WMU Today

For the 2026-27 academic year, ORI will be hosting workshops and trainings about the grant life cycle and research and innovation enterprise at WMU. 

For full workshop descriptions and to RSVP, please go to this link.  

IT@WMU brings Merit Network's, Director of Research, Dr. Pierrette Dagg to campus on October 15 for an overview of HPC, AI, and research data resources you can use now, followed by an informal meet-and-mingle. Learn what's out there, ask questions, and tell us what would be useful.

Learn more about the event

RSVP

For students, faculty, and staff. Registration is free. Your RSVP helps us solve one of the event's biggest challenges: accurately forecasting snacks and refreshments.

Former Kellogg Co. CEO and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will return to Southwest Michigan on Thursday, Oct. 15, for a special We Talk event. The luncheon will feature conversations with President Russ Kavalhuna, Southwest Michigan First CEO Jennifer Owens, former Kellogg executive George Franklin and business leader Bill Parfet. Gutierrez will share insights from a career that took him from sales representative to Fortune 500 CEO and Cabinet member. The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo. Registration is required, and tickets are $75. 

Students interested in attending can contact @email for access to a designated promo code to attend at no cost. 

Registration has begun for virtual parking permits online or by going to the Parking Services webpage and selecting the “Get a Permit” tab. A virtual permit is an internet-based permit where parking rights are assigned to the plate of a registered vehicle. There is no physical permit on your vehicle; the plate is the permit. Find more information about virtual permits on the Parking Services webpage. Questions should be directed to Parking Services at (269)387-4609. Current permits expire on Oct. 31.

A reminder that parking permit issued to individuals are for their personal use only. Use by anyone else is strictly prohibited and may result in fines, loss of parking privileges and impounding of the vehicle.

Register your vehicle

Internationally recognized designer and gerontologist Dr. Patricia Moore will give a free public lecture on aging in place and inclusive design on Monday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. in 1910 Sangren Hall. A pioneer in universal and inclusive design, Moore has built her career advocating for products, environments and systems that serve people of all ages and abilities.

The lecture is part of the month-long Aging in Place Design Symposium. Interdisciplinary student teams from design, health sciences and engineering are working with faculty advisors and practitioners to develop concepts for the future of the home.

Advance registration is encouraged through Eventbrite. Questions: Michael Kahwaji, @email.

Western Michigan University has adopted new Office Space Allocation Guidelines to establish consistent, equitable, and data-informed standards for the assignment and management of office space across the institution.

The guidelines outline recommended office space allocations by position type, define office and workstation classifications, establish processes for reviewing vacant or underutilized offices, and introduce an 85% occupancy assignment benchmark to support effective space planning and stewardship.

These standards will guide future space assignments, renovations, utilization reviews and capital planning activities. Employees are encouraged to review the guidelines and associated Space Management Policy.

If you have questions, please reach us through our webform.

Celebrate the outstanding contributions of our colleagues at the Fall Awards Celebration on Friday, Oct. 2. The event will honor recipients of the annual Distinguished Service, Distinguished Teaching, Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Emerging Scholar and Make a Difference awards. We will also recognize faculty members from the audience who were awarded tenure and promotion at the June 2026 Board of Trustees meeting.

Join us at 11 a.m. in the Fetzer Center’s Kirsch Auditorium as we recognize the faculty and staff whose innovation and commitment impact our University in exceptional ways. A catered lunch will follow the awards ceremony.

Dr. Wei Wu, associate professor in the Department of Religion at Emory University, will speak on Thursday, Oct. 1. Her talk titled "Learning from Tibetan Buddhism: Cross-Cultural Religious Exchange in Twentieth-Century China" is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Room 4735 Sangren Hall. The talk examines the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism into early twentieth-century China through the monk Nenghai (1886–1967), who trained in Lhasa and later founded a Tibetan Buddhist community in Sichuan. It analyzes how doctrines, practices, and institutions were transformed across cultural contexts.

Prior registration for Dr. Wu's lecture is recommended.