EMU : All posts

50-year-old finds college to be great therapy for short-term memory loss

Valerie Eby, a 50-year-old mother of 10, is working on earning a bachelor's degree in history at Eastern Michigan University.

Janet Miller | AnnArbor.com

But that was not all the 50-year-old mother of 10 girls was doing.

EMU's new College of Business dean focusing on fundraising to offset lower state contributions

When Michael Tidwell took over as dean of the Eastern Michigan University College of Business last summer, he inherited a program that was ranked as a top business school by Princeton Review for eight straight years.

“Coming in, this program obviously has tremendous strength in the quality of the curriculum and the quality of the faculty,” Tidwell said. “I also think we have a very strong alumni base.”

EMU police: Student robbed by 4 men then punched in face

Update: EMU released a statement Saturday evening that said their investigation of this report indicates that it was a false police report.

• Updated story: Police: EMU student may face charges for filing false armed robbery report

An Eastern Michigan University student told police that he was robbed by four men - one with a handgun - at about 6:30 p.m. Friday in a campus parking lot.

EMU student tells police professor 'kicked' him to wake him during class-time nap

An Eastern Michigan University student may have been too tired to stay awake in class Monday, but he found the energy to report his professor to campus police for waking him up with what he called a “kick.”

Roy Wilbanks: EMU 'Regents had to protect' university with Susan Martin letter

EMU President Susan Martin

File photo

Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents chair Roy Wilbanks said in an email to an EMU alumnus the “regents had to protect” the university, “hence the letter” in which the board formally reprimanded President Susan Martin.

The letter to Martin -among documents posted July 10 on the EMU website - followed an April event in Washington D.C. when she got into an argument with alumnus Mike Ferens after consuming alcohol.

Susan Martin controversy: Conversation about EMU's former Huron logo sparked 'a little miscommunication,' alumnus says

Eastern Michigan University President Susan Martin speaks during the news conference to announce Rob Murphy as head basketball coach in April 2011. The Board of Regents has told Martin to control her drinking in public after an argument with an alumnus, Michael Ferens.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com file photo

EMU president reprimanded by regents after alcohol-related squabble in Washington, D.C.

Susan Martin

File photo

• Related: EMU President Susan Martin on argument involving alcohol: 'I made a mistake... and I own' it
  • FULL TEXT: EMU Board of Regents letter to President Susan Martin and her response
  • Susan Martin controversy: EMU's former Huron logo sparked 'a little miscommunication,' alumnus says

  The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents has formally reprimanded President Susan Martin for behavior at a recent event in Washington D.C. when she allegedly got into an argument with an alumnus after consuming alcohol.

  In a May 17 letter, the board's executive committee threatened to fire Martin if she did not control her drinking.

  "We have become aware of a recent incident in Washington, D.C. in which you conducted yourself in a way that was inappropriate for your position and reflected poorly on the university," a letter from the Board of Regents states. "The incident involved the consumption of alcohol."

  The board went on to say it was worried about Martin's "misuse of alcohol" and "concerned about you as a person," and encouraged her to seek counseling. The board also said Martin's alcohol consumption may not only damage the reputation of the university, but lead to future liability issues.

  Additionally, the letter mentioned "prior incidents discussed with you," but did not elaborate.

  More after the jump…

with gallery: EMU Police Chief Greg O'Dell remembered as 'a hero cop' during emotional memorial service

Friends and family of Greg O'Dell offered a final salute to the Eastern Michigan University police chief during an emotional memorial service today.

Several hundred people, including officers from EMU, Ann Arbor and other area police departments, attended the service inside Pease Auditorium on EMU's campus.

"Greg was a hero cop," said former Ann Arbor Police Chief Dan Oates, who worked with O'Dell and considered him a close friend.

Greg O'Dell says leaving U-M police to return to EMU strictly a personal decision

Previous story: New U-M police chief will return to head EMU's public safety department - for less pay

When the opportunity to return to a job and university that he loved arose, Greg O’Dell said he simply couldn’t refuse the chance.

Eastern Michigan University announced O’Dell was returning to the EMU Department of Public Safety as its chief of police Wednesday after a few months holding the same position with the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety.

In an interview with AnnArbor.com, O’Dell said he couldn’t turn down the unique opportunity to return to the job he originally began in February 2008.

Eastern Michigan University student charged with arson

An Eastern Michigan University student accused of setting a small fire Wednesday in a bathroom at the Student Center told police he planned to burn the building down, but changed his mind, EMU Interim Public Safety Director Bob Heighes said.

Paul Travis McClendon, 55, of Ypsilanti Township, was arraigned this afternoon at the Washtenaw County Jail on a charge of arson.

Man accused of robbing EMU student is held on $100,000 bond

A man accused of stealing an Eastern Michigan University student's backpack and punching the student repeatedly in the face after being confronted about it, is being held at the Washtenaw County Jail on a $100,000 cash or surety bond.

Jeremiah K. Sawyer, 17, of Ypsilanti Township, was arraigned this afternoon at the jail on a charge of unarmed robbery.

EMU student confronts thief, recovers stolen backpack, police say

An Eastern Michigan University student confronted a teenager who stole his backpack Wednesday and was able to yank it back from him despite being assaulted, campus police said.

Officers arrested a 17-year-old Ypsilanti Township boy after the struggle outside the Warner Building.

Free shuttle service to launch next week as classes resume at Eastern Michigan University

A new shuttle service and bus pass program will launch next week as classes resume on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.

EMU officials and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority joined today in announcing the new Route 34 West Campus Shuttle, which begins Aug. 31.

Letters to editor

OPINION: Gov. Snyder's plan for "improving schools" is short on information

I would strongly urge a pause for reflection and investigation of the details of the proposal for “improving schools” offered by Governor Snyder. We have seen before with Gov. Snyder how his playing close to the vest, is part of his way of leading and operating.

Since in public policy, the devil is in the details, it would behoove us to find out the details of his thinking about his vision for the direction this board will take and whom he can trust to fulfill his plans. Otherwise, we are again buying a pig in a poke and abrogating our responsibility to transparency in governing ourselves.

Detroit Free Press: EMU faculty refuse to work in failing schools if it means breaking union contracts

Faculty from Eastern Michigan University will refuse to participate in a plan to reform failing schools if their work means nullifying any existing union contracts, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press

EMU's participation in the state's new Education Achievement System was approved by the EMU Board of Regents Tuesday .

"We won't have our membership involved in breaking union contract," said Howard Bunsis, treasurer of the EMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

EMU hopes to 'make a difference' for Detroit students with its new role in state takeover of failing schools

This story has been updated with quotes from Susan Moeller

The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents formally approved the university’s participation in a new system for governing failing schools in Michigan and appointed two regents to the board of the Education Achievement System.

The regents unanimously voted to join the Education Achievement System and appointed regents Michael Hawks and James Stapleton to serve on the authority board of the new system.

Eastern Michigan University regents approve tuition increase and layoffs

Eastern Michigan University students will see a 3.65 percent increase in tuition — the lowest increase among state public universities — and about 70 positions will be cut as a part of the university’s 2011-12 budget.

The university’s Board of Regents voted unanimously to approve the budget in Tuesday’s meeting. The tuition increases and staffing cuts were a part of the $281.4 million university budget for the 2011-12 school year.

Budget shortfalls put more pressure on Eastern Michigan athletic department

The Eastern Michigan football team draws an average of 6,400 fans to home football games. Eastern uses $150,00 from a contract with Pepsi to purchase tickets from itself to meet NCAA attendance standards.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

On the day that Eastern Michigan University fired its basketball coach earlier this year, one of the school’s regents, Jim Stapleton, scolded athletic department officials for the decision.

Not necessarily because he thought coach Charles Ramsey had done a stellar job - in six years, Ramsey compiled a 68-118 record. But Stapleton believed the $176,416 it cost to buy out the remaining year of Ramsey’s contract was an expense the cash-strapped school could not afford.

The decision showed “a stunning lack of sensitivity to where we find ourselves fiscally as an institution,” Stapleton said at the time.

Today, the extent of Eastern Michigan’s precarious financial position will be made clear. With an $11.4 million cut in state appropriations looming, regents will vote on the school’s annual budget. Combined with a possible $12 million increase in expenses, EMU could face a $23.4 million shortfall.

EMU to create new special education research center after $3M donation

The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents will vote Tuesday on establishing a new academic center for special education research and scholarship Tuesday following $3.15 million in donations.

The Delores Soderquist Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research would be housed within the Department of Special Education in EMU’s College of Education.

Eastern Michigan University to play major role in Snyder's new statewide system to run failing schools

Eastern Michigan University will play a significant role in a new authority established by Gov. Rick Snyder to turn around 200 failing Michigan public schools.

Snyder, speaking at a press conference in Detroit, revealed plans to establish the Education Achievement System, a new, statewide school system that will take over the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools not achieving satisfactory results on a redesign plan or under the control of an emergency manager.