STATE UNIVERSITIES
MSU, MasterCard Foundation partner to help African youth
A five-year, $13 million collaboration between Michigan State University and The MasterCard Foundation will help 15,000 young people access employment opportunities in the fast-growing horticulture and aquaculture sectors in Tanzania and Nigeria. The partnership will focus on youth ages 18-24 in several regions across Africa.
Grand Valley announces Design Thinking Academy
A new program called Design Thinking Academy at Grand Valley State University will help students become innovative thinkers and make lasting impacts in the world by utilizing the design thinking process. The undergraduate program will involve high-impact activities that contribute to social, civic and business innovation. Fifteen students will be accepted into the program beginning in fall 2017.
Janke family makes $500,000 gift to Ferris State
The Ferris Foundation has announced a $500,000 gift from Ken Janke Jr. and his wife, Kim, as part of Ferris State University’s campaign to construct a new PGA Golf Management Learning Center, which will also serve as the new home of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. Ferris’ PGA Professional Golf Management program has graduated more than 1,800 PGA golf professionals since its founding.
PEER INSTITUTIONS
UI introduces new online master’s degree in accountancy
The University of Illinois College of Business will launch an online-only master’s degree in accountancy, and will begin accepting applications April 14. The program, called the iMSA, will be offered in partnership with Coursera, the Silicon Valley educational technology company that already offers the iMBA, an online MBA degree from UI through its platform of massive open online courses.
New campus comes to life at Columbia
After more than a decade of planning and building, the 17-acre Manhattanville campus at Columbia University is coming to life. The Jerome L. Green Science Center, home to Columbia’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, and the Lenfest Center for the Arts open this spring, and by 2021 they will be joined by the University Forum and Columbia Business School.
— Compiled by Meg Bauer, The University Record
