Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the two new members of the board are WMU alumnus Kurtis Trevan of Grand Rapids, CEO at Gun Lake investments, and Alan Turfe of Boston, a consultant at private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. The terms for the new members begin Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, and run through Dec. 31, 2028.

The test will take place beginning at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, unless the WMU Alert system has been activated within the previous 24 hours. If it has, the test will be postponed until 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 28.

Aviation is embedded in Jordan Unter's genes. Now a senior majoring in aviation management and operations at the Western Michigan University College of Aviation, Unter grew up in Fort Collins, Colo., listening to his great-grandfather spin yarns about World War II.

Lingxiao Sun has excelled in WMU's data science master's program, managing to maintain a 4.0 GPA while also caring for her young son, developing her English language skills and working full-time in a job she secured 10 months before graduation.

The Adcraft Club of Detroit's Adcraft Foundation annually awards cash grants to advertising and marketing students from Michigan universities

Rather than let rejection letter define her, Rozlin Opolka charted a new course for herself in WMU's visual arts program.

While aviators have their heads in the clouds, there are a lot of people back on the ground working to keep them up there. Dezmond Stover is excited to be among them, passionate about making flight operations run smoothly

Michael Sekich knew he loved political science when he came to WMU, but wasn't sure where the major might lead him. Through on-the-job experience in courtrooms and local political campaigns, he's identified his passion and is preparing to head to law school.

From panhandling to landing a dream accounting job, JaJuan Kemp has come a long way. Through resilience and determination, he'll graduate Saturday, Dec. 19, with degrees in accountancy and finance.

A vocal performance major, Daniela Peña Cabreja routinely sings the praises of Western Michigan University. In addition to world-class vocal training and once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunities, WMU helped her discover a new passion and career path.

Valeria Marin has always been passionate about working with kids. She treasures the memories she's collected from years of working at summer camps and in after-school programs. Initially intent on becoming a teacher, mentors and peers at Western Michigan University helped her combine her passion for education with purpose, bringing to light her drive to help families and underrepresented communities.

Western Michigan University's Office of Admissions is reimagining the prospective-student experience amid the global pandemic. A new self-guided tour app—available for Apple and Android devices—gives families an innovative way to experience campus on their own terms.

As a senior majoring in aviation management and operations at Western Michigan University, Cody Miller-Holcomb says he "loves researching and observing aircraft. I could sit at an airport lookout all day and watch the aircraft take off. I can name them all." Cody didn't have to travel very far to reach his destination in higher education. Home for him is Wyoming, Mich., a suburb community to Grand Rapids about 45 miles north of Western's home campus in Kalamazoo. It didn't take long for Cody to figure out that the college and WMU's Kalamazoo campus was indeed a special place to chart a dream-come-true pathway.

Puchacz majored in what is now aviation management and operations and minored in business on the way to his 2003 WMU degree. During this time, he held his first job in the industry as an intern at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport. That stint cemented his decision to focus on the management aspect of aviation and prepped him for his first full-time job -- at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey as an operations coordinator.

Via virtual platform, the Board of Trustees is set to meet at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, and will review the University's updated Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy recommended for approval.

In addition to conferring of degrees and a presentation of graduates, President Edward Montgomery and Dr. Jennifer Bott, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will speak. There will be vignettes on graduate success, insight from college deans and a tribute to graduates by staff and family.

A new program will introduce West Michigan high school students from underrepresented and minority populations to a variety of careers in health care fields, with the ultimate goal of improving primary care and increasing diversity in health care professions.

Marcy Peake and the Future Teachers of Color RSO decorated and donated 60 of the screens to the Friends of KPS Supply Closet to be distributed to kids in need in Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Most Western Michigan University offices will observe winter recess from Thursday, Dec. 24, through Friday, Jan. 1. Winter recess begins with the end of fall semester, and some campus services will cease or have reduced hours through the start of spring semester, which begins Monday, Jan. 11.

During the 2020 holiday season, Western Michigan University is one of two Mid-American Conference schools featured in athletic-gear displays in Kalamazoo's Costco store.

Matthew Wietstock is not your typical pilot. His approach to higher education, which initially featured a music-composition major at Western Michigan University, is a bit backward. Double majors in the College of Aviation are not that unusual, but Wietstock's prime path leads to a degree in aviation management and operations and then one in aviation flight science. Peers normally reverse that plan.

Dr. Sally Hadden helped create Feed the Fight Kalamazoo, which has raised more than $60,000 to deliver more than 6,000 meals from local restaurants to health care workers.

One hundred years since Bessie Coleman became the world’s first African American female pilot, Black women still make up less than 1% of professional pilots in the United States. Sisters of the Skies, Inc. is leading the charge to change that.

WMU's student-run wine brand, launched a year ago by the Center for Principled Leadership and Business Strategy in the Haworth College of Business, collaborated with St. Julian Winery for its newest product: Bronconess Peach Bubbly.  To date the brand has raised more than $35,000 for student scholarship through sales.

"My family is full of pilots," says the aviation flight science major. "I was always at the airport as a kid. I have been around airplanes my entire life and soloed on my 16th birthday." Hailing from Midland, where Michigan's fabled "thumb" attaches to the rest of the mitten, her choice of WMU as her future in higher education was predictable. "My grandparents went to Western and my cousin -- Jeremy Hierholzer -- is on the aviation faculty," she says.

A team of assessors from the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission will arrive on Monday, Nov. 30, to examine all aspects of Western Michigan University Department of Public Safety's policies and procedures, management, operations and support services. As part of this final on-site assessment for accreditation, employees and members of the general public are invited to provide comments to the assessment team.

Md Marsad Zoardar is working to develop a wireless power transfer system that could charge electric vehicles while they're in motion.

To obtain this distinction, WMU met the five core standards for an effective campus forest management including establishment of a tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and sponsorship of student service learning projects.

While shortening the morning commute, the pandemic push to work remotely left many of us scrambling to improvise a home office setup. Dr. Debra Lindstrom, a professor of occupational therapy who specializes in ergonomics, offers advice on how to avoid injuries and create a comfortable workspace when professional office equipment isn't available.

The Center for Principled Leadership and Business Strategy is providing immersive learning experiences at the undergraduate and graduate levels that blur the lines between education and professional business experience, connecting WMU with the West Michigan business community.