After nearly a year in the making, Michigan’s first non-partisan educational research institute will open its doors at MSU.

University officials will hold a grand opening ceremony for the Education Policy Center on Thursday. The center will conduct research and outreach activities dealing with Michigan K-12 school systems.

“The policy environment has changed greatly in Michigan,” said David Plank, a professor of educational administration. “The university decided it would be great to provide policy-makers with credible, research-based non-partisan information.”

Plank will serve as the center’s director. He said the educational think tank will focus on issues such as educational accountability, assessment and performance in Michigan schools during its first year.

Until the creation of the center, state policy-makers often relied on groups pushing particular agendas.

The center publishes reports and other information about education on its Web site, located at www.epc.msu.edu.

The center received formal approval from the MSU Board of Trustees last spring.

MSU Trustee Dorothy Gonzales said the center will help the public get the facts about education without worrying about politics.

“It’s important that anybody that wants to gather information can do so without getting the impression that it caters to one side or the other,” she said. “This makes the broadest range of information available to individuals.”

The grand opening of the Education Policy Center will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday in 252 Erickson Hall. President M. Peter McPherson, Provost Lou Anna Simon and College of Education Dean Carole Ames are scheduled to speak at the opening.