Plans to expand MSU's College of Human Medicine into West Michigan will take shape today with the purchase of land in Grand Rapids.
The MSU Board of Trustees will meet at 3 p.m. in Grand Rapids to officially purchase land on the corner of Michigan Street and College Avenue, moving forward the expansion that has been in the works for three years. The purchase will set in motion the building of the new school, which is scheduled to accept its first four-year class in 2010.
At the meeting, university officials also will elect new board officers and could discuss naming the medical school.
Peter Secchia, an MSU alumnus and Grand Rapids native who has contributed significantly to the project, might lend his name to the new school. Secchia, who is recovering from a car accident following Sunday's MSU basketball game, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Trustee Donald Nugent said when an individual donates 50 percent or more to a project such as this, it usually will be named after the donor.
The land for the project is expected to cost more than $15 million.
"The Secchia naming, for Peter and Joan Secchia, will more than likely occur," Nugent said. "Namings are done normally because of significant donations."
The amount of money the Secchias donated to the project should be announced at the same time, Nugent added.
Last year, MSU formed an $85 million partnership with Spectrum Health to help make the school a reality. Other partners in the school's creation include a $16 million agreement with the Van Andel Institute and a $10 million collaboration with Saint Mary's Health Care.
Trustee Dorothy Gonzales said traveling to Grand Rapids shows how enthusiastic and serious university officials are about the expansion.
"It's a way for people to understand what we're doing and what's going on over there," Gonzales said. "We're looking at the site and becoming familiar with what's happening.
"We had talked about this some time ago, and since we have gotten the site over there, we decided it would be a good thing to do that. We should really do that more often — going to different sites. I would prefer that."
Today's meeting is one of two for the board this week, when newly elected trustees Faylene Owen and George Perles will make their debut.
On Friday, university officials will return to East Lansing to appoint an acting dean to the College of Natural Science and update the 2020 Vision master plan for campus development.
Kristi Jourdan can be reached at jourdank@msu.edu.
