Penny Bundy and Yvonne Unrau on our campus to help design an effort that will reach out and embrace young people desperately in need of support so they can fulfill their dreams. I am enormously proud to be part of a University with faculty and staff so willing to come together to make this effort a reality. Please do all that you can to support this effort.

Student-led outreach

I’d like to express my delight and appreciation to our student government leaders who have mounted a multifaceted spirit initiative. You may already know about their efforts to develop “100 Points of Pride” from the student perspective. You’ll be hearing much more about that effort in the coming weeks. Their initiative also includes a reinvigoration of “Western Wednesdays” as a way to show campus pride and the launch of a student ambassador program that will take student leaders into their hometown high schools to promote the benefits of being a WMU student.

I urge you to support the Western Student Association and the Graduate Student Advisory Committee in these and other efforts. Our students’ commitment to our University and their efforts on behalf of WMU will build exactly the kind of environment that can only make this a better place for all of us.

President Dunn walks down Michigan Avenue with students Jan. 21 on the annual unity march to Martin Luther King Memorial Park to lay a wreath on the statue of the slain civil rights leader. (Photo courtesy of the Kalamazoo Gazette)

Martin Luther King Jr. events

This past week, Western Michigan University partnered with Kalamazoo College, Northside Ministerial Alliance, and the city of Kalamazoo to offer a rich and exciting range of programs and activities to help commemorate and celebrate the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I was impressed and pleased with the number of students, faculty, and staff from WMU who helped make the week successful. On Monday, more than 100 of our students joined in a march from campus to Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Kalamazoo to join with others to place a wreath at the MLK Statue. Our student representation was diverse, strong and unified in their commitment to the goals of equity and justice for all. I was proud of their willingness to march, despite the cold and snow, and the dignified manner in which they conducted themselves. They made all Broncos proud!

Medallion Scholarship competition

Finally, I’d like to remind you that this weekend will see hundreds of students and their families on campus to take part in our annual Medallion Scholarship competition. All day long on Saturday, Jan. 26, we will be host to nearly 500 top students from Michigan and nine other states who are hoping to win one of our prestigious Medallion Scholarships.

Many faculty and staff members are involved in putting the day’s activities together. If you are among them, you have my gratitude. If you’re not formally a part of the day’s events, please be on the lookout for prospective students and their families and be sure to greet them and answer any question they might have.

Best regards,

John M. Dunn
President

TOP