News from other Michigan public universities and U-M peer institutions across the nation.

STATE UNIVERSITIES

MSU celebrates sustainability week

Michigan State University celebrated Campus Sustainability Week with a series of town hall meetings to update the MSU community on the status of the Energy Transition Plan. Adopted by the MSU Board of Trustees in April 2012, the plan serves as a guide to the university’s future energy decisions. Tours of campus sustainability efforts also were scheduled, including the Student Organic Farm.

Michigan Tech studies snow on solar panels

Michigan Technological University’s Keweenaw Research Center is part of a two-year study to gauge how snow affects solar panels’ power generation, and determine the best ways to overcome any losses. An international engineering firm has built an array of solar photovoltaic panels behind KRC, to gage effect when less snow sticks to panels set at various angles.

PEER INSTITUTIONS

Columbia University researchers study hair restoration

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have devised a hair restoration method that can generate new human hair growth, rather than simply redistribute hair from one part of the scalp to another. The approach could significantly expand the use of hair transplantation to women with hair loss, who tend to have insufficient donor hair, as well as to men in early stages of baldness.

Indiana University trustees approve new Media School

The Indiana University Board of Trustees has approved the formation of a new school that will provide a nexus for IU’s acclaimed programs of education and research in journalism, telecommunications, communications and culture and film. The new IU Media School, which will officially come into existence on July 1, 2014, will serve as the university’s pre-eminent site for teaching, research and service about the understanding and production of media.

Rutgers launches health care initiative

Rutgers University is spearheading the creation of an Accountable Care Organization called Robert Wood Johnson Partners. It will coordinate treatment among doctors, other health professionals, and hospitals through better use of electronic health records. The project also involves restructuring doctors’ offices to improve communication with patients, and directly involve them in developing plans to benefit their health.