A consultant with 40 years of military and federal service in such areas as national preparedness and resilience planning, global health security and biodefense policy will help Northern Michigan University develop a strategic and comprehensive playbook for its return to face-to-face instruction this fall.

Years before COVID-19 escalated to a global health crisis, NMU English Professor Emeritus John Smolens wrote “Quarantine.” The historical fiction novel is based on an actual 1796 epidemic in a New England town, but its many parallels to the current pandemic—hoarding, profiteering, defying shelter-in-place orders—make it highly relevant despite the time difference.

Northern Michigan University's Continuing Education & Workforce Development is partnering with cannabis education and training leader Green Flower to offer non-credit online certificate programs beginning July 1. The four program options include the business of cannabis; cannabis agriculture and horticulture; cannabis law and policy; and cannabis health care and medicine.

Leslie Warren, Northern Michigan University's dean of library and instructional support, has been selected to serve on the American Library Association's Rural, Native and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds Committee. Her term begins July 1 and continues through June 30, 2022.