University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M) is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based public research university. The university is Michigan’s oldest, founded in 1817 by an act of the ancient Michigan Territory as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, 20 years before the territory became a state.
The university has nineteen colleges and provides degree programs in over 250 subjects at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels.
There are roughly 32,000 undergraduate students and 16,000 graduate students enrolled there. The university’s undergraduate admissions process is classified as “very selective.” Almost half of the pupils come from outside of the state. International students from 130 countries make up 15% of the total student body.
Campus
The North, Central, Medical, and South campuses make up Ann Arbor’s campus. More than 500 large structures, totaling more than 37.48 million square feet, make up the physical infrastructure (860 acres). The Central and South Campus areas are connected, whereas the Huron River divides them. On Plymouth Road, an East Medical Campus with many university-owned buildings for outpatient treatment, diagnostics, and outpatient surgery has been created.
The university now operates a second golf course, Radrick Farms Golf Course, on Geddes Road, and the U-M Golf Course on South Campus. Faculty, staff, and alumni get exclusive access to the golf course. The Inglis House, which has belonged to the university since the 1950s, is another off-campus facility. The Inglis House is a 10,000-square-foot home that hosts social events such as Board of Regents meetings and visiting dignitaries. Near Briarwood Mall, the university also runs Wolverine Tower, a huge office building in southern Ann Arbor. The Matthaei Botanical Gardens, on the eastern fringes of Ann Arbor, is another important facility.
Bus services connect all four campus regions, with most of them connecting the North and Central campuses. The University Hospital, located between the North and Central campuses, has a shuttle service that connects it to other medical institutions in northeastern Ann Arbor.
The state budget for 2021 increased funding for the University of Michigan by 5% across all three campuses.
Climate, energy, food systems, water, and construction have all experienced an increase in the university’s sustainable efforts.
Organization and Administration
The University of Michigan has two regional campuses in Dearborn and Flint and its flagship campus in Ann Arbor. The Board of Regents, which oversaw the institution and was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837, comprises eight members who are chosen at large for eight-year terms in biannual state elections. The Board of Regents managed the university directly between 1837 and 1850, even though they were required to choose a Chancellor. A rotating cadre of professors instead handled the day-to-day administration.
The University of Michigan’s President serves as the institution’s chief executive officer. The president was established by the Michigan Constitution of 1850, which also stated that they would be nominated by the University of Michigan Regents and preside over their sessions without a vote.
Research
Michigan is a founding member of the Association of American Universities (founded in 1900). According to the National Science Foundation, Michigan spent $1.6 billion on research and development in 2018, placing second in the nation.
In 2009, the university agreed to buy a building that Pfizer had previously held. The purchase includes more than 170 acres of land and 30 significant buildings. The university’s goals for the area were not completely specified at the time of the agreement. Still, the hope was that the new space would allow the university to expand its research and eventually employ over 2,000 people.
The Transportation Research Institute and the Life Sciences Institute of the University of Michigan are both located on campus.
Groups and Activities
There are 1,438 student organizations listed on the university’s website. Some of the more recognizable student activism groups are those dedicated to causes such as civil rights and labor rights, such as local chapters of Students for a Democratic Society and United Students Against Sweatshops, which have a long history of student activism (USAS). Although the student body is predominantly left-wing, there are conservative and non-partisan groups on campus, such as Young Americans for Freedom and the Roosevelt Institute. The latter organization aims to hold multinational corporations accountable for exploiting their workers in factories worldwide that create college gear.
On-campus, the University of Michigan supports various cultural and ethnic student organizations. This category presently contains over 317 organizations. From the Arab Student Association to the Persian Student Association to the African Students Association to the Egyptian Student Association, organizations represent nearly every culture. By holding a variety of events throughout the school year, these organizations strive to promote various parts of their culture and raise political and social awareness on campus. These groups also assist students in transforming a vast university into a smaller community by allowing them to connect with people who share similar interests and experiences.
Safety
Law enforcement and safety on the main campus are handled by the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security (DPSS). One executive director, three division deputy directors, three police chiefs, and four directors comprise the Division of Public Safety leadership team. Two program managers and an executive assistant have also been added to the team.
Under the DPSS, the University of Michigan Police Department (UMPD) is a community-oriented, full-service law enforcement organization. Under Michigan law and the University of Michigan Regents’ Ordinance, its police officers are licensed by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) and have complete ability to investigate, search, arrest, and use reasonable force to protect people and property.
Rankings
The University of Michigan is a big residential research university with a four-year degree approved by the Higher Learning Commission. Most students participate in the four-year, full-time undergraduate program, which emphasizes instruction in the arts, sciences, and professions with a high level of coexistence between graduate and undergraduate programs. Doctoral degrees in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM subjects and professional degrees in medicine, law, and dentistry are available through the university’s comprehensive graduate program. In 2011-2012, U-M conferred 6,490 undergraduate degrees, 4,951 graduate degrees, and 709 first-professional degrees, with over 200 undergraduate majors, 100 doctoral programs, and 90 master’s programs. Richard Moll’s list of Public Ivies includes the University of Michigan.
Michigan was ranked third among public colleges in the United States in the U.S. News & World Survey Best Colleges report for 2021. Michigan was rated sixth in the 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs Rankings.
Media and Publications
The Michigan Daily is the university’s student newspaper created in 1890 and is editorially and financially autonomous. The Daily is published five days a week; from May to August, it is published weekly. The Michiganensian was established in 1896 and is the yearbook. The Michigan Review (conservative) and the Michigan Independent (progressive) are two more student magazines at the university. Students in Michigan also publish the humor newspaper Gargoyle Humor Magazine.
Student-run campus radio station WCBN-FM (88.3 FM) has a freeform format. The university’s cable television system broadcasts WOLV-TV, a student-run television station. WJJX used to be the student-run radio station at the institution. In 1953, it was launched as a carrier current station.
Athletics
The Wolverines are the sports team of the University of Michigan. Between 1993 and 2021, U-M has finished in the top ten of the Directors’ Cup rankings in 21 of the award’s 29 seasons.
More than 250 Michigan athletes and coaches have competed in Olympic competitions, and Michigan students and alumni have earned 155 Olympic medals as of 2021.
With an official capacity of 107,601 spectators, Michigan Stadium is the largest college football stadium in the U.S. and one of the largest football-only stadiums in the world. At Michigan Stadium, the NCAA’s record-breaking crowds have become the norm.
Rugby, hockey, volleyball, boxing, soccer, and tennis are just a few of the men’s and women’s club sports available at U-M.
Michigan’s football program has the most wins in NCAA history (976 as of the end of the 2021 season) and the fourth-best winning percentage among FBS institutions. From 1968 through 2007, Michigan enjoyed 40 straight winning seasons, including consecutive bowl game trips from 1975 to 2007. In 1902, the squad won the first Rose Bowl game.
The men’s basketball team has made five Final Four appearances and won the national title in 1989.
Museums
The University of Michigan Museum of Art has a collection of almost 19,000 artifacts spanning cultures, ages, and media, including European, American, Middle Eastern, Asian, and African art and rotating exhibits. The Ruthven Museums Building, erected in 1928, is where the collections are currently held and displayed. Following a three-year refurbishment and extension, the Museum of Art reopened in 2009. UMMA hosts exceptional exhibitions and educational activities that contextualize the museum experience by incorporating visual, performing video, and literary arts.
Alumni
Aside from former U.S. President Gerald Ford, the university has produced 34 Pulitzer Prize winners, 27 Rhodes Scholars, one Mitchell Scholar, and nine Nobel laureates as of 2020. The university has almost 500,000 live alumni as of 2012.
By 1900, almost 150 women had acquired graduate degrees from U-M, making it one of the country’s most prestigious and groundbreaking universities. Sarah Dix Hamlin was the University of Michigan’s first female student to be accepted. She received her diploma in 1874. Marjorie Lee Browne earned her master’s degree in 1939 and her doctorate in 1950, making her the third African American woman to acquire a Ph.D. in mathematics.
Actors Michael Dunn and Darren Criss are among the prominent alumni in Hollywood. Jessye Norman, an operatic soprano, is a musical graduate.
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and professional golfer John Schroeder studied Sports Marketing and Management at the University of Michigan.