Around NMU

English graduate students and faculty members from Northern Michigan University delved into environmental fiction and ecocriticism during a stay on Granite Island Oct. 18-20, surrounded by the grandeur and moods of Lake Superior. NMU is the only public university in the nation to offer a course held in a lighthouse. 

Northern Michigan University's overall headcount for undergraduate and graduate students has increased by 137 compared with fall 2018, according to its 10th day enrollment report.

The newly released film Yesterday imagines a world in which the Beatles never existed, except to a struggling singer-songwriter who becomes an overnight sensation performing the band's back catalog. The premise demonstrates the enduring legacy of what many consider the most influential group of all time for its impact on culture and recording techniques. 

The Upper Peninsula Manufacturing Consortium, convened by Northern Michigan University to meet industry workforce demands by facilitating multiple career pathways, has received a grant worth nearly $1.3 million. 

The Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Consortium, convened by Northern Michigan University in collaboration with industry and education partners, has received two innovation grants totaling $2.47 million through the State of Michigan's Marshall Plan for Talent. 

Biology graduate student Sierra Gillman is the first Northern Michigan University recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRF), one of the most prestigious awards available to students in the STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the United States. 

First-year nursing student Tess Kostelec said she is leaning toward a career in an emergency room because the fast pace, high drama and need to think quickly appeal to her. She recently found herself in a situation that involved all of those elements when she saved a student from choking at Northern Lights Dining. Her capable response impressed a staff member and reassured Kostelec that she could indeed thrive professionally in an ER.

Construction management professor Michael Andary ('06 MPA) was visibly perplexed when administrators and colleagues recently walked into his Jacobetti Complex classroom and purposely interrupted a morning lecture. His confusion soon gave way to a smile, followed by a round of applause from his students. The delegation was there to deliver a surprise announcement. Andary is the first member of the NMU Faculty Association to receive the university's Distinguished Faculty Award. NMUFA represents those who teach in the College of Technology and Occupational Sciences.

Mental illness affects about one in five American teens. This is increasingly reflected in young adult fiction, as recent surveys indicate one quarter of the genre's titles feature characters with psychological disorders. Northern Michigan University English Professor Kia Jane Richmond has published a new book that explores how real struggles such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder are portrayed through fictional characters. Her hope is that Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature will help educators, librarians and mental health professionals to more effectively address the needs of students.