Around NMU

Reliable internet access is critical in today's world. This has been verified during the pandemic, with at least temporary shifts to virtual education and medical appointments. For two U.P. Community Action Agencies, Alger-Marquette and Gogebic-Ontonagon, the pandemic also revealed some community members they serve confronted barriers to securing internet access when it was needed most. They were able to address the issue with assistance from Northern Michigan University's Center for Rural Health and the NMU Educational Access Network through the Digital Divide program.

The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees presented its annual Student Achievement Awards in advance of the May 1 commencement. Recipients were: Sarah Kendall of Faribault, Minn., Outstanding Graduating Senior; Elizabeth Mansfield of Boyne Falls, Mich., Outstanding Graduating Senior; Lauren Rotundo of Marquette, Outstanding Student of Any Class; Logan Hartz of Rochester, Ind., Outstanding Non-Traditional Student; and Andrea Fox of Euclid, Ohio, Outstanding Global Campus Student.

Two Northern Michigan University entities are holding a virtual Walk for Justice throughout the month of May to raise awareness of what has been called “the silent epidemic” of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

Northern Michigan University will host the 14th Biennial Lake Superior Youth Symposium from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 14. Students in grades 8-12 are invited to attend the virtual event with a teacher from their school who is registered by the May 6 deadline. Activities will include watershed research, investigations, artistic expression, team/leadership building skills and recreational opportunities. 

The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees approved a recommendation that there be no increase in the standard room and board rate for a traditional residence hall for the 2021-22 academic year.

Northern Michigan University English Professor Kia Jane Richmond is the first recipient of the newly endowed Stephen Young & Tricia Kinley Distinguished Faculty Award, NMU's top honor for significant professional contributions to teaching, scholarship and service. Richmond will be recognized during the May 1 virtual commencement. She was previously the student-selected faculty speaker for December 2020 graduates.

To increase inclusivity, Northern Michigan University introduced a new tool for its existing EduCat learning management system this past semester. More than 600 courses used Ally software to automatically check for accessibility issues and generate alternative formats for common course content, and students downloaded more than 5,000 related materials. Ally increases usability for all students, particularly those with learning disabilities such as visual impairments and dyslexia. It also gives faculty feedback and training on how to improve accessibility.

Northern Michigan University's May 1 virtual commencement will feature 24 graduates who have earned an Honors Program designation, the most since the program's inception in fall 1998. This follows another achievement last fall, when the Honors Program recorded its largest incoming cohort ever, with 88 new students.

Northern Michigan University's School of Health and Human Performance will celebrate the first graduates of its new Master of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) program on Saturday. Four students have completed the requirements of the inaugural “3+2” program. They will earn both a bachelor's degree in sports science and an MSAT—176 credits in all—and be among all graduates honored during NMU's virtual commencement.

Spencer Cota of Highland, Mich., has been named the Northern Michigan University College of Technology and Occupational Sciences 2020-21 outstanding graduating senior. A first-generation college student, Cota is graduating May 1 with a bachelor's degree in construction management.