Year in review
The Central Michigan University community has seen many ups and downs during this academic year.
This is our look at the good, the bad and the downright ridiculous.
THUMBS DOWN
A broken Promise
CMU awarded $157,000 to some fifth-year seniors in November after an oversight in the CMU Promise caused a raise in tuition.
For students with more than 100 credit hours as of fall 2005 after just three years at CMU, the CMU Promise only gave four years at a fixed tuition rate. The plan promises five years of fixed tuition to all students.
The tuition for these students increased from $179 per credit hour to $251 in fall 2006 - a more than 40 percent increase - for their fifth year.
The administration was made aware of the hole in the Promise in August and systematically denied there was an issue that needed to be corrected.
After a committee was set up to look into the issue, an appeals process was created. The appeals committee granted 264 of the 289 appeals.
SGA acts in haste
The Student Government Association House lost quorum twice in a three-week period this semester, rendering it completely ineffective.
In the weeks between, the SGA Senate adopted a resolution labeling the Young Americans for Freedom a hate group.
This came in response to the anti-gay chalkings that appeared the first day of Pride Week. In an act of haste, the Senate blamed YAF with no evidence - suspending its two-week wait rule with new legislation.
In a matter of weeks, one-half of the organization rendered itself useless and the other half misused its power.
Provost search comes up empty
After a more than five-month search, the university still has not found a new executive vice president and provost.
A 12-person committee began its search in September and identified four candidates: Gary Olson of Illinois State University, Thomas Hanley of Auburn University, Robert Sheehan of the University of Toledo and Jan Kronmiller of The Ohio State University.
Olson, the leading candidate, dropped out of the running in February.
The university now is forced to hire a professional search firm and wait until the fall to bring more candidates to campus.
Gary Shapiro, interim executive vice president and provost, should get comfortable. It might be a while until he can return as dean of the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Science.
THUMBS UP
Football wins MAC
The CMU football team won its first Mid-American Conference Championship since 1994, beating Ohio University 31-10 on Nov. 30 at Detroit's Ford Field.
In front of a crowd of 25,483 - most of which were clad in maroon and gold - redshirt freshman quarterback, Dan LeFevour led the Chippewas against the Bobcats in thrilling fashion.
The championship helped CMU earn a spot in its first-ever Motor City Bowl, where interim coach Jeff Quinn led the team past Middle Tennessee State 31-14 on Dec. 26 for its first Division I-A bowl game win.
Speaker Series kept afloat
University President Michael Rao threw the Speaker Series a one-time life preserver in October by giving it $20,000 from his office's budget.
The gift allowed the Speaker Series to bring retired Gen. Wesley Clark to campus April 2.
While this doesn't guarantee a future for the storied Speaker Series, it gave it a jump start and allowed current students the chance to see someone of Clark's caliber.
With CMU's state money in serious question, the future for the series is more grim than ever.
Let's hope the administration does everything it can to continue to keep the Speaker Series going.
New leadership
CMU's three marquee sports have fresh leadership. Athletics Director Dave Heeke has had to fill head coaching vacancies for football and men's and women's basketball.
Heeke has moved quickly in all of his searches - something that can't be said for his counterparts in CMU's academic wing.
And he brought three big names with Michigan ties back to Mount Pleasant. These coaches know the state and they know how to recruit talent.
And, it seems, they are here to stay.
