News from other Michigan public universities and U-M peer institutions across the nation.
STATE UNIVERSITIES
Central Michigan University trustees announce tuition increase
The Central Michigan University Board of Trustees this month announced a 2.94 percent tuition increase. “Despite the fact that 11 of Michigan’s 15 public universities receive more state funding than CMU, our administrative spending per student is the lowest, and our percent of core expenditures dedicated to instruction is the highest,” said CMU President George E. Ross. Undergraduate tuition will be $385 per hour starting this fall.
Wayne State University shares nearly $2 million NIH grant
A team of researchers at Wayne State University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Pittsburgh was recently awarded nearly $2 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to explore determinants of susceptibility to common diseases such as diabetes, atherosclerotic heart disease, and various cancers. All of these diseases are considered to be adult-onset pathologies, but the research team is exploring the possibility of origins during early periods of human development.
PEER INSTITUTIONS
Stanford University to divest from coal companies
Acting on a recommendation of Stanford University’s Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing, the Board of Trustees has announced that Stanford will not make direct investments in coal mining companies. The move reflects the availability of alternate energy sources with lower greenhouse gas emissions than coal. The advisory panel, which includes representatives of students, faculty, staff and alumni, conducted an extensive review over recent months of the social and environmental implications of investment in fossil fuel companies.
University of Texas acquires Willie Nelson collection
Internationally known singer-songwriter Willie Nelson has donated major portions of his collection of correspondence, manuscripts, records and awards to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin. The collection includes platinum records, signed books and screenplays, and letters and photographs from musicians including Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and Lionel Richie, and from Bill Clinton, Ann Richards, Stephen Colbert and Peter Jackson.
IU biologists win bacterial evolution research grant
Indiana University biologists will receive over $6.2 million from the U.S. Army Research Office to study how bacteria evolve in response to both their internal, population-influenced environments and their external natural environment. IU Distinguished Professor of Biology Michael Lynch will lead a team that includes four laboratories in the IU College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology. The team will work to advance the understanding of the mechanisms by which bacterial populations evolve in response to selective changes like population, food availability and relationships with other species.
