Strategic Plan

This winter, the Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health brought Upper Peninsula universities together for the second annual Fight the Flu competition. Students, staff and faculty from Finlandia University, Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan University competed to see which school could get the highest percentage of its total population vaccinated against the flu. Based on the self-reported statistics, the winner for the second year in a row is Finlandia University, coming in at a 17.6% vaccination rate.

The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees and senior administrators participated in an All-Student Forum hosted by ASNMU student government on Tuesday, March 15. They fielded student-submitted questions via Zoom for nearly two hours.

The Northern Michigan University Foundation has issued an open Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for prospective master developers interested in revitalizing the former hospital property adjacent to the NMU campus. This action was taken following a period of due diligence to assess the feasibility of enabling a significant mixed-use development to proceed.

As Northern Michigan University transitions to new leadership, an interim strategic plan is being developed that identifies five focus areas and related goals and strategies, along with the faculty and administrative chairs who will lead focus area teams. NMU faculty, staff and students will have an opportunity to provide feedback on plan draft elements at engagement sessions scheduled at various times March 14-18. 

Northern Michigan University will host the Uniting Neighbors in the Experience of Diversity (UNITED) Conference Tuesday and Wednesday, March 8-9. UNITED is a conference focused on personal stories and experiences of diversity, as well as opportunities for self-growth and practical workshops to promote diversity on campus. 

The UP200 Sled Dog Race, an Iditarod qualifier that starts and finishes in Marquette, will officially be “powered by” Northern Michigan University, beginning in 2023. NMU will become a Gold Sled Sponsor with naming rights for the event, building on a longstanding relationship with the U.P. Sled Dog Association. The official name for the 2023 race will be “UP200 – Powered by NMU.”

Northern Michigan University environmental sciences major Alexis Giesey collected and posted information about NMU's carbon emissions on the Sustainable NMU website for her senior project. She is also president of EcoReps, a student sustainability peer-to-peer education program.

Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health Director Elise Bur has been selected to participate in a 2022 Health Policy Fellowship at the University of Michigan's Center for Health and Research Transformation (CHRT). She will learn about health policy and the research process, as well as how the two intersect, from outside experts and other fellows.

Scholarship applications for Northern Michigan University students enrolling in the 2022-23 academic year will be available from Monday, Jan. 24, through Monday, Feb. 21. 

The family of Ben Lauren, a Northern Michigan University alumnus who was tragically killed in the line of duty as a volunteer firefighter at age 23, has established an endowed scholarship in his memory to support NMU mechanical engineering technology students. Lauren graduated from the program in 2018.