WMU alumnus Scott R. Merlo has been appointed police chief of the University. Merlo most recently served as a lieutenant for two years with the police department at Grand Rapids Community College.

WMU's Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new three-year labor agreement with the American Association of University Professors, the union that represents the University's full-time faculty.

Mary Lou Brooks, Elena Gaudio, Nancy Landsberger and James Oswalt are the latest recipients of WMU's Annual Make a Difference Award, the highest honor bestowed specifically on non-faculty employees for service excellence.

WMU now has 10 LEED-certified structures, with 10 more going through the certification process. In addition, the University is developing a graduate class that can give students the opportunity to earn LEED credentialing.

The all-student cast, directed by Mark Liermann and Afton Earp, will give several performances of Richard Bean's Tony-nominated farce Oct. 10-19 in the Shaw Theatre at the Gilmore Theatre Complex.

The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, is one of a small number and the only one made in Michigan. The goal of the four-year project is to create programs that other universities can adopt.

Western Michigan University Department of Public Safety officers are investigating an armed robbery that took place at approximately 4:50 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Asylum Lake Preserve.

Army veteran Joyce M. Busch was named director of the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, effective Sept. 8. She has served 27 years in the active army and now serves in the reserves.

"Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the Religion of Biologic Living" by Dr. Brian C. Wilson, professor of comparative religion, is now on bookshelves and is being sold on amazon.com.

Dr. Takashi Yoshida, a WMU associate professor of history and founding member of the center, has been named the new director of the Michitoshi Soga Japan Center, effective Sept. 2.

When the Beatles were bursting onto the American music scene in 1964, Doralee DeRyke and Laurel Grotzinger were quietly beginning their storied careers at WMU.

WMU faculty and staff members who give any amount toward the 2014 campaign this fall will be eligible for weekly drawings to be held each Friday afternoon beginning Oct. 10.

Dr. Gerald L. Sievers, professor emeritus of mathematics and statistics, died Sept. 25 at age 74. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. today, Sept. 29, and the funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Featuring more than 80 hits from Madonna to Mozart, "Voca People" use only their voices to reproduce the sounds of an entire orchestra. See the thrilling musical adventure at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12.

The art exhibit "Re:Solution Envisioning Sustainability" will run Nov. 19 to 21 in WMU's Richmond Center for Visual Arts in South Kohrman Hall. It also features a lecture by visiting artist Garth Lenz on Nov. 20.

WMU's Board of Trustees will consider approval of a new contract with WMU's faculty union, as well as a new labor agreement with members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, on Sept. 30.

The annual Study Abroad Fair will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 8 in the Bernhard Center's East Ballroom. It will showcase the more than 90 programs WMU offers in some 40 countries.

WMU School of Music's University Jazz Orchestra will perform jazz big band music featuring composers Clare Fischer, Joe Henderson, Thad Jones and Charles Mingus at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9 in Dalton Center Recital Hall.

A record number of employers are expected to participate in this year's Engineering Expo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 2, at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences on WWMU's Parkview Campus.

Los Angeles poet Ralph Angel will read from his works at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in The Little Theatre. Angel, who has won numerous awards for his writing, is taking part in the Fall 2014 Gwen Frostic Reading Series.

An art exhibit featuring thirty-five registered ArtPrize projects and a reception on Saturday, Sept. 27, are some of the events planned as Western Michigan University takes part in ArtPrize.

Dr. James Henry, professor of social work and co-founder and project director for the WMU Children's Trauma Assessment Center, will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, in Room 209 of the Bernhard Center.

The Sindecuse Health Center is offering seasonal influenza vaccinations to WMU employees, students and retirees, along with their eligible dependents, by appointment.

WMU will honor two faculty members in the School of Communication next month for being exceptional educators and mentors and demonstrating outstanding dedication in their work.

Area students and residents may explore options for advanced studies during the 2014 Graduate and Professional School Fair from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, in the Bernhard Center Ballroom at WMU.

Western Michigan University's fall 2014 student body is more diverse and substantially more international, and it includes more transfer students, more honors students and more graduate students working on doctoral degrees.

Brooklyn-based artist, writer, translator and professor Paul D'Agostino will visit WMU Sept. 25 to take part in the Frostic School of Art's Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series.

Longtime faculty member Dr. Carolyn J. Harris, professor of Spanish, died suddenly Sept. 20 at age 65. Memorial gifts in Harris's name may be made to the Spanish department's Emeriti Scholarship.

The public is invited to help the College of Aviation celebrate 75 years of aviation education at WMU during a pancake breakfast fly-in from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at the college's facilities at the W.K. Kellogg Airport.

Edisher Savitski will perform exhilarating works by Schumann, Haydn, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.