CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

November 17, 2004
 

TO:	The CMU Community
FROM:	Michael Rao
SUBJECT:	CMU Update 46

CMU Needs Your Help

The near term future of Central Michigan University may depend upon your help this year. The university needs you to write letters of support to the Governor and her education staff and members of the Legislature who serve on appropriations. If you have opportunities to talk with legislators, that may also help. It is apparent that Michigan is approaching another budget year in which deficits are projected for the state. Tough choices will have to be made soon to preserve investments that offer the people of Michigan a future, not just a band-aid. One of those choices must be to invest in higher education and to repair chronic unequal per-student funding at its universities (please click to see some of my thoughts as reflected in Monday’s Detroit News editorial: http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0411/15/A08-4730.htm). Sen. Mike Goschka and Representative Sandy Caul, working with Governor Granholm, accepted and took action two years ago to create a funding floor. We need to return to that approach and fund that floor this year. Please write in support of equalizing funding on a per-student basis across the state’s public universities so that we are able to maintain access to popular universities such as Central, Oakland, and Grand Valley.

Four years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that CMU would be required to reduce its budget by $29 million, particularly considering that the university was funded so poorly in comparison to other institutions in the state already. While a significant increase nearly five years ago and a differential reduction resulting from a funding floor two years ago have helped move CMU from the very lowest in appropriations per student to number 12 of 15 campuses, the university’s funding remains well below par. While we were able to protect faculty positions, other important elements of the university that affect learning have been affected by budget cuts. We must come together and more strongly advocate for a state funding formula that provides revenues on a per-student basis, the same way it does for K-12 education. We cannot continue to penalize institutions that continue to perform at high levels and provide access to residents of the state. Worse yet, we cannot continue to penalize students at selected institutions. An equal number of dollars needs to follow these students to the campuses that they attend so that they can be served with a high quality education.

To view important talking points that you may wish to include in your letter, please click on http://www.cmich.edu/govrelations/state-funding-tp.htm. More general information, including addresses for government officials, a sample letter that you may wish to consider, and other information can be accessed by clicking on http://www.cmich.edu/govrelations.

I hope that you will begin drafting your letter immediately. Thank you for your advocacy and support of CMU.

CMU Alumnus Elected Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives

Congratulations to the Michigan House of Representatives incoming Speaker, Representative Craig DeRoche! Since his election to the House two years ago and shortly after he was elected the next speaker, Speaker-Designate DeRoche, Vice President Kathy Wilbur, and I have been discussing strategies for the upcoming year for more equal funding for public universities. Another top priority is the renovation and addition to Ronan Hall.

U-TEAMED Grant and Collaboration

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has provided three-year grant funding assistance of $1.26 million to the Multi-University Technological and Expertise Assets Management for Enterprise Development (U-TEAMED) project, a collaborative effort between Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan Technological University, and Oakland University. This project will promote patenting and commercialization efforts in addition to research collaboration efforts among universities and with industrial partners.

State of Public Universities Address Delivered Recently

The 2004 State of the Public Universities Address was delivered last week by Oakland’s Gary Russi in early November in Detroit, sponsored by the President’s Council, State Universities of Michigan. President Russi indicated that in Michigan, for every one dollar the student invested 30 years ago, the state invested three dollars. Today, for every one dollar the student invests, the state pays 70 cents. He said that price controls in the form of tuition caps imposed from Lansing, coupled with the serious erosion of state funding over the last three years, do not make for a sustainable model for growing enrollment and improving quality. The average “sticker price” for tuition at a Michigan public university in fiscal year 2003 was about $5570 a year. But after factoring in federal and state aid, both merit and need-based, along with financial aid provided by our individual universities, the net tuition cost—what students and their families actually pay—for an average student today is less than half of that figure. At CMU, the annual net tuition cost percentage is estimated at 38.9%, or $1847 based on 2003-2004 tuition and mandatory fees.

Annual University Campaign Deadline Drawing Near

November 19 is the deadline for the Annual University Campaign. As you have heard, this year’s campaign is the faculty and staff solicitation for the New Vision of Excellence Campaign, the university’s $50 million campaign. Gifts may be designated for the purpose or program of the donor’s choice. Gifts and pledges made by November 19 are eligible to be matched by the university at 50 cents for each dollar donated. To learn more about the campaign, please visit the website at http://www.giving.cmich.edu/campaign.asp.

Michigan Story Festival

The second annual Michigan Story Festival drew more than three thousand people to this year’s festival (3,067 to be exact), including community outreach activities, compared to 782 in its inaugural year. Sponsorships increased to $94,000 from $63,500 last year. This year’s festival performances were held at 17 sites throughout the community. Highlights included a ”A Taste of Story” recipe contest; TimeSlips, an innovative way of storytelling for older adults with dementia; a pre-festival session at the Ziibiwing Center; and 27 separate festival performances and workshops. The 2005 Michigan Story Festival has already been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Michigan Humanities Council that will be matched by a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Tickets for Garrison Keillor’s performance on campus November 30 sold out in three days. Proceeds from this event will help fund next year’s festival. My thanks to the generous sponsors, the planning committee, and others who contributed more than 5,000 hours of volunteer time in helping make this year’s Michigan Story Festival a premier cultural arts event in Mid-Michigan. I offer special gratitude to Sue Ann Martin for her great leadership in helping to make this festival such a success.

Recent Endowments, Awards, and Scholarships Approved by Board of Trustees

Since the 2004 academic year began, the Board of Trustees has approved 11 new endowments, awards, and scholarships. My thanks to the generous donors who have made these scholarships and awards possible. One of the awards approved was the John G. Kulhavi Endowed Professorship in Neuroscience. This position will be held by a high-profile neuroscientist who will help lead the neuroscience program and the BRAIN Center to achieve high levels of research and instructional excellence. Psychology Professor Gary Dunbar has been named the first John G. Kulhavi Endowed Professor in Neuroscience, a five-year appointment. Please visit https://bulletins.cmich.edu/2004/ug/Financial Aid/Memorial.asp?yr=2004&level=UG&loc=onc
 [link updated 12-09-2004] for more information about these awards.

CMU Faculty and Staff Members Receive Honors from Special Olympics Michigan

Professor Jim Hornak was recently inducted into the Special Olympics Michigan Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame Award is Special Olympics Michigan’s highest honor and acknowledges individuals who have demonstrated a great deal of support and dedication to athletes and programs, and who have been involved with the program for at least 15 years. Jim has been involved with Special Olympics Michigan since 1975 and has been an active volunteer ever since.

Don Stabenow, Associate Director of Campus Recreation, was recently presented with the Special Olympics Michigan 2004 Chairman's Award. The Chairman's Award is selected by the Chair of the Special Olympics Michigan Board of Directors and recognizes individuals who give a significant contribution of time, support and energy to Special Olympics Michigan. Don has been involved with Special Olympics Michigan for over 30 years at an area, state and international level.

University Health Services Partners in Flu Study

University Health Services is partnering with the University of Michigan School of Public Health to conduct a three-year study comparing the effectiveness of the inactivated flu vaccine injection with the live attenuated flu vaccine nasal spray. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and will help to determine how the vaccines will be used to control influenza outbreaks, and will contribute to future studies when the live attenuated vaccine is tested in the elderly and those with chronic health conditions. Nearly 2,000 participants are currently being recruited for the study at three sites in Michigan.

CMU Athletics

This fall, the men's cross country team won its third straight Mid-American Conference championship and the women’s soccer team came up just short in its bid for a Mid-American Conference tournament title in the final game. The CMU football team will play its last game of the 2004 season on November 20 against Ball State. In addition to football attendance being especially important this year due to new NCAA requirements, student-athletes and coaches appreciate our support when they represent CMU in competition.

CMU Launches Web-Based Job Application System

CMU began using a web-based hiring system, PeopleAdmin, on November 1st for staff positions. Web-based job application systems are a cost and time saving measure. Last year, CMU received more than 14,000 résumés for staff positions that had to be manually processed. With the implementation of this system, the labor intensive, paper-driven aspects of the recruitment process have been eliminated. The new system offers many advantages to hiring managers and applicants. Hiring managers have immediate access to review résumés/applications from any personal computer and the ability to automatically screen applicants, which should reduce the time needed to fill a position. Applicants must apply on-line at www.jobs.cmich.edu, which gives them the ability to attach a résumé/cover letter and check the status of their job search at any time.

Utility Master Plan Available On-Line

PowerPoint presentations for the Utility Master Plan and the East Complex Housing project may be viewed at the Facilities Management web site (www.fmgt.cmich.edu). The Utility Master Plan is accessed by clicking on Energy & Utilities, then Utility Supply Upgrade.