The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I think we write off GR and leave it to GVSU and Pleasanton.

WMU should shift to Lansing as our associate city close by. Our culture matches up much better.

Am I the only one who finds hockey boring and a black hole? Like 10% of people have an interest in hockey. Who cares about how we compare to North Dakota?

Lansing rocks. GR is just a bunch of uptight Right Wing Extremist Dutch. They don’t match up with the blossoming Kzoo/Lansing Alliance.

Ha ha. I grew up in Grandville. GR is ok but it’s not for everyone. And comparing hockey to basketball is just a joke.

Discuss.

(04-09-2022 08:30 AM)Dirty Ernie Wrote:  I think we write off GR and leave it to GVSU and Pleasanton.

WMU should shift to Lansing as our associate city close by. Our culture matches up much better.

Am I the only one who finds hockey boring and a black hole? Like 10% of people have an interest in hockey. Who cares about how we compare to North Dakota?

Lansing rocks. GR is just a bunch of uptight Right Wing Extremist Dutch. They don’t match up with the blossoming Kzoo/Lansing Alliance.

Ha ha. I grew up in Grandville. GR is ok but it’s not for everyone. And comparing hockey to basketball is just a joke.

Discuss.

Your solution is to shift focus to Eaton and Ingham counties with stagnant populations and mostly MSU slappies and ignore Kent and Ottawa counties that are growing at 12%? Brilliant! I fear WMU, like yourself also uses politics in their decision making.

We have no chance to ever be a top 50 basketball program, probably not even top 100. We can however be a top 10 hockey program that sells out every home game.

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/201...0is%20not.

(04-09-2022 09:29 AM)AllBronco Wrote:  https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/201...0is%20not.

There's a lot to take away from that article.

But that's the first time I've ever heard someone call GVSU a "prestigious" university.

The subject is: Michigan universities enrollment declines while Community Colleges increase.

Well, GVSU is very much like a community college. I don’t know, but I would think a lot of the students live at home.

(04-09-2022 11:12 AM)AllBronco Wrote:  Well, GVSU is very much like a community college. I don’t know, but I would think a lot of the students live at home.

Maybe 20 years ago. Not now.

(04-09-2022 08:30 AM)Dirty Ernie Wrote:  I think we write off GR and leave it to GVSU and Pleasanton.

WMU should shift to Lansing as our associate city close by. Our culture matches up much better.

Am I the only one who finds hockey boring and a black hole? Like 10% of people have an interest in hockey. Who cares about how we compare to North Dakota?

Lansing rocks. GR is just a bunch of uptight Right Wing Extremist Dutch. They don’t match up with the blossoming Kzoo/Lansing Alliance.

Ha ha. I grew up in Grandville. GR is ok but it’s not for everyone. And comparing hockey to basketball is just a joke.

Discuss.

I honestly can't tell if you're kidding or being serious. Anyway. it's pretty awesome that WMU finally has a successful hockey program because hockey is an awesome sport and it is one reason why I chose to attend WMU. I wanted to get involved with the hockey program in some way and I did. I probably attended roughly 100 hockey games at WMU when I was there. It was great.

WMU plays in a league with the best schools in the country and we more than compete with them (now). In the past, even when we weren't good, we had regular games around the region against Big 14 opponents and other smaller schools and we could win games in their cribs and then mock our friends to their faces, even if those opportunities were few and far between.

Don't blame hockey for the men's bball program withering on the vine. Blame football.

(04-09-2022 12:31 PM)Charm City Bronco Wrote:  

(04-09-2022 08:30 AM)Dirty Ernie Wrote:  I think we write off GR and leave it to GVSU and Pleasanton.

WMU should shift to Lansing as our associate city close by. Our culture matches up much better.

Am I the only one who finds hockey boring and a black hole? Like 10% of people have an interest in hockey. Who cares about how we compare to North Dakota?

Lansing rocks. GR is just a bunch of uptight Right Wing Extremist Dutch. They don’t match up with the blossoming Kzoo/Lansing Alliance.

Ha ha. I grew up in Grandville. GR is ok but it’s not for everyone. And comparing hockey to basketball is just a joke.

Discuss.

I honestly can't tell if you're kidding or being serious. Anyway. it's pretty awesome that WMU finally has a successful hockey program because hockey is an awesome sport and it is one reason why I chose to attend WMU. I wanted to get involved with the hockey program in some way and I did. I probably attended roughly 100 hockey games at WMU when I was there. It was great.

WMU plays in a league with the best schools in the country and we more than compete with them (now). In the past, even when we weren't good, we had regular games around the region against Big 14 opponents and other smaller schools and we could win games in their cribs and then mock our friends to their faces, even if those opportunities were few and far between.

Don't blame hockey for the men's bball program withering on the vine. Blame football.

Well sure, like I said, maybe 10% of people care about hockey, but it’s totally a minor sport. But the few fans are quite devoted to it, I agree with that part of it. And no, you shouldn’t ever take me seriously.

(04-09-2022 11:12 AM)AllBronco Wrote:  The subject is: Michigan universities enrollment declines while Community Colleges increase.

Well, GVSU is very much like a community college. I don’t know, but I would think a lot of the students live at home.

GVSU has 6200 students living on campus.

WMU has (had?) a capacity of 5900 students on campus.
With recent WMU dorm tear downs probably less now.

(04-09-2022 09:43 AM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  

(04-09-2022 09:29 AM)AllBronco Wrote:  https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/201...0is%20not.

There's a lot to take away from that article.

But that's the first time I've ever heard someone call GVSU a "prestigious" university.

That article is over four years old, and Curran was an ass who was wrong about most everything. Glad he is gone.

Saying that GVSU wasn't a competitor is the kind of thinking that got us into this mess. Make no mistake - GVSU set it's sights on WMU in the early 2000's and set out to make themselves the school of choice on the west side. They often took unethical approaches to doing it - at our expense - but it has worked. They have effectively established a firewall around Kent and Ottawa counties, while out marketing us (by a lot) in the Detroit market.

(04-12-2022 09:05 AM)broncofan1 Wrote:  

(04-09-2022 09:43 AM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  

(04-09-2022 09:29 AM)AllBronco Wrote:  https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/201...0is%20not.

There's a lot to take away from that article.

But that's the first time I've ever heard someone call GVSU a "prestigious" university.

That article is over four years old, and Curran was an ass who was wrong about most everything. Glad he is gone.

Saying that GVSU wasn't a competitor is the kind of thinking that got us into this mess. Make no mistake - GVSU set it's sights on WMU in the early 2000's and set out to make themselves the school of choice on the west side. They often took unethical approaches to doing it - at our expense - but it has worked. They have effectively established a firewall around Kent and Ottawa counties, while out marketing us (by a lot) in the Detroit market.

What are those unethical approaches that you speak of?

2021 WMU

87% Mich
9.1 IL
1.3 IN
2.6 Other

Geographically, IN seems to have a lot of potential.

How come WMU doesn't participate in the Midwest Student Exchange Program?

(04-13-2022 12:45 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  2021 WMU

87% Mich
9.1 IL
1.3 IN
2.6 Other

Geographically, IN seems to have a lot of potential.

How come WMU doesn't participate in the Midwest Student Exchange Program?

MSE was poorly run, restrictive, and we rarely saw any benefit. We did participate for a while.

Indiana is very hard to pull from because in-state tuition there is very low and there just aren't many students outside of the Indianapolis area. We should be doing a lot better in Ohio. No reason we can't hit the Cleveland area hard.

(04-13-2022 08:48 PM)broncofan1 Wrote:  

(04-13-2022 12:45 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  2021 WMU

87% Mich
9.1 IL
1.3 IN
2.6 Other

Geographically, IN seems to have a lot of potential.

How come WMU doesn't participate in the Midwest Student Exchange Program?

MSE was poorly run, restrictive, and we rarely saw any benefit. We did participate for a while.

Indiana is very hard to pull from because in-state tuition there is very low and there just aren't many students outside of the Indianapolis area. We should be doing a lot better in Ohio. No reason we can't hit the Cleveland area hard.

https://www.google.com/search?q=college+...e&ie=UTF-8

^ included in link above is this article.
Check out State by State tuition costs.
Michigan is one of highest

College enrollment drop sparks recruitment scramble - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education...-freshmen/

Interesting comments. I don't think WMU should be 'writing off' any geographical location for potential students, the leadership need to focus on creating an environment which makes it attractive for ANY potential students to want to spend 4 years at WMU-with the commensurate expenditure of a lot of their money.

People go away to college/university for several reasons including:

1. Getting a career focused education which promises a good ROI (the majority I assume).
2. 'Rounding out' their education (used to call this 'finishing') before becoming a worker.
3. Social interaction including attendance at athletic events, plays, music, academic lectures, etc.
4. Adding a university education to their resume which-in general-improves employment prospects.
5. Acquiring skills necessary to 'make it' in life (blind rehab, etc.)

As an engineer who got my BSE at WMU I'm very familiar with the development of those programs. Western has had very good leadership in that Department and the programs of study they offer are attractive to potential students. Expansion into the new campus, Accreditation of the programs, offering advanced degree study, good reputation of Western engineers already in industry, having actual instructors teaching classes instead of grad students-all have contributed to making Western's Engineering programs attractive to potential students and it's why that Department has really done a good job fighting trends towards declining enrollment. Students know if they spend $ 80-100K (just guessing) to get a BSE at WMU, they'll recoup that investment in their first few years after graduation. Strictly focused on #1 above, other departments at WMU need to do as good a job as the School of Engineering to stay attractive to potential students.

As for # 2-4, Western is up against some pretty stiff competition in state and more focus needs to be done on how to make WMU more attractive compared to the competition. Kalamazoo could do more as well, since when the school benefits the community benefits. That hasn't always been recognized the Metro Kalamazoo political leadership. When Kazoo is a fun place to be, it makes WMU more attractive and students bring their money to the school and the community. Glad to see the Gazette is covering WMU better than when I attended school, for many decades Western got short-shrift by local journalists and editors-we've discussed that many times in this forum. Hey, when I was a student WMU/Kalamazoo was known as an enjoyable place to spend 4 years. When I first hired into the US auto industry in 1976 I met many WMU grads-nearly all of them VERY fondly remembered their days on campus and in Kazoo. I contrast this with others who didn't recall their college experience as fondly (UM and MSU grads in particular respected their degrees but didn't remember their college years as that enjoyable).

Finally, #5. Western had great programs in Blind rehab and Speech therapy when I was there. I'm not sure what the situation is today, but certainly niche programs like that are an incentive for certain groups to matriculate. To my knowledge no other school in Michigan has comparable programs. The numbers may not be high, but you need a broad base to address declining enrollment trends.

Thoughts?

(04-08-2022 10:20 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(04-08-2022 09:33 AM)GRBRONCO Wrote:  WMU needs to market better in the Kent-Ottawa counties. This is the fastest growing area in Michigan, and 1 of the highest in nation actually.

GVSU has over 7000 students from these 2 counties. WMU only has 1500. I know it's in GVSUs backyard so it's difficult. GVSU is also spanking WMU in Wayne/Oakland counties. 4000-2000.

Me & other GR alumni have been saying that for years.

They won't do it.

I wrote then President Bernhard in the early 1980's regarding the same thing-WMU wasn't aggressive enough in Kent/Ottawa county. He replied with a great letter agreeing with many of my views, but noting there were big 'political' challenges. In essence GVSU has always had a tremendous vision for dominating that region of Michigan-let's face it, they've done a good job expanding. Part of the problem is WMU was known for a long time as a Kalamazoo/regional university (they still are) and when prospective west Michigan students consider options beyond GVSU that necessarily includes competition from MSU/CMU/EMU (UM is in a different category as a major Research University). Most Kent/Ottawa college students attend GVSU as commuters, the once who look beyond that are fought for by a lot of schools.

(04-20-2022 05:47 AM)okgc Wrote:  ^ included in link above is this article.
Check out State by State tuition costs.
Michigan is one of highest

College enrollment drop sparks recruitment scramble - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education...-freshmen/

State funding in Michigan for higher education severely lacks the rest of the country.

https://ncses.nsf.gov/indicators/states/...te-student

This naturally leads to higher tuition rates.

(04-20-2022 11:55 AM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  

(04-08-2022 10:20 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(04-08-2022 09:33 AM)GRBRONCO Wrote:  WMU needs to market better in the Kent-Ottawa counties. This is the fastest growing area in Michigan, and 1 of the highest in nation actually.

GVSU has over 7000 students from these 2 counties. WMU only has 1500. I know it's in GVSUs backyard so it's difficult. GVSU is also spanking WMU in Wayne/Oakland counties. 4000-2000.

Me & other GR alumni have been saying that for years.

They won't do it.

I wrote then President Bernhard in the early 1980's regarding the same thing-WMU wasn't aggressive enough in Kent/Ottawa county. He replied with a great letter agreeing with many of my views, but noting there were big 'political' challenges. In essence GVSU has always had a tremendous vision for dominating that region of Michigan-let's face it, they've done a good job expanding. Part of the problem is WMU was known for a long time as a Kalamazoo/regional university (they still are) and when prospective west Michigan students consider options beyond GVSU that necessarily includes competition from MSU/CMU/EMU (UM is in a different category as a major Research University). Most Kent/Ottawa college students attend GVSU as commuters, the once who look beyond that are fought for by a lot of schools.

I believe the ability to commute to GVSU from Kent/Ottawa makes GVSU a top choice versus the MAC schools. Parents aren't willing to put their children into almost insurmountable debt when they can stay at home and pay half if they had gone away.

$6000

Michigan Association of State Universities endorses proposed major state scholarship program
https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-n...ip-program