January 04, 2012/The Village Voice

The soaring cost of college has multiple causes and no easy solution

College tuition is, as any Occupy Wall Street demonstrator will tell you, too damn high. Average fees at public universities hit $8,244 this year, according to College Board figures, and a staggering $28,500 at private schools; add on another 13 grand if you want room and board or such fripperies as textbooks. Little wonder that State University of New York chancellor Nancy Zimpher recently warned at a White House education summit that "the general public might be reaching the tipping point" in their ability to pay for college.

December 8, 2012/Bridge Magazine

The Kalamazoo Promise has inspired 10 Michigan communities to develop college promises of their own — without relying on a few generous benefactors to underwrite the whole thing.

The communities, mostly distressed urban areas, are creating Promise Zones, with the goal of promising all high school graduates living within the school district boundaries financial support to attend college. Three Promise Zones — in Benton Harbor, Pontiac and Baldwin — already are writing checks. And several others expect to begin helping students in the class of 2012, possibly including Detroit.

November 27, 2011/CBS News Detroit

MUSKEGON — Grand Valley State University is part of an initiative to bring renewable energy technology to income-qualified households and programs that serve income-eligible individuals in Muskegon and Oceana counties.

Muskegon Oceana Community Action Partnership Inc. (MOCAP) was awarded a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through a Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers grant. It allows several Michigan contractors to install one or more systems at residential and income-eligible group care facilities.

November 13, 2011/Detroit Free Press

By Mary Sue Coleman, President

Phil Hanlon, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Despite the state's substantial cuts to higher education, the University of Michigan has managed to keep the cost of attendance affordable by reducing the university's administrative expenditures and through a major investment in financial aid.

In fact, for an average state student with a household income of $80,000 or less, it now costs less to attend U-M than it did six years ago. And the amount of loans in the financial aid package for this same student was less than in 2004. This year alone, the university invested more than $100 million in financial aid, and some Michigan students with annual family incomes up to about $120,000 received aid.

Ann Arbor Journal/November 12, 2011

A collaboration involving Michigan's six leading research universities, called the Michigan Corporate Relations Network, creates the first statewide university network in the country to provide a tool for business growth and attraction.

"Academia's role in the economy is rapidly changing," said Daryl Weinert, program principal investigator and executive director of the University of Michigan's Business Engagement Center, in a news release.

October 18, 2011/MTU Tech Today

Across the United States, enrollment of new graduate students has declined somewhat, while the overall graduate school enrollment has increased only slightly (1.1 percent). However, those newest numbers, reported by the Council of Graduate Schools, are not reflected at Tech.

Bucking the national trend, graduate student enrollment here has increased nearly everywhere on campus. Total graduate enrollment sits at a new record of 1,303, while new master's students have increased 6.9 percent, and new doctoral students have increased 4.3 percent.

October 08, 2011/The Grand Rapids Press

 
The Grand Rapids Press in its Oct. 2 editorial rightly points out that the cost of public higher education is an issue worthy of serious public discussion. As The Press observed, this need not be a debate about governance. Rather, it’s about what we can do together to make college more affordable.

Necessarily, this discussion begins with two elemental questions: what do state policy makers expect from their public universities; and, how will the state fulfill its constitutional obligation to maintain them? We welcome this kind of all-encompassing discussion.

October 10, 2011/The Mining Journal

SAULT STE. MARIE (AP) - A decommissioned Great Lakes freighter that now serves as a museum piece is the proving ground for engineers seeking improved ways to update large-scale industrial equipment.

The 95-year-old ore carrier Valley Camp now serves as a museum ship in Sault Ste. Marie.

October 5, 2011/Chronicle of Higher Education

Hard times in the Rust Belt aren't disturbing the University of Michigan's efforts to invest for the future.

The Ann Arbor university plans to spend $50-million over the next five years on ways to stamp out global problems such as poverty, climate change, and social injustice—just in time for its 200th birthday, in 2017. Half of the money for the Third Century Initiative—announced on Wednesday in an annual speech by President Mary Sue Coleman—will come from the university's general budget, a mix of tuition and fees, state dollars, and the indirect costs of sponsored research. The other half will come from investment income from its designated budget, which pays for and garners revenue from conferences and continuing education.

October 3, 2011/CBS Detroit

MT. PLEASANT — Mid-Michigan is home to several universities that are frequently overlooked given the giant shadow cast by Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State.

Well, Monday was another example of how Michigan’s mid-majors are doing just fine, thank you, when it comes to using and researching high tech in an effort to build the Next Michigan.

My first stop Monday was Central Michigan University, where my day began with LeRoy S. Barnes, director of plant energy and utilities, and Steve P. Lawrence, associate vice president of facilities management.

September 20, 2011/The Detroit News

Ann Arbor- Three University of Michigan researchers - all women - have been awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation's "genius grants."

U-M historian Tiya Miles, chemist Melanie Sanford and stem cell biologist Yukiko Yamashita are among the 22 new MacArthur Fellows, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced Tuesday.

It is the first time that U-M faculty members have been awarded the coveted grant since 2005. U-M tied Harvard University for having the highest number of fellows in this year's class.

September 16, 2011/MSU News

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A research team at Michigan State University has developed a laser that could detect roadside bombs – the deadliest enemy weapon encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The laser, which has comparable output to a simple presentation pointer, potentially has the sensitivity and selectivity to canvas large areas and detect improvised explosive devices – weapons that account for around 60 percent of coalition soldiers’ deaths. Marcos Dantus, chemistry professor and founder of BioPhotonic Solutions, led the team and has published the results in the current issue of Applied Physics Letters.

September 12, 2011/CBS Detroit

DETROIT — A Wayne State University reseracher has won a $418,000 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Graham Parker, assistant professor of research in the Department of Pediatrics, will use the grant to study how a particular gene might be involved in the progression of spinal muscular atrophy, the No. 1 genetic killer of children younger than 2 years old.

“Although most people have never heard of it, SMA is the most prevalent hereditary motor neuron disease, affecting four to 10 per 100,000 live births, with as many as one in 75 people being carriers of the genetic mutation,” Parker said.

June 30, 2011/Michigan Future

We have long argued that the state needs to reverse recent trends of under-investing in colleges, universities and community colleges. Michigan spent decades building a world-class systems of higher education.  The system is arguably the most import asset the state has to develop the concentration of talent Michigan needs to be successful in the knowledge-based economy.

Obviously we have not got to the point where state policy makers are willing to move back to reinvestment. In fact we are going in the opposite direction with a budget that will implement the largest reduction in state support for higher education ever. But when we are ready – hopefully soon – we now have a roadmap that should be the framework for higher education funding and policy going forward.

It comes from University of Michigan President Emeritus James J. Duderstadt. It is contained in his terrific new report for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs entitled A Master Plan for Higher Education in the Midwest. (For those interested in all the details you can get the full report here.) There are far too many good ideas in the report to cover them all here. I really urge you to read the report.

June 20, 2011/Eastern Michigan University News

YPSILANTI –  Eastern Michigan University is part of a newly created authority to run failing public schools in Michigan under a series of broad changes announced today by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The plan would restructure the Detroit Public Schools by moving some of its schools under an 11-member authority, which would include two members appointed by EMU, and to be run by the district's emergency manager, Roy Roberts.

Two members would be appointed by the Detroit Public Schools and seven by the governor.
EMU is the only one of Michigan’s 15 public universities to be involved in the project.

“We are excited and proud to collaborate in this partnership,” said Roy Wilbanks, chair of the EMU Board of Regents. “We are delighted to be involved and help play a leadership role in the education of Michigan’s children.”

June 6, 2011/Crain's Detroit Business

Last month, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law the two-year budget that cut the state's appropriations to public universities 15 percent across the board -- under the caveat that the institutions keep tuition below the average five-year tuition increase.

The losses range from about $47 million at the University of Michigan to nearly $13 million at Oakland University.

Universities and colleges strongly opposed the funding cuts, but inevitably lost as the Republican-led House and Senate passed the budget bill before Snyder signed it in May.

May 22, 2011/Crain's Detroit Business

By Mike Boulus

Virginia is one of the nation's leaders in prosperity. Its per capita income ranks seventh in the nation. It ranks sixth in the percentage of population with a college degree, and its seasonally adjusted March unemployment rate was 6.3 percent.

Michigan is an economic afterthought. We rank 37th in per capita income and 34th in percentage of population with a college degree. Our seasonally adjusted April unemployment rate was 10.2 percent.

Virginia is getting ready to turbocharge its economy. Its Republican governor has committed to add 100,000 people with college degrees or college certificates to the state's workforce -- creating more raw material for the knowledge economy -- with a focus on science and engineering graduates. And the state will increase spending on higher education next year by $65 million to do it.

May 17, 2011/Model D Startup News

Midtown  Wayne State University has received a $750,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to expand the Michigan Area Education Center program.

The Michigan Area Education Center is working to recruit and train more students for the health-care workforce. The program focuses on students in economically challenged areas to help alleviate unemployment attract more talent to the rapidly growing industry.

May 9, 2011/Detroit Free Press

Michigan's Republican lawmakers continue to press their own social agendas on the rest of the state. The latest assault came last week with an amendment to the House bill on education funding. Rep. David Agema, R-Grandville, got majority backing for his plan to subtract 5% from the state funding of any university that offers health insurance coverage for employees who live with another adult outside of marriage.

Another GOP amendment would require additional reporting on embryonic stem cell research -- a transparent effort to impede a scientific inquiry Michigan voters have explicitly endorsed. That change was added by a House subcommittee.

Michigan's Constitution gives the state's 15 universities an unusual degree of autonomy, a frequent source of annoyance for lawmakers. In this case, their zeal to control the universities may even be unconstitutional. But that won't stop them from trying.

May 3, 2011/LSJ

Student from Mason presents research paper

KALAMAZOO - Three Western Michigan University (WMU) students won a national case study competition for the second consecutive year, and WMU received the 2011 Program Excellence award for its Telecommunications and Information Management Program.

Competing against teams of graduate students, the WMU contingent competed in the International Telecommunications Education and Research Association (ITERA) National Case Study Competition. The final round of the competition and public presentations were held during ITERA's Ninth Annual Conference on Telecommunications and Information Technology April 8-10 in Indianapolis.

May 02, 2011/Crain's Detroit Business

Metro Detroit has accepted a challenge to increase the number of degrees it produces locally over the next three years in a competition with at least 27 other metros around the country.

Launched by Chicago-based CEOs for Cities, the contest puts Southeast Michigan in the running for a $1 million national marketing campaign promoting its focus on a highly educated workforce.

It also brings together disparate local efforts that work on talent development in the region.

“Much more important than winning the prize is building the collaboration among universities, colleges and other organizations” while increasing degree completion, said University of Michigan-Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little, who is co-chairing a local steering committee for the contest with Richard Rassel, chairman of Butzel Long PC.

April 15, 2011/Dome Magazine

Governor Snyder proposes the largest, one-year cut in state aid to higher education in recent history. Only by adhering to certain accomplishments, like holding tuition rates to 7 percent and increasing graduation rates, can the state’s universities take a hit as low as 15 percent. Otherwise, the reduction is larger. This comes after a decade of cuts to higher education.

Is it unthinkable, in a steady decline of state support, for public universities to think “private?”

My view is “yes,” it’s unthinkable and detrimental.

What’s the quid pro quo? If universities declared independence from the state, what would they gain? Michigan’s constitution grants broad autonomy to its 15 institutions. They are free to establish fields of discipline, admittance and graduation requirements, tuition and fees, curricula, their physical plants, and nearly all other policies and procedures.

Detroit comes in at No. 5 for the metro areas with the most new job ads posted for the engineering services sector over the last 90 days, according to Wanted Analytics.

Since January, there have been 764 new postings for jobs in this sector in metro Detroit — up 89.6 percent from the same period last year.

Civil, electrical, mechanical, industrial and environmental engineers make up the top five occupations in the sector, showing increases ranging from 69-104 percent compared to last year at this time.

March 24, 2011

LANSING -- More than 150 university students gathered today on the steps of the Capitol to protest proposed state cuts to higher education.

Carrying picket signs that read "We are the future," the students, who are from several universities statewide, including Michigan State, are upset over a proposal by Gov. Rick Snyder to slash funding for universities by $42 million.

Stefan Johnson, 34, a master's student studying anthropology at MSU, said he feared the proposed cuts would force universities to hike tuition next year.

March 13, 2011

The Golden Grizzlies and their NCAA berth may be the talk of the town at Oakland University, but one of the biggest events in this school's 54-year history will have nothing to do with sports.

In August, 50 prospective doctors will don sleek white coats for a symbolic ceremony to mark the opening of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

The medical school marks just the latest evolution for the university, where enrollment has grown, degree programs have been added and more students see OU as their first choice for college. It's an evolution that school leaders say will increase the stature of OU and help it compete with some of the big names in Michigan higher education.

OU President Gary Russi says it's only a matter of time.

"We think we are evolving into an absolute major player," Russi said.

Cynthia Koenig knows that by reinventing the wheel she could change the world. In a few months, she hopes to make a difference in India.

February 10, 2011/MIRS News

President Barack OBAMA held up the city of Marquette and Northern Michigan University (NMU) today as examples of how the United States can meet his State of the Union goal of having wireless Internet available to 98 percent of the country.

If the United States is going to continue to be an international economic powerhouse, access to high-speed Internet will be essential in attracting the new jobs and new business, he said.

More than 90 percent of homes in South Korea subscribe to the Internet, he said. Only 65 percent of U.S. households can say the same, the President said.

"When it comes to high-speed internet, the lights are still off in one-third of our households," Obama said. "For millions of Americans, the railway hasn't come yet."

December 11, 2010/CBS Detroit

Another day, more amazing company presentations at the Accelerate Michgian business plan competition at the University of Michigan’s North Campus Research Complex in Ann Arbor.

The bottom line: All those people who think America is moving in the wrong direction would feel a whole lot better about things if they were here.

A morning panel on funding cleantech startups in Michigan said the state is in the right place at the right time, with lots of opportunity in the cleantech market and lots of money available.

October 21, 2010/By The Center for Michigan

By Jo Mathis

As executive director of the Presidents Council State Universities of Michigan, Mike Boulus keeps waiting for Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates to talk at length about their plans to fund higher education.

He thought it might happen in their recent debate.

It didn’t.

Acknowledging that the task ahead is a huge one, Boulus hopes the next governor and legislators will recognize higher education as the backbone of economic development, and reverse what he calls a frightening trend.

“It’s been a legacy of dismantling higher ed over the last decade,” he said. “And that’s after we spent 50 years building it up – to the envy of the country.”

October 7, 2010/GLITR

As the state and U.S. economies sank, Michigan’s University Research Corridor grew in areas critical to the state’s resurgence: Educating more students and boosting research and technology gains, according to a new benchmark study.

The 2010 Empowering Michigan report shows URC partners Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University have improved in several key benchmarks since the first study in 2007. The study, comparing Michigan’s URC with leading innovation clusters around the world, was conducted by Anderson Economic Group, building on data collected over the past three years.

“The URC has been a bright spot in the state’s economic picture, even in the teeth of the recession,” said URC executive director Jeff Mason. “Michigan has the third fastest research and development growth rate among competitive innovation clusters. Just as importantly, we’re getting stronger relative to the competition, which puts us in a good position to help propel the state’s economic growth in the future.”

October 4, 2010/GLITR

Stem cell skeptics have been asking for years, where are the cures?

Well, stick around. Spectacular cures may be coming soon, and they have a University of Michigan connection.

Dr. Eva Feldman, director of the University of Michigan’s A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, appeared with the billionaire industrialist at the World Stem Cell Summit to announce the first clinical trial of stem cell transplants to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

And Sean Morrison, director of the UM Center for Stem Cell Biology, spoke of research under way at his lab to target cancer stem cells for more effective cancer treatment.

September 12, 2010/Ann Arbor.com

For more than a century, Michigan has had an entrepreneurial model of management for its public universities.

University autonomy, limiting intrusion of politicians and bureaucrats into the operation of our 15 public universities, was written into the state's 1963 Constitution. It has allowed community driven university boards to meet the needs of Michigan's students and communities, particularly businesses, in a nimble fashion. It's worked well - around the nation, no state boasts such a diverse group of high quality public universities.

September 9, 2010/Detroit Free Press

More than three years after Pfizer announced the closing of its massive pharmaceutical research campus in Ann Arbor, the 174-acre property is springing back to life, with grand ambitions for boosting southeast Michigan's economy.

The University of Michigan is in the midst of transforming the land and its 28 buildings into a next-generation research hub where scientists, engineers and others will work closely with local businesses.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010/Gaylord Herald Times

GAYLORD — Another $70 million federal grant will allow Merit Network, Inc. to construct a 1,210-mile fiberoptic network offering an “interstate” of broadband Internet service across Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

The project, titled REACH-3MC II (Rural, Education, Anchor, Community, Healthcare - Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative) is the second of its kind to earn Ann Arbor-based Merit Network federal funding to provide “middle-mile” broadband to the region.

September 2, 2010/GLITR

Phragmites australis, aka the common reed, an increasingly troublesome invasive species in Michigan.Phragmites australis is an uncommon term for an increasingly common sight in the wetlands and along the beaches of the Great Lakes. It’s the scientific name for the common reed, a fast-growing perennial wetland grass.

August 30, 2010/Detroit Free Press

By Lori Higgins

About half of the 250 students on the Ferris State University campus last week for student orientation had needs more pressing than just signing up for classes: They were trying to figure out how to pay for those classes.

August 16, 2010/Michigan Tech News

By John Gagnon

Despite the economic downturn, the roofing industry in America is enjoying long-term, fruitful prospects, and Michigan Technological University will play a role in this nearly $9-billion annual market. One imminent initiative: a local plant that may employ up to 40 people to process and supply sand to the roofing industry.

A long-term plan: a local plant that would employ 300 people to manufacture roofing shingles.

July 30th, 2010/LSSU News

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Lake Superior State University has established a regional site in partnership with Henry Ford Community College at the Dearborn University Consortium Center located on the campus of Advanced Technology Academy.

The University will offer degree completion options in business and criminal justice beginning this fall.

August 2, 2010/Detroit Free Press  

A relative’s complaint about pricey special occasion clothes for an infant who would quickly outgrow them sparked Allen Kim’s idea for an online rental service for baby clothing.

A desire to make creditcard purchasing safer and more convenient inspired Daniel Pearson to develop a smart card that combines multiple credit cards into one.

July 13, 2010/Wayne State University News

DETROIT - On July 19, administrators from Wayne State University's Computing & Information Technology (C&IT) office and the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) will be recognized at the Campus Technology 2010 conference hosted by Campus Technology magazine. Wayne State is one of 11 Campus Technology Innovators award winners, chosen from nearly 500 entries.

Researchers at the University of Michigan are seeing positive results from the earliest stages of experiments designed to determine whether stem cells can help patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

May 27, 2010/Capital Gains

A group of 180 Michigan State University (MSU) students and prospective teachers showed up at Lansing's REO Elementary School with paintbrushes and tools to give the Southside school a makeover.

May 19, 2010/Lansing State Journal

Five years ago, polling of Michigan parents lobbed a shocker into the education debate: Only 27 percent deemed a college education "essential" for their children.

May 16, 2010/Crain's Detroit Business

$200M drive to fund recruiting, research

The University of Michigan is shifting into high gear the transformation of its North Campus Research Complex into the central hub of the university's research and commercialization activities.

May 5, 2010/Wayne State university News

Wayne State University's Board of Governors today approved three academic programs that will help Michigan meet the technological and environmental challenges of the 21st century.

April 29, 2010/GLITR

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University -- in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education -- will use a five-year, $5.9 million fedaral grant to assess two education reforms designed to promote college attendance and workplace success.

April 28, 2010/GLITR

West Michigan and Michigan State University have become the new home for a $6.8 million Center for Women’s Health and Reproduction Research, thanks to the collaborative efforts of MSU, Spectrum Health and the Van Andel Institute.

April 28, 2010/Capital Gains

By Suban Nur Cooley

Thanks to funding from MSU-based Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), researchers at the university will receive $2.08 million for research and outreach projects to continue growing Michigan's $71.3 billion agri-food and agri-energy industries.

April 19, 2010/GLITR

As a way to support local small businesses and give engineering students real-world experience, the University of Michigan's College of Engineering is running a unique summer internship scholarship program.

March 24, 2010/MSU News

 
Carly Wunderlich, of Brookfield, Wis., a chemistry senior, and Eric Lanning, of Spring, Texas, an international relations junior, hold the Larmon trophy, which they received for taking first place in a National Debate Tournament.

 
The 12-member MSU debate team poses with the Larmon trophy.

Detroit Free Press/March 16, 2010

By John Gallagher

Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid, the world’s foremost woman architect, came to Michigan State University this morning to break ground on what promises to be one of the state’s boldest works of architecture.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Nearly 40 mid-Michigan workers have gained new skills and employment in information technology, thanks to a partnership between Michigan State University, work force development agencies and area technology businesses.

November 11, 2009/Ferris State University News

The Grand Rapids International Wine and Food Festival is providing more than a palate-pleasing experience. Students from Ferris State University’s Sport Entertainment Hospitality Management programs are also gaining a hands-on learning experience.

Nov 16, 2009/SVSU News

Two Saginaw Valley State University professors have been selected as the latest Braun Fellows. Enayat Mahajerin will produce a novel engineering textbook and Joseph Ofori-Dankwa will study business conditions in sub-Saharan African through research support grants totaling up to $37,500 over the next three years to further their scholarly and professional activities.