KALAMAZOO – Exploring the feasibility of establishing a higher education
center as part of the Arcadia Commons West initiative is
under way, according to a statement of intent issued Friday by the
presidents of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College and
Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
President Marilyn Schlack of KVCC, President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran of
Kalamazoo College, and WMU President John Dunn have committed to working
together to provide a stronger and more cooperative higher-education
presence in the core of Kalamazoo County.
They believe their joint planning will also help to promote the
community’s sustainability initiatives. This past year, the three
institutions endorsed the Southwest Michigan Regional Sustainability
Covenant. The current statement of intent is another step toward making
Kalamazoo a more sustainable community by exploring the use of shared
resources and facilities.
The agreement to explore the creation of a higher education
center as one of the Arcadia Commons West’s major components
will provide opportunities to apply for planning grants for the center
and for the ACW’s other educational and economic-development elements
– job creation, housing, neighborhood improvements, retail and
commercial growth, parking and transportation, urban gardens and a
food-producing cooperative, an enhancement of Kalamazoo’s art
community, and entertainment.
During the planning phase, programs that have been proposed to be
housed at a higher education center will be examined – a culinary-arts
school that would be unique to the Kalamazoo community,
food-administration and dietetics degree-granting programs, an art
gallery/curatorial-training center, the community’s sustainability
center, and a collaboration that would bring together elements involving
international education and diversity.
“A higher education center,” said WMU President John M. Dunn, “will
be both a celebration of Kalamazoo’s core values and a way to expand
opportunities for community citizens by leveraging the resources and
strengths of our three institutions. Collaborative ventures like this
are a hallmark of sustainable development.”
KVCC and Western also want to begin moving forward on
workforce-training plans and on a schedule of pre-requisite courses that
will prepare future enrollees in the programs that would be based in a
higher education center.
KVCC has taken an initial step in that direction by establishing its
Workforce Development Center at the Northside Association for Community
Development (NACD) on North Park Street. That is in sync with the
evolving Arcadia Commons West concept’s goal of having positive
impacts on adjacent Kalamazoo-core neighborhoods.
“As we move forward in our planning for Arcadia Commons West,”
Schlack said, “the job-training program can lead to providing workers
for the urban gardens and food-growing cooperative that is taking shape.
It all ties in to the re-opening of the grocery store across the street
from the NACD and in the college?s intentions to establish a
culinary-arts program in conjunction with Western in Kalamazoo
County?s core.”
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