Southwestern Michigan College joins Grand Valley State University’s Omni

Thanks to an agreement signed on July 17, Southwestern Michigan College has entered into Grand Valley State University Omni. The agreement will allow Southwestern Michigan College to provide more educational opportunities to its students via classes and degrees from Grand Valley State University becoming available at Southwestern Michigan College’s Dowagiac campus.

According to the Omni program’s page on Grand Valley State University’s website, Omni “provides students with the flexibility of virtual learning with the structure, stability, and support of physical campuses conveniently located across the state.” The Omni network was established as a way to provide any student, regardless of their physical location, the opportunity to learn from Grand Valley State University, either in-person or in a hybrid format. Currently, Omni is available on Grand Valley’s campuses in Allendale and Grand Rapids, and in Battle Creek, Detroit, Jackson, Traverse City, and, with the new agreement of Southwestern Michigan College, Dowagiac.

Per the new agreement, Southwestern Michigan College students can pursue a Bachelor of Applied Science from Grand Valley State University and enroll in the Professional Innovation major or the Leadership and Business Fundamentals major beginning in the Fall 2024 semester. More programs of study are expected to become available in the future.

According to an article on Southwestern Michigan College’s website, Dr. Joseph L. Odenwald, the college’s president, was quoted as saying of the partnership, “There is no denying the economic benefits of a higher education. This partnership with Grand Valley State University will open a baccalaureate route for our technical graduates, enabling them to manage and own businesses and organizations. GVSU is a quality leader, and quality is one of our core values. Thus, this partnership is ideal.”

Dr. Odenwald went on to say of Grand Valley State University’s president, Philomena V. Mantella, “[you are] always being where students are — athletics, arts, academics, move-in day. As a university president, it’s incredibly easy to have one’s schedule dominated by meetings and events without students, who are our most important constituents. Six summers ago, Dr. Katie Hannah, our vice president for the student experience, and Branden Pompey studied your new-student orientation program as we launched our own. Your staff gave us a day of their time, which aided in the transformation of our student experience. We have seen our retention rate jump double digits, with our trip to Grand Valley a major factor.”

One of the major draws of the Omni initiative is that it does offer students the ability to take classes in a hybrid setting. Kara Van Dam, the chief executive of Omni, noted that in-person classes are important to students who are coming back to their education after an extended period of time. 

"We know students want to quickly establish a community when they join or return to the academic setting. We call it 'learn where you live.' Grand Valley is offering the flexibility of classes to help adults advance their skills in their own communities,” she said. 

Students who take part in Omni via Southwestern Michigan College will have access to a student services coordinator in Grand Valley State University’s office on the Dowagiac campus.

For more information about Southwestern Michigan College, visit the school’s website.

More information about Grand Valley State University is available on its website.