Grants to WMU fly past $4.2 million mark in November, December
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Externally funded awards to Western Michigan University surpassed $4.2 million in November and December, pushing the year-to-date total to nearly $16.4 million since the July 1 start of the current fiscal year, WMU trustees learned at their Feb. 11 meeting.
Grants for research hit nearly $1.6 million, while grants for instruction totaled more than $1.2 million of the two-month grant total. Public service awards, grants for student services and grants for scholarships and fellowships made up the remainder of the nearly $4.3 million total.
grants for transportation research, education
Research awards were led by a supplemental grant of $469,600 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to an interdisciplinary team of researchers and civil and construction engineers. The effort is led by Dr. Jun-Seok Oh, professor of civil and construction engineering who is the grant's principal investigator, and Dr. Osama Abudayyeh, professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering and associate dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The supplemental grant is being used to support WMU's role as one of 33 transportation research centers at colleges across the country that are working to advance research and education programs that address the nation's critical transportation challenges.
A second large research grant, this one for $423,105 from the U.S. Department of Education, was awarded to Dr. Paula Kohler, WMU vice president for research, to implement evidence-based and promising practices and strategies to ensure students with disabilities, including significant disabilities, graduate from high school with the ability to succeed in postsecondary education and employment.
Grants for instruction were headed by a $700,000 award from The Kresge Foundation to Dr. Yvonne Unrau, director of the Center for Fostering Success. The grant will be used to build a plan for sustainability of the Fostering Success Michigan program and to shape it into a collective impact model for child welfare and higher education movements across the United States and disseminate best practices.
Grants for public service
The largest public service grant was a $594,952 award from Kalamazoo Mental Health Services to Dr. Carol Sundberg, director of the Center for Disability Services, to provide daily living, communication, behavior control and social skill services to developmentally disabled adults
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