Michigan university presidents say higher education must remain a top priority if government officials want to make long-term investments for the state.

At a meeting of the Michigan Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education Tuesday in the Charles V. Park Library, University President Michael Rao used the success stories of eight students to show how CMU graduates are poised to make an impact.

He said CMU is continually grateful for the support it gets from the state.

“These are just some of your returns on the investments of people’s resources,” Rao told senators.

Biomedical and neuroscience major James Reinecke spoke of how his lab work at CMU prepared him for internships at two major medical institutions: Washington University and the Albert Einstein School of Medicine.

“Even though we are a smaller state university, undergraduates get a lot of independence,” the Grand Haven senior said.

East China senior Amber Demara, an apparel merchandising major who will graduate in May with job prospects already in mind, told of her decision to attend CMU over other private institutions focused solely on design.

She has since had the opportunity to dig into her future career field working overseas in London through a program sponsored by the American InterContinental University.

“Fashion is a global industry, so what better opportunity to go and study abroad?” she asked the senators.

Broadcast and cinematic arts major Waldo “Glen” Bronson had the chance to spend a semester filming a documentary series in Sydney, Australia.

“This was my first opportunity to really feel like I was a producer,” the Flint senior said.

In response to the vast array of CMU programs presented by student representatives, Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, expressed appreciation for one that was not mentioned.

CMU’s capital internships program, new this spring, allows students to work in legislative and other state government offices twice a week to gain experience with the role government plays in the community.

Anderson asked for CMU’s continued support of the program.

“I would ask that the university take a look at any resources that could be used to take care of that,” he said.

Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, expressed interest in a developing CMU project-the proposed medical school.

“I think that could be a tremendous benefit to the state,” he said.

John Dunn, president of Western Michigan University, which also is engaged in conversations about developing a medical school, said he thinks the outcropping of several such programs around the state will be more a benefit than a means of competition.

“If we were to all materialize, we still would not meet the current demand or the demand as it relates to the United States as a whole,” he said.

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E-mail the author: Heidi Fenton