MARQUETTE, MI-- The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees Friday approved $5 million in investments for academic programs and essential services in the U.P.
The money will be used to establish the Northern Michigan Center for Rural Health on campus. It aims to create an integrated health care network to serve U.P. residents and create related academic programs. The initial network partners are NMU, the Bay Mills and Lac Vieux Desert Indian Communities, the U.P. Diabetes Outreach Network, the Family Health Center in Houghton and the Michigan Center for Rural Health.
Northern will also bolster its cyber defense academic programs and expand the Cyber Lab and software.
To address student retention, NMU will purchase the HelioCampus program. It’s a diagnostic and predictive tool used to inform programming and decision-making.
Officials also want to create a more centralized advising initiative, an expansion of NMU Career Services, and further development of the AIM North program, which offers courses in select Michigan communities to give students—especially those from underrepresented populations—a head start on college.