WMU Board Moves To Establish Florida Presence

It's not like a sports team holding a city hostage. WMU is not moving to Florida, but the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees voted to take the next step in establishing a Florida presence.

At it's October 6th meeting in Grand Rapids, trustees authorized the administration to petition the Florida Board of Education for a provisional license to establish a physical presence in Southwest Florida. The move paves the way for the University to continue forward with an initiative in the Punta Gorda area that would:

• provide the College of Aviation with an additional location that would allow increased flight time and enhance the college's ability to respond to aviation industry needs;

• allow the College of Health and Human Services to advance the delivery of its nationally recognized programs by providing more health care settings for clinical rotations, and

• expand the off-site delivery of academic programs through WMU's Extended University Programs operation.

The Florida presence being considered and discussed with area leaders over the past two years would allow WMU to match it distinctive resources with the needs of a community, said Dr. Dawn Gaymer, associate provost for Extended University Programs, as she outlined the initiative for trustees. The result would be enhanced enrollment, new research opportunities and the chance to build significant new clinical and internship opportunities.

"Aviation is central to this effort," Gaymer said. "Florida does not have a public university offering aviation programs...and there is a real need for a research university in this region.

The WMU aviation college would partner with Florida Southwestern State College in a collaboration that would see FSSC provide an aircraft maintenance training program, while WMU would provide a flight program that would be an expansion of the one already in operation at the College's Battle Creek, Mich., facility.

While WMU currently delivers its aviation education programs to 775 undergraduates, industry demand is expected to dramatically increase.  We have never seen a greater demand for aviation education--both nationally and internationally," Gaymer told the board.

In addition to the FSSC collaboration in aviation, the University would expand its relationship with the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, a private law school formally affiliated with WMU and located about an hour away.

Source: WMU release