MLive.com
May 1, 2008
"We'll do whatever it takes within the law - we follow the law - we'll do whatever it takes to create the kind of environment that will be a great experience," Coleman told the audience of about 100 people, mostly black, on Wednesday evening.
Invited to talk about higher education after Proposal 2, Coleman said the university has continued to refine and step up its recruitment efforts. But she said it needs support from the community to encourage students to apply, and if they are accepted, to enroll at U-M.
"We give every student applying to the university the opportunity to tell us what is special about you," said Coleman, during the talk at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
Approved by voters in November 2006, Proposal 2 barred consideration of race or gender in higher education, forcing the university to alter its admissions process and replace some scholarships.
Since then, U-M hired more admissions staff to help pore over applications. It has added programming at its Detroit Center on Woodward Avenue to increase its ties to Detroit, and a student group uses the center on Saturdays to offer SAT and ACT test-prep to local high schoolers, said Coleman.
As they have in previous years, faculty, students and Coleman have personally called admitted students to persuade them to enroll. Coleman said this year her entire executive team made phone calls.
Reporter Dave Gershman can be reached at 734-994-6818 or mailto:dgershmanr@annarbornews.com.And Coleman said the use of software from the College Board called DescriptorPLUS - which includes demographic and socio-economic data on neighborhoods and high schools across the country - has let the university better focus its outreach visits to high schools that haven't historically sent many students to the university. A director will be named next week for a new center on campus to support K-12 partnerships and increase the number of students interested in applying to the university.
Proposal 2 took effect midway through the admissions cycle of the freshman class that arrived on campus last fall. That class had 334 black students, four more than the previous year. But because the overall class size was larger, black students made up 5.8 percent of the class, the smallest proportion of black freshman dating back to at least 1998.
Later this month, U-M is expected to give the first clue to the demographics of the next freshman class when it releases information on students who've paid deposits to reserve a spot for next fall.
Katrina Carter of Detroit, one of the audience members, said the university is doing what it can to recruit minority students. "It's good to hear that it's an ongoing process and to kind of engage the community," she said. http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/05/university_of_michigan_preside.html
Showing posts with label Coleman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coleman. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
U-M president reaches out to Detroit students Talk sets welcoming tone, demystifies entry process
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
BY DAVE GERSHMAN
The Ann Arbor News
DETROIT - After fielding questions about the intricacies of financial aid forms, study abroad programs and campus life at a forum in a Detroit church Tuesday, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman called on a man in the back of the sanctuary.
He asked a trickier question: Why should a student choose U-M over a private, out-of-state university in the wake of the passage of Proposal 2, the Michigan constitutional amendment that banned consideration of race and gender preferences in public education.
Coleman replied that she is committed to maintaining access to U-M, and she compared the university to five others she has known during her academic career.
"I will promise you none of those schools holds the candle to the experiences that students get (at U-M) and (to) the degree of dedication that runs up and down the institution for equity and social justice in this society,'' she said to applause. "... And so that's what I would tell a student, why you should come to Michigan: We want you.''
The dialogue came during a forum on access to higher education that doubled as a minority student recruitment event at the Greater Grace Temple, one of the largest churches in Detroit. It was the eighth time since 2004 that Coleman has lent a personal touch to minority student recruitment efforts by visiting black churches across the state.
Coleman brought more than a dozen top administrators to provide detailed answers to questions from an audience of about 350 parents and teenagers. She talked about the supportive environment on campus that would allow students to reach their full potential.
"We help people find their way at Michigan,'' she said. "Even though it's a big university, we work hard to make it small and make those connections right away so that students can get into their comfort zone and have somebody to talk to, and go find out what it is that makes them just want to jump out of bed in the morning and be really excited.''
Getting the message out to prospective minority students that U-M is a welcoming place has been a priority for many years. After student demonstrations in the early 1970s when the percentage of black enrollment was in the low single digits, U-M administrators set 10 percent as a goal. Three decades later, U-M has not achieved it, despite several variations of affirmative action admissions methods, including the process adopted in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled race could be considered as one of many factors in admitting students.
Then Michigan voters passed Proposal 2 in November 2006, forcing U-M to alter its methods again. It had to stop any consideration of race and gender preferences in admissions midway through the application cycle for the freshman class that arrived on campus last fall.
Although the 334 black freshmen who eventually enrolled was four more than the previous year, the overall numbers in the class also increased, making the black enrollment 5.8 percent. That was the smallest proportion of black students in a freshman class dating back to at least 1998.
[To read the entire article, go to: http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-26/120110293395850.xml&coll=2]
BY DAVE GERSHMAN
The Ann Arbor News
DETROIT - After fielding questions about the intricacies of financial aid forms, study abroad programs and campus life at a forum in a Detroit church Tuesday, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman called on a man in the back of the sanctuary.
He asked a trickier question: Why should a student choose U-M over a private, out-of-state university in the wake of the passage of Proposal 2, the Michigan constitutional amendment that banned consideration of race and gender preferences in public education.
Coleman replied that she is committed to maintaining access to U-M, and she compared the university to five others she has known during her academic career.
"I will promise you none of those schools holds the candle to the experiences that students get (at U-M) and (to) the degree of dedication that runs up and down the institution for equity and social justice in this society,'' she said to applause. "... And so that's what I would tell a student, why you should come to Michigan: We want you.''
The dialogue came during a forum on access to higher education that doubled as a minority student recruitment event at the Greater Grace Temple, one of the largest churches in Detroit. It was the eighth time since 2004 that Coleman has lent a personal touch to minority student recruitment efforts by visiting black churches across the state.
Coleman brought more than a dozen top administrators to provide detailed answers to questions from an audience of about 350 parents and teenagers. She talked about the supportive environment on campus that would allow students to reach their full potential.
"We help people find their way at Michigan,'' she said. "Even though it's a big university, we work hard to make it small and make those connections right away so that students can get into their comfort zone and have somebody to talk to, and go find out what it is that makes them just want to jump out of bed in the morning and be really excited.''
Getting the message out to prospective minority students that U-M is a welcoming place has been a priority for many years. After student demonstrations in the early 1970s when the percentage of black enrollment was in the low single digits, U-M administrators set 10 percent as a goal. Three decades later, U-M has not achieved it, despite several variations of affirmative action admissions methods, including the process adopted in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled race could be considered as one of many factors in admitting students.
Then Michigan voters passed Proposal 2 in November 2006, forcing U-M to alter its methods again. It had to stop any consideration of race and gender preferences in admissions midway through the application cycle for the freshman class that arrived on campus last fall.
Although the 334 black freshmen who eventually enrolled was four more than the previous year, the overall numbers in the class also increased, making the black enrollment 5.8 percent. That was the smallest proportion of black students in a freshman class dating back to at least 1998.
[To read the entire article, go to: http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-26/120110293395850.xml&coll=2]
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