Researching and mapping health-related data in southwest Michigan to provide strategies to improve public health is the purpose of the new Center for Health Data Research, Analysis and Mapping.

Acting at its April 9 meeting, the WMU Board of Trustees approved a 2.95 percent increase in campus room and board rates for the 2014-15 academic year.

Senior engineering students will showcase and demonstrate their projects during the 54th Conference on Senior Engineering Design from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Participation in the Generation Study Abroad Commitment should result in increased opportunities for study abroad by students at all educational levels as well as strengthen the University's global engagement pillar.

The biggest dwarf hackberry trees known to exist in Michigan are growing on WMU's main campus, according to official measurements taken for the Michigan Botanical Club Big Tree Program and National Register of Big Trees.

Fifteen WMU staff members will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to the University during a reception Monday, April 14, for semiannual Make a Difference Award winners.

The University is one of four institutions nationwide to be considered for the award. A national video contest allows finalists' fans to weigh in with online votes.

Dr. Joseph T. Work, professor emeritus in music at WMU, died Feb. 7 at age 82. Work retired in 1993 after 30 years of service to the University. Memorial guestbook entries can be made online.

Wayne C. Mann, retired WMU archivist and co-founder of the Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society, died March 19. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in Portage, Mich.

Reservations for southwest Michigan's 2014 César Chávez fundraising dinner and awards program are being accepted until Monday, March 24. WMU's Mark Delorey will be receiving one of this year's awards.

WMU's trustees followed their positive December evaluation of President John M. Dunn with a 2.5 percent increase to his base salary; Dunn will continue to donate the cumulative total of his pay increases toward scholarships.

WMU men's basketball Coach Hawkins, 2013-14 MAC Coach of the Year, will lead his team to the NCAA Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20. Tickets go on sale March 18.

Enjoy the music, dance, food and fashions of 15 of the cultures represented on campus by attending the 25th annual International Festival from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 23, in the Bernhard Center.

For a second year, both dances submitted by the WMU Department of Dance were selected for performance at the Gala Concert at the American College Dance Festival Association East-Central Conference.

Thanks to the generosity of Ronda E. Stryker and William D. Johnston, the first class of medical students will be welcomed this fall to the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.

The literary journal The Kenyon Review has named Melinda Moustakis, a graduate of WMU's doctoral program in creative writing, a Kenyon Review Fellow.

Greg D. Roehrick, theatre, died Feb. 25 at age 60. A family burial in Chippewa Falls, Wis., is planned, and a date will be set for a WMU campus celebration of his life and career.

The $500,000 grant to WMU psychologists from the Michigan Department of Community Health will fund an array of initiatives to help train mental health practitioners, parents and others who are treating autism.

WMU's food and consumer package goods marketing now boasts certification of its coursework by a national professional organization. The WMU program is one of only two programs to earn such a certification.

WMU's New Issues Poetry and Prose has started the new year with three recent accomplishments—an award, a major grant and recognition for one of its authors.

Business students Hanna Downs, Laura Haines and Chad Niemchick were each award a $1,000 scholarship at this the 14th annual ISM Indirect/Services Conference in Phoenix.

The WMU Center for Integrated Supply Management will offer an array of student learning experiences focusing on hands-on education and innovative research

Dr. Yvette Hyter was recently honored as a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association at the association's 2013 convention in November.

A song by WMU theatre student Kevin J. Watson II has been selected by Broadway producer Ken Davenport as a finalist for his songwriting contest. Watson will perform the song Jan. 30 in New York City.

Except for essential and emergency services, WMU is closed Monday, Jan. 27, due to severe weather. All classes are canceled. For information on the status of regional locations, visit the Extended University Programs Web page.

Gary Miron, professor of evaluation, measurement and research, is one of the 200 most influential education scholars in the United States, according to an annual ranking that appears in Education Week.

"Past, Present, and Future: Living the Dream" is the theme of this year's celebration planned to honor Martin Luther King Jr., which includes many events at WMU and across the Kalamazoo community beginning Jan. 15.

Dr. Nancy B. Mansberger, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development, has been named WMU's new director of academic collective bargaining, effective Jan. 1.

Dr. Anthony Ellis, associate professor of English and an expert on Renaissance literature died Jan. 7 in Worcester, Mass. He was 46. A campus memorial service is being planned for later this semester.