ANN ARBOR—Tim Quinn, president of Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Mich., for the past seven years, has accepted a new position at the University of Michigan.

Beginning Sept. 1, Quinn will join the U-M’s new Academic Outreach Program, which was established in late 1995 to extend the U-M’s academic resources to whomever and wherever they may be needed. As director of the Michigan Collaborative Effort for Academic Outreach, Quinn will be responsible for creating partnerships between the U-M and other Michigan colleges and universities for the development of educational programs via alternative instructional delivery systems.

Quinn will focus his initial attention on helping to create the Michigan Virtual Automotive College—a project announced earlier this year by Gov. John Engler. This project, to be led by outgoing U-M President James J. Duderstadt, is a collaboration of the state’s higher education institutions to offer training and education programs to the automotive industry via the Internet and other distance-independent technology.

“The Auto College is an important project and an example of how our state’s colleges and universities can use their resources to meet the needs of the state’s largest industry,” said U-M Provost J. Bernard Machen. “We are fortunate to have attracted someone as capable and experienced as Tim Quinn to participate in this effort.”

“I never dreamed that anything could draw me away from Northwestern Michigan College,” Quinn said. “However, the invitation to join Jim Duderstadt and the U-M in such an exciting initiative is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

During Quinn’s seven-year presidency, the college has expanded its service to the regional community through the opening of the Dennos Museum Center and the creation of the University Center and Project Interconnect.

University of Michigan