Submitted By: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
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Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff PUBLIC RELATIONS The following is a compilation of highlights of recent media coverage of Wayne State University. • In a May 31 letter to the Detroit Jewish News, Wayne State University Board of Governors Chair Eugene Driker responds to the May 11, 2007 editor’s letter titled, “Striving to be Responsive.” Driker agrees with Jewish News editor, Robert Sklar, that Hillel of Metro Detroit (HMD) plays an important role on WSU’s campus. However, he writes that he disagrees with the Detroit Jewish News’ previous references to anti-Jewish sentiment at WSU. “WSU President Irvin D. Reid is a good friend of Detroit's Jewish community and a strong supporter of the State of Israel. His vigorous promotion of tolerance and diversity on campus has set precisely the right tone and reflects the overwhelming sentiment of WSU's students, staff and faculty. President Reid and his administration will continue to work in partnership with Hillel of Metro Detroit to ensure the enhancement of Jewish campus life at Wayne State University,” Driker writes. • Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid appeared on WJR AM 760’s “Paul W. Smith Show” on May 31 live from the Mackinac Policy Conference to discuss the University Research Corridor (URC). Reid pointed out that the URC universities, WSU, MSU and U-M, spend well over $1 billion per year on research, comparable to or more than counterparts in Massachusetts, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In 2004, URC ranked highest among the four groups. • During the May 31 morning-drive news segments, WWJ AM 950 anchor Joe Donovan talked about the URC report and the findings showing that Michigan’s three research universities accounted for 94 percent of federal academic research dollars brought into the state; all three are among the top 75 of more than 600 U.S. research universities. President Irvin D. Reid is quoted on the WWJ companion Web site story about the URC report. “The numbers clearly show Michigan has what it takes to be an international powerhouse in today’s global business environment.” WDET FM 101.9, Michigan Talk Radio, WUOM (University of Michigan) and WKAR (Michigan State University) also aired stories featuring President Reid and Michigan State University President Lou Ann Simon and University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman. • In a June 28 Detroit News editorial column, Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid, Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman team up to endorse a proposed appropriation within Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The proposal would ensure that the state's three major research universities be funded through an appropriation distinct from Michigan's other public universities. A photo of each university president, including Reid, accompanies the column. • A front-page story in the May 31 edition of the Detroit News featured comments by President Irvin D. Reid regarding the release of the University Research Corridor (URC) report. "We need for the industry to look to us as allies and partners. There's always a tendency to look out of state instead of in-state for some reason. What we are saying is partner with us." Reid said he can't understand why the state would cut Board of Governors AGENDA July 25, 2007 Page 2 Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff funding to the three institutions, proven economic starters, at a time when the state more than ever needs to diversify its economy and at a time when URC institutions are engaging in research activities that would help. "For economic development, there needs to be a shifting of priorities in the state of Michigan." The story was also picked up in the Lansing State Journal, Ann Arbor News, The Daily Dash (WWJ online report) and Great Lakes IT Report. • Wayne State University has instituted a cost-cutting strategy to offset funding cuts from the state estimated at about $23 million. Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid sent an e-mail this week detailing ways departments must trim expenses through Sept. 30 -- the end of the university's fiscal year -- to mitigate revenue shortfalls. "We understand that these measures will pose a hardship on our operations," Reid wrote in the e-mail. "However, given where we are in the fiscal year, there are limited alternatives available to offset these revenue shortfalls." A photo of Reid and a copy of the email are included in the June 27 Detroit News story. • Detroit News editorial editor Nolan Finley focuses his column on the rebirth of the Cass Corridor as a “red hot enclave of students, professionals, pricey lofts, and funky restaurants and shops.” He attributes the resurgence, in part, to Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid, noting that when he arrived at the university he “first tore down the gates and fences that isolated Wayne from its neighbors” and that he envisioned a thriving urban neighborhood. • A May 29 front-page Detroit Free Press story points out that more than half the doctors beginning medical residency in July at Wayne State will be foreign-educated students. These graduates will fill 91 of 162 first-year residency spots, up from 79 of 166 the year before. While the shift reflects a broad trend toward more doctors from other countries practicing in the United States, it also underscores that the WSU School of Medicine – the largest single-campus medical school in the nation – is at a critical time of change. Dr. Diane Levine, vice chair of medical education at WSU, pointed out that international graduates of the medical school are very bright and they add diversity to the physician workforce in a changing U.S. population. • Leaders of the state's public universities say that the $95.3 million in deferred payments and cuts in state aid dropped in their laps Friday are based on a faulty assumption that they are sitting on large stockpiles of cash, according to a May 30 Detroit Free Press story. Harvey Hollins, vice president for government and community relations at Wayne State, said there's no such reserve to pad the blow of the $3.2 million in cuts and a $1-million deferment at WSU. "We look at it as the beginning of changing the quality of higher education in this state as we know it, not just for our university, but for the others as well," he said. "Students and parents may end up sharing the brunt of the cuts. We're looking to make systemic changes at the university. This is not easy." • Michigan’s unresolved budget crisis could drive tuition rates as high as the double digits at the state’s universities, according to this June 26 Detroit News article. “How do you plan given the track record of the state?” asked Harvey Hollins, WSU vice president for government and community affairs. Assuming Wayne State can reduce Board of Governors AGENDA July 25, 2007 Page 3 Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff its costs by $7 million next year, it would still likely have to raise tuition from 12 percent to 14 percent if the state cut funding by 1.5 percent, according to their budget projections. • A major June 2 Detroit Free Press feature story discusses Detroit’s Midtown and Wayne State University’s involvement in its continuing development. WSU officials have persuaded developers to offer incentives for its employees and students in hopes that more people living around the university will help transform it into a bustling 24-hour campus and rejuvenate a key part of the city. In recent years, Wayne State has built three new residence halls. It's currently leasing land to a Grand Rapids developer for a massive project that will include rental housing. "We want our 9,000 faculty and staff to live in Midtown," said Francine Wunder, director of corporate and public affairs for WSU, Detroit's eighth-largest employer. The June 18 edition of Tech Center News also ran a prominent feature story about Wayne State’s involvement in the project. • This Detroit News June 12 feature story focuses on a fat-blocking supplement called FBCx, which was developed by Wayne State professors Catherine Jen of the Nutrition and Food Science Department and Joseph Artiss of the Pathology Department. The director of a weight control center in Troy calls the substance “potentially the most important discovery in weight loss nutrition since the medical formula.” A photo of Jen and Artiss accompanies the story and a sidebar lists stores that carry the product. • In this June 14 Detroit Free Press feature story, theater writer Martin Kohn offers kudos to the Hilberry Theatre’s summer show for families featuring C.S. Lewis’ classic book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” This year’s production features two recent Wayne State University graduates, Christopher M. Bohan and Tiffanie Kilgast and two actors in the final year of the M.F.A. program: Nathan Magee and Morgan Chard. “This is going to be a fun show,” says Anthony Rhine, a WSU theater professor and play director. “These four actors have just been a joy.” A photo of cast members is included. • The June 26 edition of Model D Media and electronic edition of the Great Lakes IT Report ran stories about Wayne State’s hydrogen-fueled police car. Photos and a link to the College of Engineering’s Web site featuring the story were included. • The June 27 Detroit Free Press and Great Lakes IT Report announced that Wayne State is the latest Michigan school to partner with Virginia-based Ruckus Network Inc., a digital media company, to offer students unlimited access to 2.75 million tracks of free music downloads along with TV and movie downloads and online social networking.