2C - The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - Fall 2005
UNIVERSITY
'U'
creates more
'UNDERSTANDING HERE TODAY'
programs designed
for minorities
By Jacqueline E. Howard
JANUARY 12,2005
Daily Staff Writer
Motivated by a drop in minority applications
after the University's race-conscious admissions
policies were struck down by the U.S. Supreme
Court, the University is creating more programs
geared toward minorities.
The University is now focusing its efforts on
polishing its reputation among minority students,
which was tarnished by its unsuccessful defense
of its admissions policies, Chris Lucier, associate
director of undergraduate admissions, said.
To attract minority students, the new programs
aim to give students an in-depth look at University
life by offering interaction with University faculty
and guided tours. "Our goal is to re-enforce what the
University's mission is and what we stand for. We
offer opportunity, diversity and elite education. We
stand for opportunity and excellence," Lucier said.
Due to these renewed efforts to boost minority
enrollment, this is the first year the University is
running a radio advertisement, which is airing in
the four cities from which most minority students
hail: Detroit, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and
Grand Rapids. The radio ads are designed to boost
minority applications, Lucier said.
But Holly Wissinger, director of News and
Public Information at Miami University, said it's
difficult to advertise a large institution such as the
University, because it is already well-known, for
example, because of its athletics and name recog-
nition." A small college is good to commercialize.
A lot of it depends on what kind of market they're
trying to reach," Wissinger said.
Since Michigan is already a well-known institu-
tion, Lucier said the radio ads are a way to target a
more distinct group of people.
But Lucier also said the University has yet to
learn how effective the ads are, since it will be
not known until all of this year's applications are
received. Michigan is also trying to promote itself
through direct interaction as well.
"We visit 500 high schools within just the state
of Michigan each year," Lucier said. "So we will
be most effective through direct contact rather
than advertising, since we make the effort in get-
ting involved with our potential students."
In an effort to reach the black community,
University President Mary Sue Coleman spoke
at "A Heritage of Healing" program in Kalama-
zoo. This program allowed a dialogue with Cole-
man, giving students and parents in attendance
the opportunity to have their questions about the
University answered personally. Coleman also
attended "Wolverine Day at Hartford" in Detroit,
which offers the president another opportunity to
connect with high school students interested in
Michigan.
In early December, the University also orga-
nized a program called "Pursuit of Excellence,"
where over 500 students and parents participated
in an orientation program. Around this same time,
the "Slice of Life" program allowed students to
experience how it would feel to be a true Univer-
sity student by spending the day with a current
University student.
LSA Senior, Brian Maynard, who gives tours to
potential University students, said, "As a tour guide,
I think that the orientation programs Michigan
has to offer are the most appealing. I don't think
any students have decisions made about Michigan
when they come to visit. The tours help the impres-
sion. To be here is a gold mine," he added, "I'm
trying to be unbiased, but commercialization is
worthless compared to programs."
Lucier said the commercialized part of market-
ing helps to get Michigan's name in the public eye,
but the programs make a long-term impression.
EUGENE ROBERTSON/Daily
Marcus Jones plays "What's Goin' On" at the 18th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium on Jan. 10 at the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre.
Business school implements new program for freshmen
By Koustubh Patwardhan
NOVEMBER 15, 2005
Daily Staff Writer
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business will pilot a new
undergraduate program for the 2006 fall term that will dra-
matically alter the makeup of the school.
Instead of the current two-year program that only accepts
juniors, the school will now accept freshmen and sophomores
into a three- or four-year program, depending on when these
underclassmen decide to apply.
Next year, the Business School will continue to offer
enrollment for juniors, to ensure that nobody misses the
opportunity to apply.
In a newsletter sent to business students, the school said it
formed a committee to perform a review of the Bachelor of
Business Administration curriculum last year. After a year of
deliberations, the faculty decided in a 64 to 14 vote to pave the
way for freshmen and sophomores to get into the school.
"It is challenging to do everything in two years," said Gene
Anderson, associate dean for degree programs.
The school decided to implement the new program because
administrators wanted to allow students the opportunity to be
able to take more classes and have better opportunities to pur-
sue minors in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts,
Anderson said.
Because business students' core curriculum will now be
spread over a period of up to four years, they will have more
time each year to take courses outside the Business School.
Anderson said the new system "achieves a better bal-
ance between liberal arts and business during their busi-
ness education."
Another aim of this change is to lower the pressure students
face when they are in the Business School.
Under the change, students will be exposed to a better
foundation of business early in their academic careers,
while also being able to pursue other opportunities such
as study abroad programs, which are currently off-limits
to business students.
In addition to helping students, the Ross School's programs
will become more competitive with those of other schools, such
as the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
"A lot of folks know they want to get into business," and by
implementingthis policy the Business School could attract a
better group of students than it had been losing to other schools,
Anderson said.
Anderson added that the uncertainty of admissions into
the University's business program drives away students to
universities that accept students as freshman. Students cur-
rently apply into the University and then apply to the business
school two years later, unlike at Wharton where students are
accepted as freshman.
Even though the details regarding admissions are still being
worked out, the application procedure would be similar to that
of the LSA. The Business School has no plans of increasing
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enrollment quotas because of these changes, Anderson said.
At first, freshman and sophomore enrollment will be
phased into the admissions process. The first freshman class
will be capped to about 70 students, and increased in fol-
lowing years.
Business School senior Michelle Chang said she was con-
cerned with the quality of students that will be accepted into
the program.
"The two-year program is comprised of the best group of
students, but when you expand it to four years, it is hard to be
sure that the students are of highest quality," she said.
John Coury, a junior in the school, said he thought that
spreading the classes over a larger span of time would ben-
efit students.
"I like that better as it lowers a lot of stress as far as the appli-
cation procedure," Coury added...
LSA freshman Jennifer Martin, who is planning to apply
to the business school, said she had mixed feelings about the
proposed changes.
"It will be more competitive as many people will apply their
freshman year," she said.
However, she felt that being in the Business School for a
longer period of time will allow students more time to learn
the material.
Other changes being considered include the addition of half-
semester courses similar to the electives in the Masters of Busi-
ness Administration program.
GEO
Continued from page 1C
the union appreciated the support that
individual skilled workers, such as
construction laborers and electricians,
showed by not crossing picket lines.
"An individual choosing to sacrifice a
day's pay in solidarity helps us out a lot:'
Dobbie said. "(Delaying construction
work) will make a huge difference in
how seriously the University takes us."
University facilities and operations
w spokeswoman Diane Brown said groups
of GEO members had situated them-
selves at the construction sites for the
Biomedical Science Research Build-
ing, as well as at the Cardiovascular
Center site, before workers arrived and
that some construction workers chose to
honor the picket lines.
"We had some reduced construction
work occurring," Brown said. "We will
still expect that buildings will be com-
pleted as scheduled."
University spokeswoman Julie Peter-
son said the walkout affected a number
of the University's academic units, but
that the impact was scattered. "LSA felt
the greatest impact, but even (in LSA)
some departments felt it more than oth-
ers," she said.
The walkout also brought support
from graduate students who are not cur-
rently employees and are not directly
affected by GEO's negotiations.
"There is a lot of support from grad-
uate students who haven't ever taught
a class," said Kate Graber, a doctoral
candidate who plans to teach as an
anthropology GSI next year. She added
that she has not been involved with
GEO very long but feels strongly about
the issues that will affect her when she
becomes a GSI.
Other GSIs said they felt strongly
about certain issues because they affect-
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