CMED remains halfway to fundraising goal, majority in pledges
Central Michigan University's College of Medicine remains about halfway to its fundraising goal of $25 million, as it has been since April.
The vast majority of the funds already received are in the form of pledges, not cash, Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations said in an e-mail.
The pledges are signed commitments from individuals, corporations and foundations and are usually accompanied with the first check of their commitment.
Wilbur said she was pleased with the fundraising process, because the second half of a goal is often more difficult to reach than the first.
A $100,000 donation from an alumna/alumnus was revoked in April 2009.
The next step in CMED's development is a survey visit by Liaison Committee on Medical Education in mid-November.
In February 2012, LCME will vote to decide if the medical school will receive accreditation, and send a letter to the committee in March.
The CMED committee met at 2 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the progress of the initiative, and prepared to update the rest of the trustees Thursday at the regular meeting.
The CMED committee is comprised of Trustees Sam Kottamasu, Marilyn French Hubbard, Patricia Maryland and Robert Wardrop II. Hubbard was absent from Wednesday's meeting, but all were present on Thursday.
Ernest Yoder, founding dean of CMED, said they have estimated about 100 faculty, 70 clinicians and 30 foundation scientists to open the curriculum. Clinicians would be made up of family physicians, internal physicians, surgeons and other hands-on staff. Foundation scientists would be molecular biologists, anatomists, pathologists and others medical theorists.
"Approximately seven of the foundation scientists would be from CMU," Yoder said. "The other 23 will be from all over the country and other medical schools."
Yoder said the opportunities for promotion, as well as the opportunity to work in the founding stages of a medical school, will draw professionals to CMED.
The building itself is expected to be ready for furniture in late November, following the LCME visit.
"I can tell you from a walk through ... the progress that’s been made is remarkable," Yoder said.
The university is also hoping to start residency programs for psychiatry and pediatrics in Saginaw, Yoder said. They have submitted an application for the psychiatry program and are currently looking at the feasibility of the pediatrics program.
