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Introduction to Central Michigan University

CMU Today

The University Setting
Central Michigan University is located in the heart of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Set in a region of rolling farmland and woodland, CMU’s location offers easy access to Michigan’s cultural and scenic attractions: diverse urban centers, prime recreational shoreline along Lakes Michigan and Huron, Alpine and Nordic ski areas, and the north woods country of northern Michigan.

CMU’s home community is Mount Pleasant, a city of 25,000. Together, CMU and Mount Pleasant serve as the cultural center for much of central and northern Michigan. CMU hosts a variety of cultural and sporting events throughout the year, and the university sponsors the CMU Public Television Network and National Public Radio affiliate stations.

The campus and buildings of Central Michigan University provide a physical environment for learning that is attractive, orderly, and convenient. Campus beauty is cultivated in the belief that the quality of the physical surroundings affects the quality of learning. The academic buildings form the core of the campus, with ready access to administrative services and residence units. Campus residence halls and apartments are located conveniently with respect to classroom buildings, the library, and recreational facilities. The outdoor campus setting features trees and lawns, ponds, walkways, and natural conservation areas. Automobile traffic is routed toward the campus perimeter, where parking areas are located. Bicycle pathways link major campus buildings, and bicycle racks are provided.

The Neithercut Woodland, a 255 acre natural woodland four miles northwest of Farwell, serves as a center for environmental education.
The resources provided by libraries, art galleries, studios, auditoriums, parks, theaters, gyms, and playing fields are easily available within the campus boundaries.

In addition to the main campus in Mount Pleasant, CMU has off-campus centers in a number of Michigan communities, and the university also operates outdoor teaching facilities. CMU has an extensive biological research station on Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan.
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CMU Today

Shaping the Future
Central Michigan University is a nationally distinguished institution of higher education that enrolls more than 28,000 students and offers more than 200 programs at the bachelor's, master's, specialist's, and doctoral levels.

CMU's Mount Pleasant campus is home to close to 20,000 students, including a freshman class with a cumulative 3.36 grade point average. Off campus, CMU operates one of the largest off-campus programs in North America, educating more than 8,600 students at 60 centers in Michigan and across the continent. CMU ranks among the top universities in the nation in the number of degrees awarded to underrepresented groups.

The Carnegie Foundation recognizes CMU as a doctoral/research-intensive university that offers a wide range of baccalaureate and graduate programs and supports significant faculty and student research, scholarship, and creative work. The university's dedicated faculty directly involves students in real-world learning, performance, and career preparation.

The quality and variety of CMU's academic and extracurricular activities reflect the university's responsiveness to the educational, social, and ethical needs of its students and the society they will serve upon graduation. Many of the university's academic programs emphasize an interdisciplinary approach to learning that provides students with broad experiences and career flexibility.

CMU offers students their choice of 27 degrees through eight academic divisions:

• College of Business Administration
• College of Communication and Fine Arts
• College of Education and Human Services
• College of Graduate Studies
• College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences
• College of Science and Technology
• The Herbert H. And Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions
• CMU Off-Campus Programs

Dedicated Faculty Provide Opportunities for Active Learning
At the heart of CMU's success is its outstanding faculty. CMU professors bring an excitement to the classroom that is complemented by scientific research, scholarship, and artistic endeavors of national and international significance.

CMU students prepare for careers through applied learning and career experiences. Among respondents to the annual Career Services survey of graduates, 54 percent said they completed internships and cooperative work experiences. Eighty-two percent of students reported they found jobs in their fields or were accepted into graduate or professional programs, despite an unfavorable labor market.

Many CMU students also become involved through leadership training, community service, international study, and membership in more than 200 on-campus professional clubs and student organizations.

Programs and Partnerships in Emerging Fields
CMU's commitment to educate students for success in a competitive and evolving job market involves progressively developing and fine-tuning interdisciplinary and niche-area programs. The university recently added new programs in mechanical and electrical engineering, entrepreneurship, environmental studies, physician assistant, social work, and middle-level education. At the doctoral level, CMU expanded offerings to include online programs in health administration and audiology.

CMU's many innovative educational and research partnerships provide students with real-world career experiences and opportunities to help serve emerging needs in society. A few of many examples:

• The university's Center for Applied Research and Technology provides an environment for students to work alongside world-renowned researchers and prospective employers on groundbreaking biotechnology research.
• The SAP University Alliance trains business students in the most sophisticated business software in the world.
• The Software Engineering and Information Technology Institute provides an environment for students to collaborate with faculty and global leaders in component-based software development.
• The Michigan Water Research Center involves biology students in assisting public and private organizations with advanced laboratory and water research services.
• The Center for Supply Chain Management supports Michigan's manufacturing community by offering the services of CMU's faculty and students in the areas of supply chain management research, consulting, and training.

Diversity Opportunities
CMU's programs prepare students for full participation in a changing democratic society and for careers in an increasingly global marketplace. The Office of International Education offers strong and expanding international programs, and many on-campus offices and groups support a diversity of ethnic and cultural events and displays. CMU's Native American Gallery exhibits the colorful and inspired works of Native Americans in the Great Lakes area.

New Support for Research, Scholarships, Facilities
The $50 million New Vision of Excellence Campaign for Central Michigan University is a broadly focused initiative to raise academic standards, strengthen discovery and creative activity among faculty and students, and enhance learning environment facilities and technology. To achieve this New Vision of Excellence, CMU is reaching out to its many friends, partners, and 160,000 alumni around the world for private funding support for student scholarships, faculty and program endowments, an enhanced campus environment, and ongoing and special programs.

With increasing funding support, CMU offers many scholarship programs for top achievers and students with potential in areas of multicultural advancement and leadership. Two scholarships - The Centralis Scholar Award and the Multicultural Advancement Award of Distinction - cover most of the cost of tuition, room, board, fees, and general expenses. CMU also awards $1,500 scholarships to all high school seniors with grade point averages of 3.5 and ACT scores of 20 or higher. Community college students with as few as 30 credits and grade point averages of 3.3 or higher receive transfer scholarships. Top international and Midwestern students qualify for in-state tuition rates.

CMU offers students exceptional facilities in which to learn. Recently completed projects include:

• Health Professions Building. The new health professions building unites CMU's respected health care programs in one technologically advanced environment that is conducive to learning, treatment, collaboration and discovery.
• Charles V. Park Library. Central Michigan's newly remodeled and expanded library is a highly technological information center with more than 1 million volumes and more than 400 public computer workstations and 300 available high-speed network connections for laptops. The Clarke Historical Library, located along the main corridor of the library, contains many of Michigan's prized historical holdings.
• Residence halls. Three new residence halls - Campbell, Kesseler, and Kulhavi - provide 714 students with apartment-style living.

Other construction has included Theunissen Stadium, 2002; Indoor Athletic Complex, 1999; Kelly/Shorts Stadium remodeling, 1999; The School of Music Building, 1997.
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