Published by Tom Thinnes on Fri, Jan 31, 2014
Dear Friends,
As the college kicks off a celebration of 75 years of aviation education, our diamond anniversary, we thought it would be fitting to update you on recent important events and the many facets that are helping to shape the future of our graduates.
Partnerships Yield Internships, Scholarships
The Michigan Business Aviation Association's Board of Directors and several member organizations chose WMU to roll out the organization’s new MBAA Education Initiative: Bridging the Gap Between Graduation and a Career in Business Aviation.MBAA, in partnership withDassault, staged a brand new Falcon 7X business jet in the hangar for students, faculty, and staff to enjoy during the evening event. This initiative provides potential internship, scholarship, and employment opportunities never before seen in corporate aviation.
Recruitment and Retention
The Organization of Black Aerospace Professionalscontinues to be an important partner in addressing challenges that will aid in eliminating barriers and open a more diverse pipeline of students into aviation education.
The college has enjoyed steady enrollment growth over the last few years due to the outstanding efforts of the recruitment and outreach team. The college currently has over 800 majors with growth increasing or remaining steady in each of the three programs: Aviation Flight Science, Aviation Maintenance Technology, and Aviation Management and Operations.
Outreach efforts span the gamut from K-12 to community college visits to attendance at national college fairs. K-12 outreach efforts include the West Michigan Aviation Academy charter school in Grand Rapids and Davis Aerospace High School in Detroit, now part of Go Lightly.
In addition, our recruitment team is a fixture at national conferences such as Women in Aviation International and theOBAPconference. The team also attends events such as Oshkosh and Sun N Fun to promote our programs to potential students.
Facilities Improvements
The Western Michigan University Board of Trustees voted to move the College of Aviation from the number three position on the Building Project Priority List for the Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan to the number one position. This move does not address the entire Campus Physical Development Plan for the college that was created in 2009, however, we are grateful for the potential opportunity to increase our footprint in Battle Creek. The plan entails an addition to the Aviation Education Center, not to exceed $19M. The original plan included an additional $32M for phase II improvements and buildings, however, new state requirements for outlay plans have eliminated new buildings and include other specific criteria that would not allow for phase II at this time. We have been working very closely with our partners across the state who are campaigning at the legislative level on our behalf.
Renovations to the Office of Advising in Kohrman Hall have been completed. Improvements included an expansion of the space to accommodate additional faculty offices and student work and commons areas. This space is critical to our students and other visitors and serves as the link on main campus to the college in Battle Creek. We are now engaged in bringing Air Force ROTC into the office space next to our completed renovation.
Maintenance faculty members are in the early stages of identifying improvements to thePowerplantlaboratory that would provide for education tools for maintenance training at the college. These improvements are necessary since the lab remains virtually unchanged since the college moved to Battle Creek many years ago. We believe this investment will benefit our students for many years to come.
Political Support Growing in Michigan
As the only comprehensive collegiate aviation program in the state, it is imperative that our legislators are aware of our unique contributions to higher education and the professional aviation industry. They need to know we are increasing enrollment and contributing to the importance of job growth in Michigan. A number of legislators have recently visited the college to learn more about the way theCoAwill benefit Michigan’s economy. Partners across the state are including the college in the efforts to put a spotlight on aviation, which represent some of the highest quality jobs in Michigan.
Restricted Air Transport Pilot Waiver
Directed by the United States Congress, the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010 called for increased minimum requirements for airline first officers. The new rule mandates that airline first officers hold an air transport pilot (ATP) certificate or the new “restricted ATP.” An ATP certificate requires, among many other qualifications, that the pilot be at least 23 years old and have logged at least 1,500 hours of flight time. Students trained atWMU will benefit significantly as the 1500 hour requirement is reduced to 1,000 for graduates of a four-year degree program such as the one at theCoA.
Accreditation and Research
The Aviation Accreditation Board International has reaccredited the College of Aviation in all three degree programs.
Additionally, the college was selected as an Affiliate Member of the new FAA General Aviation Center of Excellence: the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS). Partners include Ohio State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Florida Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, Iowa State University, Kent State University, Southern Illinois University, Arizona State University, Tufts University, Florida A&M University, North Carolina A&T University, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The center is funded for ten years and is lead by Purdue University.
Individual Accomplishments
Andrew Kincaid, aviation maintenance technology, won the national championship in aviation maintenance technology skills as part of the 2013 SkillsUSA Championship series held in Kansas City, MO. The contest scope was based on the FAA airframe and power plant certification guidelines. This is the first time a WMU student has entered this competition.
Troy Booker, aviation management and operations, received an Undergraduate Research Excellence award for Fall 2013. He was mentored by Professor Lori Brown, Faculty Specialist.
Faculty members Lori Brown, TerryMichmerhuizen, BillRantz, VladimirRishukin,GeoffWhitehurst, and Jim Whittles are continuing their research endeavors that include engaging community youth to enhance the math and science curriculum, integrating mobile flight-deck technology into classrooms to recruit, retain, and engage the next generation of aviation professions, integrating tablet technology in flight training, and understanding how hydraulic noise is propagated in aircraft electric motor pumps.
Diamond Anniversary
The faculty, staff and students in one of Western Michigan University's most technically advanced disciplines are about to spend the coming year turning back the pages of history to celebrate their roots.
Throughout 2014, WMU's College of Aviation will mark its 75th year of providing aviation education through what has become one of the top such collegiate programs in the world. The college's three undergraduate degree programs date back to 1939 when WMU jumped headlong into what was still an area of study and an industry in its infancy. The Wright brothers' first sustained flight had only taken place 36 years earlier in 1903, the year WMU was founded.
The college is planning a series of events during the coming year to mark the storied history of aviation at WMU. The first events will take place later this spring and the anniversary celebration will become part of many of the college's regularly scheduled events. The initiative to mark the 75th anniversary will formally conclude in the fall with a major celebratory event.
In 1939, the Michigan State Board of Education authorized and approved Western Michigan to offer a two-year non-degree curriculum in Vocational Aviation Mechanics designed to prepare students for positions as licensed airplane mechanics, licensed engine mechanics, airplane factory mechanics, and pilot mechanics.
That same year, WMU began offering the ground school portion of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, sponsored by the federal government, with the flight portion of the program contracted out. Both the mechanics programs and the pilot training initiative were under the direction of Elmer C. “Buck” Weaver.
By 1947, WMU had established a four-year bachelor’s degree curriculum called air transportation, and by 1955, the University started its own flight-training program at the Plainwell, Mich., airport. The Kalamazoo airport was the program's home from 1959 to 1997, when it moved to Battle Creek, Mich.'s W.K. Kellogg Airport. In 1999, WMU's aviation programs were organized into the College of Aviation--WMU's seventh degree-granting college.
Look for information on special events that will be published regularly; we hope you can join us in our celebrations throughout the coming year.
In Closing
We are so grateful for the unwavering support of our advisory board members, numerous partners, corporate leaders, alumni, other individuals, and friends of the WMU College of Aviation. Without your interest in our efforts to keep our college in the forefront of aviation education, we would not be where we are today. We welcome your comments and questions, so please reach out to me directly at any time should you wish to talk about the college and our efforts. We would also be happy to have you visit us and take a tour of our facilities.
Best regards,
Captain Dave Powell
Dean
(269) 964-6653