A magnificent moment unfolded on the medal podium at the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
In recognizing the best in ice dancing, judges placed gold medals around the necks of Meryl Davis and Charlie White; bronze medals were presented to skaters Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates.
In addition to gold and bronze, these four athletes represented two other beautiful colors: maize and blue. As University of Michigan undergraduates on the national stage, they were a point of pride for our campus and for alumni around the country.
All four skaters went on to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, with Meryl and Charlie capturing a silver medal for their spectacular performances and Emily and Evan catching judges’ eyes for the 2014 games.
U–M students, faculty, and staff continually make headlines and draw accolades for their achievements. Reflecting on this past year, we have much to celebrate in the life of the university.
A VIBRANT CAMPUS
President Barack Obama honored the Class of 2010 with a commencement address at Michigan Stadium, where more than 80,000 graduates and guests gathered for the historic day. He was the third sitting American president to speak at a U–M commencement, and shared a message our graduates undoubtedly also heard in the classroom: understanding different viewpoints is invaluable.
Where President Obama closed our academic year, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts opened the school year by joining us to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Law School. This included breaking ground for a new academic building that will complement our iconic Law Quad.
This past year saw the opening of the U–M Confucius Institute, a key addition to our cultural offerings and a strong complement to the tremendous array of Chinese resources currently available on campus. We are particularly excited because of the 60 Confucius Institutes throughout the country, only ours focuses solely—and enthusiastically—on Chinese arts and culture.
We are providing insight of a different kind with the unveiling of the Brehm Tower at the Kellogg Eye Center. It is a remarkable facility for quality care and medical research, and gives new momentum in our work to find a cure for type I diabetes and its many debilitating effects, including blindness.
All of the many perspectives we provide played an important role in U–M earning continuing accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The accreditation process ensures that U–M meets certain standards, and demonstrates to the public—particularly students—the quality of our infrastructure in support of academic programs and other activities. U–M has been accredited for nearly 100 years.
Achieving Research Milestones
Pursuing cures and solutions continues to drive our faculty, who contributed to record levels of research this past year. Our research expenditures exceeded $1.1 billion, with our strongest partners being the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies.
Our faculty were particularly successful in obtaining federal stimulus dollars to support their efforts. U–M proposals have led to more than $221 million in awards, making us a leading recipient nationally of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
One of the most impressive ARRA awards came to the Institute for Social Research (ISR), which secured $14.8 million from NIH for a major expansion of its facility. The expanded building will increase ISR’s capacity for the large research programs it is known for, as well as strengthen coordination among researchers in various programs. The expansion also will create up to 200 temporary and permanent jobs.
Growing the economy
Research and economic growth go hand in hand with the evolving North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), which allows us to expand our life sciences enterprise and positions us for greater scientific collaboration among faculty, students, and industry partners.
Some 300 employees are now on site and we expect to have up to 3,000 faculty and staff in the NCRC over the next decade. In addition, we have identified the first two important technology anchors—bio–interfaces and molecular, functional, and structural imaging—and made a commitment to unify U–M’s health services research programs at NCRC.
The NCRC is one of the most visible facets of Michigan’s University Research Corridor, our increasingly robust collaboration with Michigan State University and Wayne State University. Together, our three institutions are committed to transforming the Michigan economy through science and innovation.
Maintaining Financial Strength
The vibrancy and contributions of U–M arise from the work of bright, talented people across our campus. We also thrive as an institution because of a financial structure that is strong, strategic, and dynamic.
Building a budget, particularly in these turbulent economic times, is a challenging undertaking involving the contributions of many. This begins first and foremost with members of the Board of Regents, who are fully committed to a budget that ensures the continuing excellence and accessibility of the institution. They devote a great deal of time and experience to our process, and I am grateful for their counsel.
The deans of our schools and colleges have helped to identify millions of dollars in savings, while continuing to recruit exceptional faculty and develop innovative programs for our students.
On our Ann Arbor campus, we have cut or reallocated $135 million of recurring general fund expenses during FY 2003–2009, and we have made significant progress over the past year toward our goal of achieving an additional $100 million over the period FY 2010–2012. We have been aggressive in reducing our energy and water costs while significantly increasing use of our classrooms, laboratories, and offices. We are controlling health care costs by offering healthy lifestyle programs and incentives for employees, and by asking them to share more of the burden of premiums and co–pays.
In addition to using our assets wisely, we are grateful to the donors whose generosity provides an important margin of difference for students, faculty, and staff. This past year, donors gave more than $254 million to support U–M.
Most important, we have had the slowest annual growth in resident in-state tuition increases among Michigan universities in the past decade. That will continue in FY 2011, including a 1.5 percent increase for Ann Arbor campus in–state undergraduates—the smallest in 26 years.
For FY 2011, we have also increased our financial aid budget for these students by nearly 11 percent to keep a Michigan education accessible and affordable, and offered economic hardship grants to lower the burden of loans for qualified resident students. We have been mindful of the economic pressures facing many families and work to find ways to support them.
U–M is strong, stable, and growing because of the leadership of the Board of Regents and the involvement and support of many: deans, faculty and staff, alumni and donors, and Michigan taxpayers. Their contributions allow us to continue our commitment to exceptional teaching, research, and service, here in our state and throughout the world.
Sincerely,
Mary Sue Coleman
President