Engineering students get a visit from one tough nerd
A team of Central Michigan University engineering students had a visit from one tough nerd today when Gov. Rick Snyder stopped by campus.
Snyder was at CMU to talk to students about their Formula 1 cars, including SAE and Chippewa Racing. Both student groups built cars and had the opportunity to show them off to Snyder. Also on Snyder's itinerary is meeting with Dr. George Kikano, the dean of CMU's College of Medicine.
While CMU has a full-time lobbyist in Lansing, the College of Medicine receives no state-appropriated funding. Snyder said it's the university's job to allocate funding to each specific college.
"It's not about picking a particular college; we try to support the university," Snyder said. "Our goal is to make sure we're providing university support. Then I feel the university should be making decisions about where they want to deploy their resources."
Kikano has expressed the need for state funding for CMED, which relies heavily on tuition dollars after CMED lost its Development Officer, someone who fundraises for the college. The dean has said it's going to take a lot more funding to make CMED successful.
"(The president and provost) have invested a lot, but what it takes to put this college on the map is lots more," Kikano previously told Central Michigan Life. "Colleges of medicine are very expensive ventures."
Snyder will also meet with faculty working on Great Lakes research. The group was recently awarded a $10 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The grant is to continue implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program. According to a press release from the EPA, CMU will implement the program while simultaneously evaluating ongoing and future Great Lakes restoration efforts.
"I think it's great CMU is getting a continuing grant to do great work on the Great Lakes," Snyder said. "That's critically important."
Two groups of students anxiously conversed with Snyder, who looked over their Formula 1 race cars. Lowell senior Al Calvi, a member of the Chippewa Racing team, said the group was excited but very nervous to hear about Snyder's visit.
"We were really ecstatic when we found out, but really nervous too," he said. "We talked to him about the formula SAE competition and all of the events we do. I think it went very well--I can say that with confidence."
Snyder, along with University President George Ross, admired the students' work.
"It's innovation, and I love to see that," Snyder said.
If you look in history, that payment was woven into the general university support pattern a decade or two ago, so it was included. The question was as enrollments change between universities, is it the right answer today, and that's something I'm willing to look at."
Al Calvi from Chippewa Racing.
"It's innovation and I love to see that," Snyder said.
