A Message from the Chief Financial Officer Western Michigan University remains fiscally strong and a tremendous value to the students and families we serve and is a valuable resource to our constituencies across the nation. WMU remains a vibrant and vital organization. The pages that follow detail the University’s financial position. The report has been reviewed by our external auditor Plante & Moran and presented to the WMU Board of Trustees. We offer it more broadly in the spirit of transparency. The attached financial statements and financial indicators demonstrate the progress WMU is making in leveraging its resources in a way that helps the University community fulfill its strategic plan. That progress is occurring even in the face of significant financial challenges, and we are proud of the way we have shepherded institutional resources to help achieve the University’s goals. Each day, we balance risk and return, long-term responsibilities and short-term needs, pension and health care commitments, insurance opportunities, and the needs and expectations of the individuals who comprise our campus community—all to ensure a sound footing for a transcendent cause. Public higher education on our campus is learner centered, discovery driven and globally engaged. We put the traditions of sound accounting and investment to work in the service of those goals.
Jan Van Der Kley Vice President for Business and Finance Western Michigan University
Financial Report 15