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School of Public Health.
The program will feature
three
concentration
areas:
public health sciences, global
public health and community
public health. These areas will
“encourage study abroad.”
Students would apply during
their sophomore year and begin
public health studies as a junior,
similar
to
application-only
undergraduate programs like the
Public Policy School.
Over the last 10-20 years,
an
increasing
number
of
institutions have started offering
undergraduate
public
health
programs. The program calls for
students to complete a focus area
and complete a capstone project
with a field learning experience.
CSG update
In his monthly report to
the
regents,
CSG
President
Cooper Charlton, an LSA senior,
announced that CSG has worked
with Dean of Students Laura
Blake Jones and Holly Rider-
Milkovich,
director
of
the
Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center, “to develop a
curriculum for student-athletes
to learn about sexual assault
prevention and raise awareness
about this issue.”
Funding campus construction
Kevin Hegarty, executive vice
president and chief financial
officer, has submitted an action
request for the University to
issue general revenue bonds. If
approved, proceeds are estimated
not to exceed $110 million.
Bonds are often issues by
companies or institutions needing
to raise money. How it works:
Investors loan the institution, in
this case the University, a specific
amount of money in exchange
for periodic interest payments.
The loan is repaid when the bond
reaches maturity.
The funds brought in by
these
bonds
would
pay
for
recently completed and ongoing
renovation projects — including
the Munger Graduate Residences,
Intramural Sports Building and
Central Campus utility tunnel
reinforcements.
“The
University
seeks
to
provide
long
term
financing
for the construction cash flow
requirements of authorized new
projects,” the action request reads.
The plan would also likely
involve refinancing “commercial
paper,” or money issued by
corporations or institutions to
help them meet short-term debt
obligations — in the University’s
case,
this
refers
to
money
that went toward funding the
collective renovation of West
Quad and the Michigan Union
Cambridge House.
Subsequently, total proceeds
from
issuing
bonds
and
refinancing “is not expected to
exceed $435 million.”
“These bonds, like commercial
paper, will be supported by a
pledge of the University’s General
Revenues,” the action request
reads. General Revenues refers
to
“revenues
from
students,
athletics, housing” and a plethora
of other University cash flows.
campus. Central to that effort is
a plan to alert the parents of first-
year students who incur a second
violation
of
the
University’s
alcohol policies. The University’s
Division of Public Safety and
Security also plans to increase
engagement efforts in off-campus
neighborhoods.
Citing
current
work
to
develop a campus-wide diversity
initiative, Pollack asked members
of
SACUA
to
consider
how
the faculty governance could
be involved with the ongoing
planning process.
Last
week,
University
President Mark Schlissel said
the University would finalize a
campus-wide strategic diversity
plan by the end of the school year.
For now, Schlissel said individual
University units and departments
would play a role in suggesting
policy changes or new initiatives
designed to improve equity and
inclusion at the University — a
process in which faculty are
expected to play a key role.
Kinesiology
Prof.
Stefan
Szymanski, a SACUA member,
suggested the University improve
its outreach efforts in Detroit.
“Walking
down
Woodward
Avenue
there’s
a
wonderful
building
with
MSU
slogans
everywhere and big bold letters
everywhere, and then we have
a little building with little block
‘M’s and it just seemed very
striking,” he said.
While Pollack acknowledged
that the University needs to
families.”
FAFSA has already changed
dramatically under the Obama
administration. Last January, the
president announced significant
cuts to the application’s length,
shaving the process down by
approximately 20 minutes to
make applying easier and faster.
University alum Cecilia Muñoz,
director of the White House
Domestic Policy Council, and
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of
Education, further explained the
new initiative in a media phone
conference Monday afternoon.
Muñoz said the administration
decided to change FAFSA’s due
date because the current January
deadline falls during a time where
filing taxes for most families
coincides with FAFSA deadlines
and
the
release
of
college
decisions.
“These
changes
will
essentially eliminate the largest
roadblocks to FAFSA completion,
as well as this truncated time
period during which people —
students and their families — are
making what could be the most
important financial decision of
their lives,” Muñoz said. “So this
administrative effort is going
to mean an easier, and earlier,
FAFSA.”
Currently FAFSA uses a tax
retrieval tool to fill-in financial
information,
which
is
only
available to families after they
have filed their taxes. Four-
million students currently file
their FAFSA information prior to
their taxes.
Now,
family
income
information will be evaluated
from each of the two years prior
to a student’s college application
— or “prior-prior year data” — to
determine if income has changed
significantly over that period of
time. The change will make it
easier for families to record their
financial data.
Mark
Kantrowitz,
senior
vice president and publisher of
edvisors.com, is an expert on
student financial aid and said
the shift to using prior-prior year
data will have a serious impact
on students’ financial aid and
graduation rate.
“Prior-prior year will also
yield an improvement in college
graduation rates,” Kantrowitz
said. “Currently, about 2 million
low income students don’t file
the FAFSA, even though they
would qualify for a Federal Pell
Grant. Some don’t do it because
of the complexity of the form.
Some don’t do it because they
are enrolled at low-cost colleges
and think they can work their
way through college. But people
who work a full-time job are half
as likely to graduate as students
who work 12 hours or less a
week. Some don’t do it because
they think they aren’t eligible for
grants, just for loans. So, making
the process easier will encourage
more students to file the FAFSA.
If these students then use the
financial aid to reduce their work
hours, they will be more likely to
graduate.”
Duncan said he believes the
changes will help students and
families make more informed
decisions earlier.
“We think this small step to
make students’ lives easier could
have a huge impact over time,”
Duncan said. “We’re estimating
that over the next several years,
literally hundreds of thousands of
additional students will actually
gain access to critical student
aid each year because more
students and their families will
find it easier to apply for that aid.
That’s financial aid that students
absolutely need and deserve, and
that historically, sadly, they were
leaving on the table.”
Pamela W. Fowler, executive
director
of
the
University’s
Office of Financial Aid, said the
University is eager to get started
with the new changes.
“Those of us in the higher-
education field have advocated
for this change for some time,”
Fowler said. “This is a positive
move for our students and
families and will allow our
prospective families to assess
their financial situation earlier in
the decision-making process.”
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, September 15, 2015 — 3
Playboy Magazine
lists University as a
top party school
The University of Michigan
was listed in 10th place in
Playboy Magazine’s 2015 Top
Party School list.
Leading the list was Ohio
University of Akron. This year
is the first time the university
was the top school and only the
fourth time it’s been included in
the list.
Last year the University of
Pennsylvania , which wasn’t
included in the list this year, was
chosen as the top party school in
the country.
Playboy chooses schools to
make the cut based off of the
school’s nightlife, concerts, and
the degree of creativity involved
with planning party themes.
NEWS BRIEFS
FOUND CAT: Feline was found outside of 420 Maynard at 10:00
p.m. Monday night. Email jcalfas@michigandaily.com if you have
details on this cat’s owner.
FAFSA
From Page 1
PROVOST
From Page 1
laws, improve the physical
conditions of the roadway,
address the safety and access
for
all
users
and
reduce
distractions. The task force
said their goal is zero traffic
fatalities.
The task force surveyed more
than 1,000 members of the Ann
Arbor community, as well as
consulted experts in the field.
“The Task Force wants these
recommendations to become
reality and hopes that you
will work to implement them
through creation of a formal
Pedestrian Safety Plan that
recognizes pedestrian safety
and access as an important
component of City policy, and
practice and one that deserves a
level of funding commensurate
with its importance to the City
and its residents,” Feldt wrote
in an opening letter to the
Council.
After
addressing
the
statistics,
the
report
then
goes on to outline the five
underlying issues that Council
and the city of Ann Arbor
needs to address. These issues
include the unavailability of
comfortable and convenient
sidewalks,
as
well
as
unfamiliarity
with
traffic
laws, a disconnect between
roadway
user
expectations
and
conditions,
failure
to
consider the perspective of all
transportation system users
and distracted roadway users.
Members of the Ann Arbor
community identified a variety
of potential causes, including
situations where motorists fail
to yield for pedestrians, as well
as snow and ice accumulation
on sidewalks and speeding in
residential neighborhoods.
To
conclude
the
report,
detailed
descriptions
of
how the city could address
these
issues.
Each
solution
or
recommendation
was
related back to an objective
aforementioned in the document.
Scott
Campbell,
a
task
force
member,
presented
said Council should consider
different
ways
to
address
crosswalks on busy roads.
“One of the biggest issues
that we’ve seen is the danger
of multi-lane traffic in each
direction,” Campbell said. “One
thing recommended is to have
advanced stop bars, which give
a good distance between the
stopped car and the crosswalk.”
Anthony
Pinnell,
another
task force member, discussed
speeding and distracted driving.
“One idea is implementing
local ordinance banning hand-
held (devices) and even hands-
free devices,” Pinnell said. “More
and more states have statewide
bans and it’s mostly becoming
a topic because using devices is
overtaking alcohol accidents.”
Councilmember Jane Lumm
(D–Ward 2) raised questions
regarding police enforcement
of pedestrian laws.
“My sense is that there is
no magic and there aren’t
officers
sitting
around
doing nothing,” Lumm said.
“Additional enforcement would
require more officers, or more
overtime, therefore some parts
of policing may be sacrificed.”
Councilmember
Stephen
Kunselman
(D–Ward
3)
wanted to know how the task
force addressed jaywalking, an
element that he felt was missing
from the report.
“We have a lot of young
pedestrians in the downtown,”
Kunselman said. “It seems like
they are the ones that need
enforcement, not the drivers
that are trying to dodge them.”
Feldt
responded
to
Kunselman’s question by noting
that pedestrians are similar in
behavior to deer. She said that
one of the best solutions to
addressing pedestrian safety is
for motorists to slow down as
they would for deer.
After
discussing
general
pedestrian safety, the task force
then addressed snow and ice
removal in the city.
“Everyone
is
demanding
higher standards when it comes
to snow and ice removal,”
Pinnell said. “The current
ordinance and its enforcement
are inadequate.”
The solution to inadequate
snow removal included defining
an
exact
ordinance
with
standards that are easy to follow
and fulfill. The task force also
recommended low and no-cost
solutions
for
community
members that need assistance.
The
task
force
also
empathized to the Council the
significant effect of inadequate
snow removal on the elderly
and disabled citizens of Ann
Arbor as another issue the
proposal would address.
PEDESTRIANS
From Page 1
PUBLIC HEALTH
From Page 1
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Martha Pollack, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, discusses the new HAIL scholarship for high-
achieving, low-income students at a SACUA meeting in the Fleming Administration Building on Monday. The new scholar-
ship program will pay full tuition and fees for four years and make the admissions process more accessible.
continue to expand its presence
in Detroit, she also noted the
University programs already in
place with that aim.
She said a recent survey
indicated
the
University
has
more than 300 research, outreach
and service initiatives active
in Detroit. Among them is the
University’s
Detroit
Center,
which assists local students in
completing college application
and FAFSA forms.
SACUA
member
Angela
Fagerlin, associate professor of
internal
medicine,
questioned
how the University was planning
to help students from under-
resourced high schools adjust to
the University’s level of rigor.
“(They) don’t know how to
interact with the system as well so
they get lost here among the other
40,000 kids,” Fagerlin said.
While
Pollack
said
the
University
is
continuing
to
develop initiatives to address
this issue, she pointed to the
University’s high graduation rate
as evidence that many students
are successful here no matter
their background.
The next SACUA meeting will
take place Sept. 21.
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