WMU med school plans enter new phase

By now Western Michigan University had hoped to be further along in its search for a founding dean for a medical school. But a surplus of good candidates has slowed things down.

The seven-member search committee started with 60 candidates interested in the position and expected to narrow that down to 15 to 20 good candidates. Instead they have found a far larger pool of outstanding professionals, says Dr. Jack Luderer, interim dean of the new school and chair of the search committee.

"This will take a bit longer than originally anticipated, and our focus will continue to be on finding the right match," Luderer says.

Over the coming weeks a number of candidates will visit Kalamazoo for a first round of private visits. As the process is still in the confidential stage the names of those invited for interviews are not being announced to the public.

The committee expects to narrow the field of candidates and bring several finalists back to town for a round of interviews and public presentations late in the summer or early fall.

To deal with other necessary steps in founding the medical school, a steering committee has been meeting regularly. It consists of Luderer and the three founding organizations' leaders -- WMU President John M. Dunn, Borgess President and CEO Paul A. Spaude and Bronson President and CEO Frank Sardone.

A new communications committee and facilities committee also have formed and are getting prepared to move quickly once the founding dean has been hired.

A school of medicine in Kalamazoo has been under discussion and in the planning stage since late 2007. During a November 2009 board of trustees meeting Dunn announced a $1.8 million anonymous gift made to provide seed money for the next steps in the development process, including the search for a dean, and the board endorsed the school.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source:  Cheryl Roland, WMU