GV named best workplace for commuters

For the ninth year in a row, Grand Valley State University has received the “Best Workplace for Commuters” recognition from the Best Workplaces for Commuters (BWC), an organization managed by the Center for Urban Transportation Research. BWC judges workplaces across the country in consideration for this acknowledgment. To earn the designation, an employer must provide a way for at least 14 percent of their employees to not travel alone to-and-from work for 12 months.

GVSU Transportation Services’ partnership with The Rapid, which also received recognition from BWC, has helped with GVSU’s winning of this award for the past couple years, as any faculty, students and staff can ride for free. They also offer car rental and car pooling programs.

GV becomes full partner of Detroit Promise

On Friday, Feb. 10, Grand Valley State University President Thomas Haas signed paperwork making GVSU a full partner of Detroit Promise, a foundation headed by the Detroit Regional Chamber that provides students who graduate from Detroit high schools a tuition-free path to obtaining a college degree. The foundation covers the cost of tuition that isn’t already covered by grants and scholarships.

By joining the program, students involved in Detroit Promise and interested in GVSU will have an easier time applying to the university.

Haas signed the paperwork at a signing event at the GVSU Detroit Center with several Detroit and Michigan education officials present, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. GVSU is the 12th four-year university to join the program.

Board of Trustees approves new doctorate, housing rates, ravines project

At the meeting of the Grand Valley State University Board of Trustees Friday, Feb. 10, the board approved a new doctor of audiology degree, an increase in price on campus living and a ravine restoration project.

The doctor of audiology is an 84-credit degree that includes clinical and experimental learning and a 12-month internship. Students who complete the program will be eligible to receive the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology and the Licensure in Audiology. The first is awarded by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the second is awarded by the State of Michigan.

The program is set to start in the fall of 2018.

The board also approved a 2.4 percent cost increase in on-campus living, which results in an increase of $26 (1.7 percent) per semester, and traditional living centers will cost $2,750 per semester.

Along with these, the board approved funding for a project dubbed the Mackinac Ravine Restoration Project. The board approved the budget of $4 million to raise the level of the ravine and plant appropriate vegetation to promote the protection of the trees and other wildlife in the area in order to repair damage done to the area by excessive storm water. Sidewalk and utility improvements will also be made on the south side of the Seymour and Esther Padnos Hall of Science.

GV Future Alumni Association to host GVS(You) Week

To educate the Grand Valley State University community about the ins-and-outs of private funding at GVSU, the Future Alumni Association will host “GVS(You) Week” from Monday, Feb. 20, to Friday, Feb. 24. Featured events include several opportunities to write thank you notes to donors in the Kirkhof Center, an ice cream social with information on how philanthrophy works at GVSU and a Spirit Day for students to wear their Laker gear. 

For more information about GVS(You) Week, visit https://www.gvsu.edu/faa/gvsyou-week-8.htm.