Centers and Institutes
CMU's centers and institutes connect organizations and communities to state-of-the-art resources, while providing students unique hands-on training experiences and faculty research opportunities. From a preschool to a mobile health clinics, these unique settings help CMU teams find the next big breakthrough and tackle pressing issues.
College of the Arts and Media
Computer and Graphics Lab
You can access the latest versions of industry-standard software in all of our labs so you're ready for all aspects of your career.
Most of our labs are equipped with large format color laser printers, so you can print up 11 x 17 posters.
Drone Lab
In our drone lab, which features more than 30 different drones, you will learn the rules and regulations around drone flight, how to prepare for flight, and yes, even how to fly!
Makerbot Innovation Center
3D printing is available to all CMU students, faculty and staff at the Makerbot Innovation Center.
Presentation Skills Center
Our presentation skills center (PSC) provide technological facilities and instructional expertise to students seeking to develop and enhance the presentation skills vital for personal and professional success.
College of Business Administration:
Cybersecurity Center
Designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, this center drives Cybersecurity innovation at CMU and beyond.
Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
Home to workshops and events like the New Venture Competition, Pitch to the Pros and the Make-A-Pitch event, students from all disciplines get hands-on experience working with alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders.
Information Management Institute (IMI)
The IMI helps advance research and practice in the management of information in order to better solve organizational problems like; ERP, social media, and digital entrepreneurship.
SAP University Alliance
Home to facilities and programs like the SAP NexGen Lab, SAP NextGen Chapter, SAP Certification Academy, ERPsim Competition, and Student User Group, this center links education and industry to equip students with hands-on experience and global knowledge of business operations.
College of Education and Human Services:
Center for Community Counseling & Development
A no-cost mental health training center for graduate students studying to become Addiction, Clinical Mental Health, and School Counselors.
Center for Excellence in STEM Education
Providing quality STEM education experiences for teacher education students, K-12 students and families, and in-service teachers and schools.
Center for Merchandising and Design Technology
A research and design facility that provides solutions to apparel and textile design problems.
Child Development and Learning Laboratory
A state-of-the art preschool which provides a rich learning environment for children and hands-on experience, including early childhood development research, for faculty and students.
The Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools
The center provides innovative and specialized educational options to 28,000 students throughout Michigan. Allowing the more than 50 partner schools to stay focused on what is most important, ensuring that all students have access to education options that put their needs first.
Center for Leisure Services
The center connects students to fieldwork, internships, and practicum credit programs to get hands-on experience in their field while also earning college credit.
The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions:
Mobile Health Central
Mobile Health Central is a nearly 39-foot mobile health vehicle for research, preventative health education, and recruitment. It provides a welcoming, accessible, safe space in our communities.
Institute for Health and Business Insight
A not-for-profit consulting group that specializes in the use of data and advanced analytics to help organizations solve complex, real-world problems in manufacturing, retail, healthcare and more.
Carls Center for Clinical Care and Education
A specialty rehabilitation center that pools the talents of exceptional clinicians, faculty, and students to help serve Mid-Michigan's audiology, SLP, PT, and psychology needs.
Additional Research Centers
We extensively participate in several diverse scholarship activities, including independent research and collaborative efforts with other colleges and universities. Explore our research labs and centers and the types of research our college faculty are conducting.
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences:
Center for Children, Families and Communities
Using innovative research, the talents of CMU students and faculty, and state-of-the-science mental health interventions, the center helps improve the wellbeing of Michigan children and families, with a special focus on reducing health disparities.
Center for Learning through Games and Simulations (CLGS)
The center promotes the use of games, simulations, and play in learning. Using these tools, students build skills in leadership, public speaking, critical thinking, problem solving and analysis in an active-learning environment.
Central Assessment Lending Library (CALL)
CALL supplements psychoeducational assessment services provided by Michigan school districts for children from birth through adolescence who have low-incidence disabilities, including; autism, deaf or hard of hearing, motor impairment, sever cognitive impairment, or visual impairment.
Museum of Cultural and Natural History
The Museum of Cultural and Natural History supports research and teaching. Exhibits are open to the public, and tours and classroom activities for teachers and students are offered.
Pre-Law Center
The Pre-Law Center helps advice and assist students and alumni in preparing for their careers in law including; advising, school visits, LSAT practice and preparation, networking events, and more.
Psychological Training and Consultation Center
The center offers outpatient mental health services to residents of Mid-Michigan and the CMU community.
Transnational Initiative on Governance Research and Education (TIGRE)
TIGRE is an international group of scholars, students and field specialists dedicated to finding opportunities and identifying challenges managers confront in the global economy. The network provides strategies and skills necessary to overcome these obstacles through academic conferences, workshops and events.
Other Centers
• DeafBlind Central (DB Central)
College of Science and Engineering
Aquatic Vivarium
Central Michigan University students can conduct their experiments in the nearly 5,000 square foot aquatic vivarium.
Brooks Astronomical Observatory
Brooks Hall Astronomical Observatory includes a fully automated retractable dome that protects a 16-inch (40.6-cm) telescope used by faculty members and students each semester as part of their astronomy studies. Manufactured by DFM Engineering, the computer-controlled Cassegrain reflector can be pointed to any place in the sky with very high accuracy along with interchangeable instruments optimized for either imaging or spectroscopic observations, or it can be used for basic visual observations.
CMC Herbarium
With over 26,000 plant specimens, the Herbarium serves as a vital teaching resource and houses research quality specimens that are available digitally for research, education, and other scholarly and creative activities worldwide.
CMU Center for Geographic Information Science (GISci)
As a regional leader in Geographic Information Science, GISci promotes and supports inter/multi/trans-disciplinary creative and scholarly activities through the development and application of geospatial technologies.
CMU Greenhouse
The CMU Greenhouse is a 4,700 sq. ft. teaching greenhouse featuring several rooms displaying plants from different climates and regions from around the world including tropical, desert and aquatic.
CMU Biological Station
The island's exceptional freshwater ecosystems, natural habitat and seven biologically unique inland lakes provide an unmatched learning and research environment. The abundant and varied natural habitats include cedar swamps, upland and lowland coniferous forests, beaver ponds, sand dunes, and a great variety of plants and animals.
FLOSIC
The Flow Cytometry lab in the Biology Department has one Flow Cytometry Analyzer (CytoFLEX) and one Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter (BD FACSAria2). Students can be trained by the lab technician to use the instruments on their own.
Institute for Great Lakes Research
We are committed to promoting and facilitating collaborative research and education on the Great Lakes. We partner with other institutions and agencies to leverage our expertise and training. External agencies supporting research include the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Sea Grant.
Flow Cytometry Facility
The Flow Cytometry lab in the Biology Department has one Flow Cytometry Analyzer (CytoFLEX) and one Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter (BD FACSAria2). Students can be trained by the lab technician to use the instruments on their own.
Microscopy Facility
Learn more about the microscopy facility at Central Michigan University and how you can start researching with cutting-edge equipment right on campus.
Mathematics Assistance Center
Our tutors can lend a hand with everything from basic algebra to intermediate-level statistics. You'll learn how to clarify new information, demonstrate problem-solving skills and work through example problems.
Statistical Consulting Center
The Statistical Consulting Center provides statistical support and training to faculty and graduate students across the University in all phases of research projects. Consulting topics include research planning, design of experiments and surveys, analysis methods, use of Statistical computing programs, and interpretation of results.
STARLAB
Our acronym stands for Speciation, Traces, Analyses and Radioisotopes. Directed by Dr. Anthony Chappaz, our research group has become an emerging leader in the field of the molecular geochemistry of trace elements in aquatic systems.