To reduce energy costs during the recess, heating and cooling systems in all office and classroom buildings controlled by the WMU building energy management system will be in holiday mode, unless a space is exempt from the program. The temperature in spaces will not go outside of the range of 55 to 85 degrees. Portions of a particular building that do not regularly go into night setback mode will not go into holiday mode. 

Employees are reminded to shut off and unplug all nonessential electronics before winter recess.

Most Western Michigan University offices will observe the 2025-26 winter recess from Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Friday, Jan. 2. Some campus services will close or operate on limited hours through the start of spring semester. Spring semester begins at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 12, 2026.

Western Michigan University’s Lewis Walker Institute for Race & Ethnic Relations invites the campus and greater Kalamazoo community to the 2026 MLK Teach-In: Un-Erased – History Will Not Be Erased, on Monday, January 16 from 1–5 p.m. in Sangren Hall.

This year’s Teach-In expands the University’s annual MLK Day of Celebration by centering the urgent need to protect historical truth at a time when efforts to limit, dilute, or erase the realities of American history are accelerating nationwide. The Teach-In will offer students, faculty, staff, and community members meaningful opportunities to engage with topics of racial justice, intergenerational memory, and collective action.

We are honored to announce that Dr. David…

The Office of Research and Innovation is excited to announce that the Research, Innovation, and Creative Scholarship (RICS) Celebration Week 2026 will take place from April 2 through April 10.

This annual event serves as a platform to spotlight and honor the cutting-edge research, innovative projects, and imaginative scholarship conducted by faculty, staff, and students across WMU, WMed, and our community.

We invite participation in the celebration, welcoming a diverse spectrum of formats, including seminars, poster presentations, creative performances, and other unique event concepts.

To submit your proposed event and view the evolving schedule of events, visit the RICS Celebration Week…

WMU employees receive excellent benefits from the University and are encouraged to pursue educational opportunities. The tuition remission program allows employees with fulltime benefits eligibility to take graduate courses tuition-free. 

Register for an info session hosted by the WMU Graduate College to learn how to apply your tuition remission benefit toward an advanced degree. Each session will cover available graduate programs, application requirements, and upcoming deadlines. If there is no registration, the session will be canceled that month, so be sure to register in advance! Info sessions will be held in the Graduate College located in West Walwood Hall, East Campus on the following dates:

We invite you to participate in the half-day Mental Health Summit on February 20, 2026 by sharing your expertise and best practices with our WMU community. We welcome you to submit a proposal for the summit on topics such as:  

We encourage submissions that are engaging and interactive to provide our audience with practical skills they can use in the classroom and beyond. 

Proposals must be submitted by Friday, January 9, 2026.

The Make a Difference selection committee cordially invites you to the Fall 2025 awards ceremony where the Fall Semiannual Make A Difference Award recipients will be honored.  The ceremony will occur Wednesday, December 3, 2025, beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Ballroom A of the Student Center. The Make A Difference Award is a peer-to-peer award given to eligible staff who, among other criteria, promote a positive image of Western Michigan University, provide outstanding customer service, find innovative solutions to problems, volunteer to serve on University committees, find ways to cut costs, eliminate waste and save time or money as well as other examples of service over and above normal job responsibilities.

Get ready to sprinkle some holiday magic at Miller Auditorium!
Join us for a cheerful, hands-on class where you’ll learn how to swirl, flood, and sparkle your way to picture-perfect holiday cookies using royal icing. With guidance from an expert instructor from MaddieKakes Bake Shop, you’ll master pro tips, play with festive colors, and leave with a box of beautifully decorated treats (and a sugar-sweet sense of triumph)!

Perfect for: Beginners, creatives, and anyone who loves holiday cheer!

Dr. Courtney Carignan will deliver a talk Dec. 1 on “Disparities in PFAS Exposure and Health Impacts” as part of the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society's Fall 2025 lecture series. The talk will start at 6 p.m. in the Putney Auditorium of the Fetzer Center.

Dr. Carignan's talk will explore the social, geographic and occupational disparities in PFAS exposure, highlighting how systemic factors, such as proximity to industrial sites, contribute to unequal burdens. The presentation will also consider strategies for addressing these inequities. Dr. Carignan is Assistant Professor at Michigan State University with a joint appointment in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the Department…