Faculty, staff and students make significant contributions to the economic vitality and quality of life of the city of Ann Arbor. These efforts demonstrate the university’s commitment to helping the local community thrive.
To highlight those contributions, the U-M Community Relations office has launched a new website, CommunityRelations.umich.edu, that shows how U-M is an integral part of the Ann Arbor community.
“We want to let everyone know that you don’t have to be a member of the university community to take advantage of the resources and experiences available at the University of Michigan,” said Jim Kosteva, director of community relations.
“We have programs, lectures and events that are open to the public in almost every area of study or interest.”
The website provides facts and figures, local partnerships and news. For example, there are more than 43,000 jobs on U-M’s campus. Of that, 41 percent of U-M employees reside in Ann Arbor.
It also provides a community life section with a list of museums, lectures, community health programs, and business, career and workplace assistance.
In the last 10 years, U-M’s contribution to the local community included the addition of more than 9,000 jobs and the launch of more than 100 companies.
U-M also collaborates with both the city and local community in some of the following ways:
• Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority: The M-Ride Program, a partnership between U-M and the AAATA, allows faculty, staff and students to ride AAATA buses free of charge. The university provides an annual payment for this service, which helps AAATA leverage additional federal financial assistance by including ridership from the U-M bus system into communitywide transit counts.
• ArborBike – Bike Share: U-M pledged $600,000 to help cover operations for the first three years of ArborBike, a community bicycle-sharing program. The Community Energy Coalition is working in partnership with AAATA and the City of Ann Arbor for operational support.
• Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools: This U-M Health System program provides school-based health programs and clinical services to improve the well-being of students, their families and communities.
“Most all of us appreciate how Ann Arbor is a unique and dynamic community. I hope the resources and information on these pages demonstrate how the university contributes toward the enrichment of not only students, but area residents of all ages as well,” said Kosteva.
