Nov 24, 2024  
Undergraduate Catalog 2008-09 
    
Undergraduate Catalog 2008-09 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

University Overview


020.jpg Founded in 1903, Western Michigan University is a state-assisted, co-educational institution located in Kalamazoo, midway between Chicago and Detroit. Three major highways, Amtrak, commercial airlines, and numerous bus routes connect the city with the rest of the nation. The population of Kalamazoo is 81,000. Kalamazoo County has a population of 283,000.

 

Mission

Western Michigan University is a student-centered research university, building intellectual inquiry, investigation, and discovery into all undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. The University provides leadership in teaching, research, learning, and public service. Nationally recognized and internationally engaged, the University:

  • Forges a responsive and ethical academic community
  • Develops a foundation for achievement in pluralistic societies
  • Incorporates participation from diverse individuals in decision-making
  • Contributes to technological and economic development
  • Engenders an awareness and appreciation of the arts

 

Goals

Western Michigan University’s mission is characterized by its pursuit of the following institutional goals:

  • To foster a safe, civil, and healthy University community
  • To provide access to academic programs at reasonable cost and in multiple settings
  • To increase diversity within the student body, faculty, and staff through institutional practices and programs
  • To recognize excellence in the teaching, research, learning, creative work, scholarship, and service contributions of students, faculty, and staff
  • To conduct ongoing assessment activities and engage in continuous improvement initiatives within the University
  • To establish life-long relationships between alumni and the University
  • To advance responsible environmental stewardship
  • To support community and regional partnerships that elevate civic, cultural, social, and economic life.

Approved by Western Michigan University’s Board of Trustees, December 7, 2001