Record Enrollment

Enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus numbered 42,716 students in fall 2011, remaining at record levels for the third consecutive year.

The number of graduate/professional students increased by 2.8 percent, while the number of undergraduates increased by 1.4 percent. The total enrollment of all students includes a freshman class of 6,251 students, a 3. 8 percent decrease from the previous year. This decrease is intentional to help ensure an overall undergraduate count that maintains a high-quality experience for students.

The incoming class of 2011 is notable for its excellence, including academic achievement. The average high school grade point average is 3.8, and 19 percent achieved a perfect 4.0. Over 34 percent of the class had an ACT composite score between 31 and 36, compared with only 4 percent nationwide. The incoming freshman class is almost evenly divided between men (50.2 percent) and women (49.8 percent). And more than 1,750 high schools, 49 states (Montana is the only exception), and nearly 50 countries are represented.

“The entering class of 2011 represents the highest levels of academic achievement and potential,” said Lester Monts, senior vice provost for academic affairs. “We have already received enthusiastic comments from faculty.”

Nationwide, the 2011 incoming class is the second to be admitted under the federal government’s new demographic classification system, which is not directly comparable to years before 2010. Using the new reporting guidelines, underrepresented minority freshmen constitute 10.5 percent of the incoming class. This is a slight decrease from the prior year, in which underrepresented minorities accounted for 10.6 percent of the incoming class under the current reporting categories.

University Maintains Strong Financial Position

Despite worldwide economic woes, the University remains financially healthy, with total operating revenues of $5.65 billion. This includes the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses as well as the U-M Health System.

Timothy Slottow, U-M’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, credited U-M’s faculty and staff, who maintain an “unyielding focus on the University’s core missions as they strive to find new ways to contain costs.”

In her opening letter of the 2011 Financial Report, President Mary Sue Coleman also credited the University’s financial management and budget discipline—including significant costcutting and reallocation from lower to highest priorities—with enabling U-M to remain competitive and operate with stability. Following are highlights of the report for the fiscal year that ended June 30:

The University continues to maintain the highest credit ratings from both Standard & Poor’s (AAA) and Moody’s Investor Services (Aaa).

Total net assets increased by $1.6 billion during the year to $10.9 billion, primarily due to an increase in net investment income.

Total research spending for the year grew 8.5 percent to $1.2 billion.

The University’s endowment grew to $7.8 billion with a 24.3 percent annual return. The strong return on investment was among the highest of all college and university endowments.

Donors made gifts of cash and pledge payments totaling $273 million, an increase of 7 percent over the previous year.

The number of donors increased by 5,000 to a total of 116,469.

Construction Update

While the opening of the C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s hospitals (see page 26) was big construction news, it wasn’t the only construction news on the Ann Arbor campus.

The Law School celebrated the opening of the Robert
B. Aikens Commons and Kirkland & Ellis Café (pictured above) on September 7. Built on the site of a courtyard between Hutchins Hall, the stacks, and the Reading Room, the two-story space includes gathering spots, student organization space, meeting rooms, and the new café. In addition, move-in is complete in South Hall, which is directly across Monroe Street from the Law Quad and built in the same Collegiate Gothic style. The 100,000- square-foot building is the first addition to the Law School in 75 years and includes classrooms and offices, gathering spaces, and law offices for student attorneys.

In other construction news:

The board of regents has approved the renovation design of East Quad, which will add a fire suppression system, replace deficient infrastructure, and add airconditioning and wireless network access throughout. Improvements will be made to the student rooms, dining facilities, classrooms, and offices. The project is estimated at $116 million and will close East Quad in May. Reopening is scheduled for the fall term 2013.

The regents also approved a project to upgrade the infrastructure of Baits II and to rearrange or repurpose some community spaces to support resident activities. The work is estimated at $11.95 million and will happen during summer months so the residence hall will not be closed during the academic year.

University Housing has announced that Baits I will close at the end of this academic year. “The configuration of the Baits I complex, its distance from Bursley dining, and looming costs make it difficult to recommend investment in the necessary infrastructure and renovations to create the type of facility that we want to provide,” said University housing director Linda Newman.

e-Textbook Initiative

The University is in the early stages of an initiative that could save students money by moving to electronic textbooks, particularly in large, introductory-level classes where textbook costs can be high.

A collaborative group with members from Information and Technology Services, Academic Affairs, the University Library, and a number of academic units will pilot the initiative during the fall 2012 semester. The group currently is negotiating with textbook publishers and developing a request for proposals to determine which technical platform will be used to deliver e-textbooks.

Paul Courant, university librarian and dean of libraries, said any move toward e-textbooks would be voluntary for faculty. “We’re hoping to create a structure in which people will be enthusiastic about volunteering, but we’re not interested in creating a structure that is going to impose a requirement that faculty members use e-textbooks for particular courses.”

He added that the project is being driven by a market in which textbook editions change frequently and students can pay as much as $1,000 or more for books each semester, particularly for new editions. He envisions a system in which an e-textbook would cost about 35 percent of a hard copy’s list price and would be covered by a course fee.

Suu Kyi Receives Wallenberg Medal

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese human rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate, is the recipient of the 21st U-M Wallenberg Medal. In a rare public address overseas, Suu Kyi gave her videotaped Wallenberg Lecture on October 25 before an audience in Rackham Auditorium. A live Q&A followed.

Suu Kyi serves as the general secretary of the National League for Democracy, the leading opposition political party in Burma. She led her party to victory in 1990 elections, but military leaders refused to recognize the results. She spent most of the past two decades in jail or house arrest before being freed in November 2010.

The medal is named for Raoul Wallenberg, ’35, a Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews near the end of World War II before he vanished into the Soviet Gulag.

Nine Students Win Entrepreneurial Awards

What if your car radio could let you know an ambulance or fire engine was approaching? What if an iPad app could help cerebral palsy and brain injury patients use a touch screen? How about if your phone could help you reserve a parking spot on the other side of town? U-M students didn’t just wonder these things. They took an important step toward making them happen. They shared their ideas in the fourth annual 1,000 Pitches entrepreneurship contest. The nine winners were announced in December.

The competition, believed to be the largest student-run entrepreneurial competition in the world, garnered a record 3,303 ideas. Each winning pitch received a $1,000 prize.

Other winning ideas included:

a Web site that would help users determine their clothing sizes among different manufacturers

a system that would monitor the health of heat exchangers in industrial plants

a smartphone case with retractable headphones

a process that would convert food waste from U-M’s dining halls into biogas that could be used for clean energy and heat

a smartphone app and device that makes it easier for people with diabetes to track their blood sugar

a Web site that lists guest speakers across campus

Open Letter from Coleman to Obama

In an open letter to President Barack Obama, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman calls for elected officials, university presidents, business leaders, philanthropists, and parents to collaborate on making higher education affordable for all. While higher education is responsible for the country’s intellectual well-being, she wrote, it is too costly for some families.

“The cost of attending college is one of the most serious matters facing a country that seeks to strengthen its global competitiveness,” she wrote.

Coleman cited current lack of public support for higher education, noting that the state of Michigan has cut funding 15 percent in the last year alone and by more than 30 percent over the past decade. She went on to make four recommendations. First, states must reinvest in public colleges and universities. Second, she encouraged business leaders to advocate for strong, consistent funding of higher ed. Third, she challenged alumni to give back to their alma maters. And finally, she urged universities to continue to cut costs.

“The onus is now on all of us … to collaborate on effective answers,” she concluded. “I welcome being part of this critical national conversation and I trust that together America can find solutions.”

News Roundup

Twenty-nine University students have received Fulbright grants during the 2011-12 academic year, putting U-M atop the list of U.S. institutions for the fifth time in the past seven years. As participants in one of the most competitive and prestigious award programs in the world, the students are traveling in 25 countries to do research, study, or teach English for six to 12 months.

U-M has established a new master of health informatics program, offered jointly by the School of Information and the School of Public Health. It is accepting applications for admission for the inaugural class of the twoyear program, which begins in fall 2012. The program offers emphases on leadership and consumer health informatics. This growing field leverages information and develops information technologies to maintain or improve health and to improve patient care.

U-M defeated Ohio State twice last season even before taking to the football field for its 40-34 win. The University signed up 108,984 organ donors to Ohio State’s 59,942 in the Wolverine-Buckeye Challenge for Life, which ended at midnight on Thanksgiving. And it collected 2,628 pints of blood during the two-week Blood Battle contest, which is in its 30th year. Ohio State collected 2,402.

A new metal plaque outside the Rackham Building now marks the location of the state’s first Jewish cemetery. The old marker was found broken last summer, and the replacement was installed at the end of October. A new base was created to increase the angle of the marker, to better withstand weather; it was paid for through contributions. The marker’s inscription was unchanged.