Tag Archives: town gown

Mt. Pleasant, Central Michigan University Growing Together

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Members of the CMU Greek community join together several Sunday mornings each semester to clean up Mt. Pleasant’s streets.

By Kathleen Ling and Dr. George Ross

“Mt. Pleasant was destined to have a college,” John Cumming wrote in his book, “This Place Mount Pleasant,” published during the city’s centennial in 1989.

Central Michigan University was established in Mt. Pleasant in 1892.

An interest in education started early in our history and has continued since — the city helping to support a university, and the university helping to shape a city. Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, now known as Central Michigan University, opened in 1892 with the collaboration of determined residents.

Today, much of the city’s active, community-oriented culture, stable economy, small business growth and real estate development are impacted by the needs of CMU students, faculty and staff.

Pedestrian-friendly
Using a car to cross campus or town is becoming a second thought as the city and university work together to create a bikable and walkable community with a thorough network of bicycle lanes and sidewalks.

In 2010, the city worked with Dan Burden, executive director of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, on a Campus Connection project.

Summer in Mt. Pleasant brings with it the Festival of Banners, a community-wide collaboration that decorates the streets of Mt. Pleasant.

The project was designed to improve city streets to better connect campus to downtown and other areas of the city.

Streetscape charm
We work together all year to keep those streets decorated and clean.

Each summer, Art Reach of Mid Michigan lines city streets with banners painted by community artists of all ages.

CMU faculty, staff and students have a definitive presence in this colorful, unique public exhibit.

During the Dickens’ Christmas Festival, CMU fraternities and sororities decorate their homes with lights seen by festival goers during hayrides through the streets.

Thanks to technology, the effort also is seen by thousands of “visitors” to university and city websites and social media.

Student/city partners
Collaboration between the city’s code enforcement team and Greek community at CMU has developed into “Greeks Clean the Streets.”

CMU were involved as volunteers and participants at the inaugural Freakin’ Freezing Challenge, a winter obstacle run established in 2013.

A few Sunday mornings each semester are spent removing trash along streets surrounding campus.

Going further, city-led events rarely take place without the help of CMU student volunteers, who assist with planning and execution of events such as the Freakin’ Freezing Challenge, a new winter obstacle run.

Students helping children
A spirit of care benefits even the youngest Mt. Pleasant residents.

In the Biobuds program, CMU graduate students visit elementary classrooms and share their passion for biology, engaging students in science at an early age.

Consider as well the CMU student teacher who worked with four mentally impaired students to create a solar system display.

A CMU student helps festival goers onto a hayride during Mt. Pleasant’s annual Dickens’ Christmas Festival.

The project grew to involve nearly 100 fifth-grade students producing a display now exhibited at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum.

Jointly planning the future
As we move forward, the city and CMU are updating their master plans.

We’ve worked closely together and even hired the same transportation specialist to assure coordination.

This same collaboration has led to development of a town and gown group that meets monthly, with representatives from the city, CMU and area organizations.

The future is bright, and we look forward to moving into it together.

When you think of Mt. Pleasant, you think of CMU. When you think of Central Michigan University, you think of Mt. Pleasant.

That’s the way it should be.

Kathleen Ling is the Mayor of Mt. Pleasant and Dr. George Ross is the President of Central Michigan University. Ling was appointed mayor Mt. Pleasant by her fellow City Commissioners in January, 2013. Dr. Ross became the 14th president of Central Michigan University on March 1, 2010.

Alma College and City of Alma Persevere Together Through Good Times, Challenging Times

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By Mayor Mel Nyman and President Jeff Abernathy

Mayor Nyman & President Abernathy

Since its founding in 1886, Alma College has stood as a vital community partner, dramatically affecting the lives of those living in mid-Michigan and beyond. The college’s founding was made possible by Ammi Wright, a lumberman, businessman and civic leader who gave 30 acres of land and more than $300,000 to found and sustain the institution in its early years — a sum equivalent to more than $6.2 million today.

More than 125 years later, Alma College continues to value its role in the mid-Michigan community. The campus hosts the annual Alma Highland Arts Festival, which brings thousands of visitors to mid-Michigan to celebrate their Scottish heritage.

An Alma College student volunteers in the community.

As part of its mission, the college also promotes a “culture of service” in which students meet local needs through participation with numerous community agencies and organizations.

One of the key questions in the college’s most recent planning effort was how it could leverage its presence to ensure that the college can thrive together with the community. The resulting plan, while establishing important educational goals, includes an emphasis on creating a sustainable campus and community. It states directly: “We will assist our city of Alma — where we aim to create a seamless environment between the downtown and the campus— as well as communities across Mid-Michigan in order to help our region thrive in the decades to come.”

There is much to be thankful in our small community of Alma. Business is growing in the downtown. Within view of town, the largest wind farm in Michigan has risen, with 167 monuments to the new economy. The efforts by community leaders in collaboration with Alma College professors and students to address environmental challenges caused by a chemical company that left the area decades ago continue to make meaningful progress.

Downtown Alma

All this good news is especially welcome in Alma, where we have had our share of challenges. The most recent economic downtown hit mid-Michigan hard, and in October 2010, a ruinous fire all but destroyed a prominent landmark at the center of our downtown, Alma’s former Opera House. In such a close-knit community, nearly every citizen felt the impact of these and other challenges.

And yet, the values and benefits of living in a college town still appeal to many. Recent developments are evidence that collaborative college-town partnerships are making a difference. Those developments include:

The downtown Alma College bookstore.

  • In 2011, the college purchased a vacant building and moved its bookstore off campus and across the street into a location that formerly represented a geographic divide between town and gown. The college also partnered with Stucchi’s — a successful ice cream store that was destroyed in the downtown Opera House fire — and brought it in under the same roof. The new business is thriving, a welcome addition to the downtown where students and community members come together.
  • Kurt Wassenaar, an investor with local roots committed to revitalizing the downtown Alma business district, bought the burned Opera House and determined to save it from demolition. Today, the building is undergoing major renovations that will restore its historic features while providing new retail opportunities on the ground floor and, in a leasing partnership with Alma College, student apartments on the second and third floors.

    Alma Fall Festival helps bring the city and college together.

  • Alma College has set an aggressive goal to place a large number of interns across mid-Michigan in an effort to help non-profits and governmental entities that lost so many resources in the recent downturn. Such work is hugely beneficial to Alma students even as it will help to sustain the communities across our region. Alma College students can learn how to leave positive footprints in Alma and wherever they go in the future.
  • Alma College’s Center for Responsible Leadership and the Gratiot Area Chamber of Commerce sponsor an annual Fall Festival in October in downtown Alma. The purpose of the event is to strengthen the connection between the college and community and to encourage community members, merchants and students to meet and interact in a positive and education atmosphere. Activities include merchant specials and giveaways, raffle drawings, face and pumpkin painting, kids activities and more.

Reaching out to the community is a part of Alma College’s mission to “prepare graduates who think critically, serve generously, lead purposefully and live responsively.” We remain committed to the exciting work of building and nurturing community partnerships that will be key to the college’s future as well as that of our town and region.

Mel Nyman is the Mayor of Alma and Jeff Abernathy is the President of Alma College.

Big Rapids, Ferris State University Joined at the Hip

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Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan

By Mayor Mark J. Warba and President David Eisler

Mayor Warba and President Eisler

On September 1, 1884 – over 128 years ago – Woodbridge Ferris opened the Big Rapids Industrial School on S. Michigan Avenue.

For an institution that started in rented rooms on the third floor of a business building in downtown Big Rapids, Ferris State University has grown into an educational enterprise. It now has 119 buildings on the 880-acre Big Rapids campus and also in downtown Grand Rapids, as well as partner sites at 17 community colleges around the state.

The university has an operating budget of over $270 million and it employs more than 1,400 full-time employees with an annual payroll of over $120 million. Ferris has an annual net economic impact of over $90 million, with two-thirds of the spending occurring in Mecosta County, where more than 65 percent of students attend classes on the main campus, and 88 percent of Ferris faculty and staff work in Big Rapids.

Big Rapids is the seat of government for Mecosta County, with a vibrant downtown and an industrial base that continues to thrive and transform itself while creating numerous employment opportunities. The Mecosta County Medical Center consistently ranks in the Top 100 hospitals in the United States in quality performance measures, and the Roben-Hood airport continues to grow and expand.

The university and the city recognize the continuing importance of communicating and cooperating with one another, and with their partners in the community. Examples include:

1. Monthly meetings during the academic year between representatives of the university, city and Mecosta County to discuss topics such as infrastructure improvements, training opportunities with members of public safety, utilities and recycling.

2. Quarterly town-gown meetings that bring together representatives from education, local government and the community, including the university president, superintendent of public schools and mayor.

Ferris State University campus

3. The “Big Event,” where Ferris State University students come together and give back to the community by performing household chores for area residents. The chores include washing windows, raking leaves, trimming bushes, small paint jobs, and more. Labor and supplies are provided completely free of charge, and last year tmore than 1,800 students volunteered at over 200 homes in the Big Rapids community.

4. The Festival of the Arts that is held throughout the month of February, where the university, in association with the Big Rapids community, brings together numerous individuals, volunteers, artists and event sponsors for a celebration of the arts, ranging from photography, to writing and music.

5. Members of the University’s administration participate in meetings with local manufacturers to say thank you for doing business in the Big Rapids community, and to look for ways to help the manufacturers, the university and the community grow.

6. Support for the United Way campaign in Mecosta and Osceola counties, helping to make the area’s United Way one of the very few in Michigan that continues to grow and meet its goal, albeit in a region that includes two of the poorest counties in the Lower Peninsula.

Big Rapids business district

7. Providing assistance in other ways as needed. For example, during a period of upcoming renovation for the public library, the university library will provide services for local residents.

The city and the university have also maintained a commitment to campus and community growth and improvement, with some of the highlights including:

A. In 2001, the Ferris Library for Information, Technology and Education “FLITE” was completed, and in 2012, the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia opened in the lower level of the library.

B. In 2004, the Granger Center for Construction and HVACR opened, with various elements of its construction and its heating and cooling systems open to view in order to facilitate learning.

C. In 2007, the city had the number 1 project in the state as part of the Vibrant Small City Initiative Program, allowing it to invest nearly $3 million to improve its downtown, including streetscape, facade improvements, way-finding signage and cultural center enhancement.

D. In 2008, the city embarked on improvements to its wastewater treatment plant, which services the university and two surrounding townships, totaling more than $7 million.

Downtown Big Rapids

E. In 2012, the Michigan College of Optometry opened its state-of-the-art facility on the university campus. As the only College of Optometry in the state and one of just 20 in the country, the new building provides the resources the college needs to produce graduates to meet a growing need.

F. This year, the city will begin moving forward in making improvements to one of the two bridges that span the Muskegon River, increasing access to the industrial park, the riverwalk system, and local streets, at a cost of nearly $6 million.

At the Michigan Municipal League’s 2012 Convention, one of the core legislative principles that was adopted recognized how educational institutions play a central role in growing and supporting a knowledge-based economy. The legislative principal also recognized how local government must effectively collaborate with such key community stakeholders and participate as a partner in decisions that impact the community.

Big Rapids and Ferris State University are truly joined at the hip as we both realize our mutual success depends on cooperation. Together we both grow and prosper. As such, we fully support the League’s emphasis on effective town-gown initiatives. This is something we both have recognized and appreciated for more than 128 years.

Mark J. Warba is the mayor of Big Rapids and David Eisler is the president of Ferris State University.