Dearborn, Flint campuses announce commencement schedules
UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint have scheduled their Spring Commencement ceremonies for the weekend of April 27-28. UM-Dearborn will conduct three 90-minute ceremonies April 27 at the campus’ fieldhouse. The ceremonies will be at: 9 a.m. for undergraduates in the College of Arts, Sciences and Letters and College of Business; 1 p.m. for undergraduates in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services and College of Engineering and Computer Science; and 5 p.m. for graduate and doctoral degree recipients. Greg Harden, a motivational speaker and retired U-M executive associate athletic director, will be the keynote speaker at the undergraduate ceremonies, and Ashwini Balasubramanian, general manager for Advanced Engineering at Harley-Davidson, will address the graduate students. Learn more about UM-Dearborn’s ceremonies. UM-Flint will celebrate its April and August graduates during four ceremonies April 27-28 at the Riverfront Conference Center. The ceremonies will be at: 11 a.m. April 27 for the College of Arts, Sciences & Education; 1:30 p.m. April 27 for the College of Arts, Sciences & Education and College of Health Sciences; 11 a.m. April 28 for the School of Management and College of Innovation & Technology; 1:30 p.m. April 28 for the School of Management and School of Nursing. Each ceremony will include messages from Donna Fry, UM-Flint interim chancellor; Yener Kandogan, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs; and Regent Michael Behm. Learn more about UM-Flint’s ceremonies.
Support resources, insurance available for international travelers
As travel season approaches, faculty and staff are encouraged to register their international travel and enroll in travel-abroad health insurance, even for personal travel. Registering allows U-M to quickly and accurately locate and assist U-M travelers abroad in the event of a health, safety or security crisis, and also allows travelers to enroll in the GeoBlue U-M travel-abroad health insurance. U-M’s GeoBlue coverage includes help locating and accessing medical care, prescription benefits, and even evacuation in the event of a political or natural disaster. Faculty and staff traveling abroad for university business are automatically covered by GeoBlue at no cost and can enroll after registering their travel. Spouses, domestic partners and dependents who are traveling with the faculty or staff member also are covered. The GeoBlue personal or leisure coverage can be purchased for $1.62 per day and can be purchased for spouses, domestic partners and dependents traveling with the faculty or staff member. Register international travel and learn more about travel-abroad health insurance at uhs.umich.edu/tai.
Toolkit developed by U-M provides guidance regarding Michigan’s ‘red-flag law’
The University of Michigan has published a web-based toolkit designed to support the use and implementation of Michigan’s new extreme risk protection order, or ERPO, law. Also known as a “red-flag law,” Michigan’s ERPO law went into effect in February with the goal of intervening when someone is at risk of using a firearm to harm themselves or others. The free digital toolkit, developed by the U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, provides guidance on Michigan’s ERPO policies and protocols, how and when to file an ERPO, and information for families, health care providers and networks, schools and law enforcement and government agencies. The toolkit also provides crisis assistance resources. “Extreme risk protection orders have been shown to be an effective tool in preventing firearm-involved suicides,” said April Zeoli, associate professor of health management and policy at the School of Public Health and policy core director at the institute. Access the toolkit online at firearminjury.umich.edu/erpo-toolkit/ and learn more about the institute at firearminjury.umich.edu.
Podcast: McCauley shares vision for making education more accessible
U-M’s Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and local community members in an effort to imagine what aspirations the university could achieve in the next 10 years. U-M’s vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact: life-changing education; human health and well-being; democracy, civic and global engagement; and climate action, sustainability and environmental justice. In a recent Michigan Minds podcast, Provost Laurie McCauley talked about how U-M is working to make higher education more accessible and affordable. Listen to the podcast.
Study looks at how traumatic childhood experiences affect later-life muscle function
A U-M study has shown that traumatic experiences during childhood may get “under the skin” later in life, impairing the muscle function of people as they age. The study examined the function of skeletal muscle of older adults paired with surveys of adverse events they had experienced in childhood. It found that people who experienced greater childhood adversity, reporting one or more adverse events, had poorer muscle metabolism later in life. The research, led by Kate Duchowny, a research assistant professor at the Institute for Social Research, is published in Science Advances. The study includes 879 participants over age 70 who donated muscle and fat samples as well as other biospecimens. Read more about the study.
— Compiled by James Iseler, The University Record
