From left: University of Michigan regent Julia Darlow talks with UM president Mary Sue Coleman after the April 2 special meeting of the board. Darlow was the only regent physically present for the meeting. All other regents participated via conference call. (Photos by the writer.)

Dissenting in the 5-3 vote were the board’s two Republican regents – Andy Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman – as well as Democrat Libby Maynard. Richner and Newman objected vigorously to the action. Richner said it was inappropriate to intervene in a “political spat,” and worried that the vote could have long-term implications that the regents may regret. Newman said the issue involved House procedural rules that Democrats and Republicans have both used in the past.

Denise Ilitch, who voted with the Democratic majority, said the view of Richner and Newman was hypocritical. She said that they had testified at legislative hearings in support of legislation that had the effect of preventing GSRAs from unionizing. Maynard said her opposition was for very different reasons than those given by Richner and Newman, and indicated that she wasn’t comfortable in general with the university filing amicus briefs.

Except for Julia Darlow, all other regents participated in the meeting via conference call.

A hearing on the lawsuit took place earlier in the day at Ingham County Circuit Court, where judge Clinton Canady III ruled in favor of the Democrats and issued a stay on legislation that had been given immediate effect, including the GSRA legislation. That law – which regents had voted to oppose at a Feb. 21 special meeting – made explicit that GSRAs are not entitled to collective bargaining rights under Michigan’s Act 336 of 1947. There are more than 2,000 GSRAs at the university.

Republicans are expected to appeal Canady’s ruling. The motion that was passed by a majority of regents on Monday directed UM administrators to file an amicus “friend of the court” brief in any appeal as well. Jeff Irwin, a Democrat from Ann Arbor’s District 53, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Background: GSRA Law, Legislative Actions

In April 2011, the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) and the American Federation of Teachers/Michigan (AFT/MI) filed a petition with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) to become the representative of graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) under the state’s Public Employment Relations Act.

At their May 19, 2011 meeting, UM regents debated and ultimately passed a resolution supporting the rights of GSRAs to decide whether to organize and be represented by a labor union. The resolution was introduced near the beginning of that meeting by Julia Darlow, who at that time served as the board’s chair. It stated:

Consistent with the University of Michigan’s proud history of strong positive and mutually productive labor relations, the Board of Regents supports the rights of university Graduate Student Research Assistants, whom we recognize as employees, to determine for themselves whether they choose to organize.

During that meeting, UM president Mary Sue Coleman spoke against the resolution in a statement she read aloud prior to the vote. [.pdf file of Coleman's full statement]

Hearings were subsequently held before administrative law judge Julia Stern, who was expected to make a recommendation to MERC in March of 2012. The purpose was for MERC to determine whether GSRAs are employees. MERC had previously ruled in 1981 that GSRAs were not employees.

But before MERC acted, in mid-February 2012 Republican state Sen. Randy Richardville introduced Senate Bill 971. The bill made explicit that GSRAs are not entitled to collective bargaining rights under Michigan’s Act 336 of 1947. The senate government operations committee, which Richardville chairs, held a hearing on the legislation on the morning of Feb. 21. That same morning, UM regents held a special meeting to discuss a response to the legislation.

After a contentious debate that pitted the two Republican regents against the Democratic majority on the board, regents voted 6-2 to formally oppose the bill. The committee later in the day voted to recommend the bill for passage by the full Senate, and the bill was ultimately passed by both the Senate and the House (HB 4246), and signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder on March 13.

Under normal circumstances, the legislation would have become law 90 days after the end of a legislative session. However, the legislature’s GOP majority used an “immediate effect” maneuver to enact the law as soon as it was signed by the governor. According to Article IV, Section 27 of the Michigan Constitution, the legislature can give immediate effect to an act by a two-thirds vote of the members in each house. The recent “immediate effect” votes in the House were taken by voice vote, not by roll call, leaving some question about whether the action achieved the required number of votes.

House Democrats – including Rep. Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor’s District 53 – have demanded roll-calls for “immediate effect” votes, on this and other legislation. According to Article IV, Section 18 of the state Constitution, a roll-call vote must be taken if requested by one-fifth of the members of either the House or Senate. With 110 House representatives, 22 representatives would be constitute one-fifth of the House. There are currently 47 Democratic representatives in the House.

House Democrats have said they presented sufficient signatures to force roll-call votes on immediate effect, but that those attempts were ignored by the House Republican majority. So on March 27, the House Democratic leadership announced that they were filing a lawsuit against their Republican counterparts over the refusal by the GOP majority to hold recorded roll-call votes. Irwin is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed in Ingham County Circuit Court. [Lansing is located in Ingham County.]

On April 2, Judge Clinton Canady III held a “show cause” hearing, which concluded prior to the UM regents’ special meeting that afternoon. At the conclusion of the hearing, Canady granted the Democrats’ request for a preliminary injunction, preventing House Republicans from using voice votes to give legislation immediate effect. Canady also enjoined the enactment of immediate effect on three House bills: HB 4246, related to banning the unionization of GSRAs; HB 4929, which banned public schools from collecting dues for teachers unions; and HB 5063, which required future ballot proposals to be approved by the Board of State Canvassers before being circulated. HB 5063 has not yet passed the Senate.

HB 4246 directly affects UM’s 2,000-plus GSRAs.

Pre-Meeting Exchanges

Unlike the previous special meeting on Feb. 21, which was sparsely attended by executive officers, the April 2 meeting drew several UM executives to the boardroom, including provost Phil Hanlon, CFO Tim Slottow, vice president and secretary Sally Churchill, and Cynthia Wilbanks, vice president for government relations. UM president Mary Sue Coleman, who participated in the last special meeting via conference call, was in the room as well this time to chair the session.

Suellyn Scarnecchia, UM’s general counsel, attended the meeting in person. Also attending in person were Ora Pescovitz, UM’s executive vice president for medical affairs, and Doug Strong, CEO of the UM Hospitals and Health Centers.

All regents – with the exception of Julia Darlow – participated via conference call. Before the official start of the meeting, Libby Maynard asked about an email that regents had received from Nancy Asin, assistant secretary of the university, regarding an issue related to the UM hospital. Coleman told her that wasn’t the topic of this meeting, and Churchill quickly added that Maynard was speaking at a public meeting with others in the room. Churchill said there would be an “informal discussion” with regents on the topic that Maynard had broached, following the public meeting.

Maynard asked who was in the room, and Coleman replied that several executive officers, the media, and “other interested parties” were there. [In addition to The Chronicle, other media included representatives from the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, AnnArbor.com and the Michigan Daily.]

Also prior to the meeting’s start, regent Martin Taylor  – speaking via conference phone – noted that the judge had already issued a decision in the case. Denise Ilitch, the board’s chair, said she still thought they should proceed, and Taylor agreed. The case will likely be heard in appeals, he said. “Exactly,” Ilitch replied.

Special Meeting: Amicus Brief

Mary Sue Coleman called the meeting to order and turned to Suellyn Scarnecchia, UM’s general counsel, who said it was her understanding that the meeting had been called to determine if the university would take an official position regarding the legal challenge to the legislature’s “immediate effect” actions. She reported that the judge had issued a decision earlier in the day – she noted that she had already emailed this information to UM executives and regents.

The judge’s ruling from the bench was in favor of the Democratic legislators, Scarnecchia said, and stayed the “immediate effect” enactment of recent legislation but did not address the substance of the legislation.

The question is whether to file an amicus brief with the court, Scarnecchia said – the judge had indicated that he would allow it – and also whether to file if the judge’s decision is appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals. She noted that David Fink and Darryl Bressack – with the Bloomfield Hills law firm Fink + Associates – were acting as outside counsel for UM and were on the conference call. Bressack had been in the courtroom earlier in the day when the judge made his ruling, she said.

Noting that he was actually out of the country, Fink told regents that he and Bressack were there to answer questions. As far as procedural moves, it’s inevitable that the case will be appealed, he said. The ruling that day was of particular relevance, he added, because it stayed the immediate effect of Public Act 45. [The law is also known as the Public Employment Relations Act, and states that graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) are not public employees.]

Fink said the intent is now to ask the the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) to move forward with its own ruling on whether GSRAs are employees. Fink also reported that the judge had said there’s nothing precluding the legislature from taking a vote on immediate effect – it would pass if it received a two-thirds majority. “I don’t know if they would do that,” Fink said. Regardless, he added that his firm will anticipate taking the university’s position to the appeals court.

Regent Martin Taylor said he was ready to make a motion directing counsel to file a friend-of-the-court brief in this lawsuit. Although the judge has issued an opinion, Taylor noted, briefs can still be filed. Taylor moved to file an amicus brief in the Ingham County Circuit Court and any other court through the appeals process. The motion was seconded by Denise Ilitch.

Libby Maynard said she didn’t want anyone to be surprised by her vote, but she didn’t feel good about the university filing an amicus brief so she wouldn’t support this motion. She indicated that she didn’t want to go into further detail about her decision, but later said that it’s for totally different reasons than the ones cited by other regents – Andy Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman – who also opposed it.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman at the April 2 special regents meeting.

Richner asked Coleman what her views are on the matter. Coleman replied that she had made her comments last year, and that she wouldn’t comment on this case. It’s something the board needs to decide, she said.

Coleman was referring to remarks she made at the May 2011 regents meeting. At that meeting on a 6-2 vote, regents passed a resolution supporting the rights of GSRAs to decide whether to organize and be represented by a labor union. Before the vote, Coleman had spoken out against the move, describing the relationship between graduate researchers and faculty as a special one that was fundamentally different than an employee-employer relationship. Changing the nature of that interaction could affect the university in significant ways, which she said caused her deep concern. Richner and Newman, the only two Republican regents, had voted against the resolution.

At the April 2 meeting, Richner asked whether the university had done anything like this in the past, in terms of filing an amicus brief: “Isn’t this unprecedented?” Scarnecchia replied that it hadn’t happened during her tenure as general counsel. [She was appointed in June of 2008.]

Larry Deitch pointed out that the board had been fully behind the UM administration during the affirmative action lawsuit against the university, which was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Newman observed that the case didn’t involved the board moving to file an amicus brief, however.

Richner asked Coleman what her view was regarding the amicus brief. She replied that it’s certainly within the board’s purview to do this, and she wouldn’t question it. However, she added, it’s a rare action to take.

Richner wondered whether the administration would be filing an amicus brief, if the board didn’t direct them to do so.  That determination hadn’t been made, Coleman replied. Those discussions haven’t taken place among the executive staff.

Newman said she didn’t think it was appropriate to file an amicus brief. The university’s interest is only tangential at best, she said, and the board shouldn’t get involved in legislative procedural issues. It doesn’t do the university any good to take sides on a procedural move that both Democrats and Republicans have used over the years, she said.

Newman then said she found the circumstances of this meeting to be troubling. She noted that she had expressed these same views regarding the previous special meeting in February. She understood that public notice of the meeting had been given. [An email message regarding the Monday afternoon meeting had been sent to media on Saturday, March 31. The state’s Open Meetings Act states that notice of a special meeting for a public entity must be posted at least 18 hours in advance of the meeting. And a Michigan attorney general opinion issued by Frank Kelley in 1980 interprets that part of the OMA statute to require that the notice be accessible to the public continuously for the 18 hours preceding the meeting.]

But Newman observed that no topic had been indicated in the meeting notice – she felt the topics should be included in all such notices.

There’s nothing to be gained by not having public commentary on this issue, Newman said. [No agenda was made available, and there was no opportunity for public commentary during the meeting.] She said the regents tend not to share information on this topic, unlike anything else they do at the institution. She repeated that she found it troubling.

Richner agreed with Newman. Weighing in on a political spat between political parties is unprecedented and could have long-term implications that the regents may regret. In the past, he noted, the university has taken a position on certain legislation that it wanted to take immediate effect. He said he understood the passion on the issue –  presumably referring to the GSRA law – but this lawsuit goes well beyond that, and he didn’t think they should take a position on it.

Ilitch said she deeply disagreed with some of the observations that had been made. With respect to noticing meetings, she said the board has conducted itself as it always has. She supported Taylor’s motion, saying that it’s important to the values of the university. It’s scary to her when legislation is passed that takes immediate effect. Historically, there have been awful laws passed, she said.

Ilitch also said it was hypocritical to talk about not taking political positions, when Richner and Newman had testified in support of the GSRA legislation. “You can’t have it both ways,” she said.

Deitch said that Ilitch had articulated the reasons why he also supported Taylor’s motion. The university is an institution that’s about free speech, and about the right of the minority to be heard, he said. The rules of due process were not followed by the legislature. There were written requests for a roll-call vote, he noted, but those requests were ignored.

The university is an institution that’s about upholding certain values, Deitch said, and the actions of the GOP legislators are inconsistent with those values, in his judgment.

Newman responded by saying that she hadn’t seen the brief filed by Republicans in this case, but she didn’t believe the lawsuit had anything to do with the rules of due process. These are House rules, she said, and both Democrats and Republicans have used them. It’s not the board’s business to intervene. It has nothing to do with the principles of free and open speech. In the future when meetings like this are called, she hoped that the topic would be provided in advance and that people would have the chance to speak during public commentary. She hoped the future meetings would allow the kind of free speech “that we all cherish so dearly.”

Outcome: On a 5-3 roll-call vote, the board passed a resolution directing the administration to file an amicus brief in support of the state House Democrats’ lawsuit. Dissenting were Libby Maynard, Andrea Fischer Newman and Andy Richner.

Present: Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio), Julia Darlow. Also present via conference call: Larry Deitch, Denise Ilitch, Olivia (Libby) Maynard, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andy Richner, Martin Taylor, Kathy White.

Next regular board meeting: Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 3 p.m. at the Fleming administration building on UM’s central campus. [confirm date]

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By way of background, last month state House Democrats sued Republicans over the refusal by the GOP majority to hold recorded roll-call votes when super-majorities are required to pass a bill. The strategy results in bills taking effect immediately after being signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, rather than becoming law 90 days after the end of a legislative session. Jeff Irwin, a Democrat from Ann Arbor’s District 53, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

A hearing in the case took place earlier today at Ingham County Circuit Court, where judge Clinton Canady III ruled in favor of the Democrats and issued a stay on legislation that had taken immediate effect, including the GSRA legislation. That law made explicit that GSRAs are not entitled to collective bargaining rights under Michigan’s Act 336 of 1947.

Republicans are expected to appeal the ruling. The motion that was passed by a majority of regents directed UM administrators to file an amicus “friend of the court” brief in any appeal as well.

At the April 2 regents meeting, some of the same themes were voiced that had been raised at another special regents meeting on Feb. 21, when the board voted 6-2 formally to oppose Senate Bill 971 – the GSRA legislation that was subsequently enacted. Newman and Richner dissented in that vote too, with Newman questioning whether the meeting conformed to the state’s Open Meetings Act. At Monday’s meeting she again objected to the way in which the meeting was called, arguing that its topic should have been announced in advance and that the meeting should have provided opportunity for public input.

Richner questioned the appropriateness of the board directing UM administrators to take this kind of action, wondering whether it was setting a precedent. Both Richner and Newman said it was inappropriate to intervene in the legislature’s procedures and to get involved in a political spat. Denise Ilitch, who voted with the majority, called that view hypocritical, noting that Richner and Newman had testified at committee hearings in support of Senate Bill 971 the legislation.

Maynard did not disclose why she also opposed the motion at the April 2 meeting, but she said it was for very different reasons than those given by Richner and Newman. More coverage of the meeting: [link]

The bill, which was introduced on Feb. 15 by state Senate majority leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), states: “An individual serving as a graduate student research assistant or in an equivalent position and any individual whose position does not have sufficient indicia of an employment relationship is not a public employee entitled to representation or collective bargaining rights under this act.” It was proposed in response to efforts at the University of Michigan to allow GSRAs to vote on whether to unionize.

At a special meeting convened on Feb. 21, UM regents had voted 6-2 on a resolution to formally oppose the bill, with the board’s two Republican regents voting against the resolution. [See Chronicle coverage: "GSRA Bill: Regents Debate Opposition"] Under that direction from the majority of the regents, Cynthia Wilbanks, UM’s vice president for government relations, has testified against the bill at recent committee hearings in both the House and Senate. UM regent Andy Richner, a Republican, was among those testifying in favor of passage.

The bill was moved quickly through the legislature in order to enact the law before an anticipated mid-March ruling by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission on whether to grant GSRAs the status of employees. Hearings have been held before administrative law judge Julia Stern, who was expected to make a recommendation to MERC on the issue later in March.

The bill will now be sent back to the state Senate for final approval, then to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature.

If eventually passed by both the Michigan house and senate and signed into law, the amendment to the bill could resolve the question currently being debated on the University of Michigan campus about the organization of that institution’s graduate student research assistants into a union.

The UM board of regents passed a resolution on May 19, 2011 supporting the right of GSRAs to determine whether to organize. The resolution passed over the objection of UM president Mary Sue Coleman and with dissenting votes from the board’s two Republican regents. At the board’s Jan. 19, 2012 meeting, three faculty members and one student spoke during public commentary, voicing objections to the effort to unionize GSRAs. The regents hold their monthly meeting today (Feb. 16) at 3 p.m. in the Fleming administration building on UM’s central campus.

Before the start of the Jan. 19 board of regents meeting, UM president Mary Sue Coleman scanned an article from The Chronicle – but not this Chronicle. It's a report from The Chronicle of Higher Education. (Photos by the writer.)

Instead, regents dealt with less high-profile matters, approving a range of action items with little discussion. Those included funding for a major expansion of the UM Health System into Wayne County, along the I-275 corridor; renovations that will transform the entrance to Schembechler Hall and make a museum of football memorabilia more accessible to the public; and improvements to the university’s Northwood apartment complex on north campus.

But much of the meeting consisted of reports. Stephen Forrest, UM’s vice president for research, presented a sobering outlook for future research funding, calling the climate for federal funding “worrisome.” After his talk, regent Andrea Fischer Newman pointed out that tuition is helping to support the university’s $1.2 billion research program – about 25% of those research expenditures are covered internally.

Regents also heard from dean Alison Davis-Blake, who described how the business school is countering the caricature of managers that are only focused on short-term profits, and whose management skills consist of the ability to say, “You’re fired!” Graduates of Ross are taught to think more broadly, she said.

An item not on the agenda of the Jan. 19 meeting received considerable attention during public commentary. One student and three professors spoke against an effort to unionize graduate student research assistants (GSRAs).

Also during public commentary, the chair of the Sierra Club’s Huron Valley group raised concerns over the proposed Fuller Road Station, saying that the joint UM/city of Ann Arbor project runs counter to the university’s sustainability efforts. Fuller Road Station’s initial phase is a proposed parking structure, located near the UM medical campus, that could hold over 1,000 vehicles.

President’s Opening Remarks

The board typically meets in the regents boardroom of the Fleming Administration Building, but the January meeting was held in a sixth floor conference room of the Ross Business School. Another event was scheduled in the same room following the regents meeting, so UM president Mary Sue Coleman began her remarks by noting that they needed to move through their agenda “with alacrity.”

Coleman thanked the business school and dean Alison Davis-Blake for hosting the meeting. Construction of the new building had been made possible through philanthropy, she noted. [The school is named for businessman Stephen J. Ross, who donated $100 million – the largest donation ever to UM.]

Coleman said she wanted to revel in the Sugar Bowl one last time. Several regents and UM executive had traveled to New Orleans for the game, she said, and it had been terrific to see the resurgence of the historic American city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Alumni were enthusiastic, the marching band outdid themselves, and coach Brady Hoke and the football team made the fans proud, she said, though at times nervous. It was a magnificent display of spirit and intercollegiate athletics, Coleman said.

Turning to academic honors, Coleman reported that UM chemistry professor Brian Coppola had received Baylor University’s Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. It’s the most financially lucrative teaching award in the country, she said – $250,000 to the winner, plus $25,000 for his home department, to further develop teaching skills there. Coppola is known for his innovative teaching, Coleman said – he won the U.S. Professor of the Year award in 2009, and UM’s Golden Apple teaching award in 1994. She said she’d watched one of his lectures that’s posted on the Baylor website, and she highly recommended that others watch the video too.

Calling it a landmark event, Coleman also highlighted the fact that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has decided to open a satellite location in Detroit – its first office outside of Washington D.C. This region was selected because of its high number of patent applications, from the auto industry as well as university research. Coleman reported that UM, Michigan State and Wayne State had worked hard to convince government officials to open the office here. She said she expects the university law schools will form alliances with the office, too.

Unionization of GSRAs

By way of background, at the board’s May 2011 meeting, regents had passed a resolution of support regarding the rights of graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) to decide whether to organize and be represented by a labor union. The resolution was passed over dissent from the board’s two Republican regents – Andrew Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman. Before the vote, UM president Mary Sue Coleman had spoken in opposition to the action.

On Jan. 19, Newman asked provost Phil Hanlon for an update on a UM graduate student who had spoken at a press conference the previous day. [The event had been organized by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), a group that hopes to represent GRSAs if they decide to unionize. The student, Jennifer Dibbern, was a GSRA who alleges that she was fired by professor Rachel Goldman over her support of efforts to unionize the GSRAs.]

Hanlon responded to Newman, saying that a lot of faculty members had inquired about the situation. He said he had personally reviewed the student’s academic record and is convinced that the decision was justified and appropriate, and that the decision was made based on academic grounds. He strongly supported the action.

Unionization of GSRAs: Public Commentary

During public commentary at the end of the meeting, four people spoke against the unionization effort.

Stephen Raiman, founder of Students Against GSRA Unionization, started off the public commentary by noting that he had spoken to regents on the same issue at their November 2011 meeting. Now, he wanted to talk about the negative effects on the faculty. He said he’s talked to many people across campus at various levels, and encountered people who are afraid to speak out. One faculty member said his department chair didn’t want anyone to address this issue for fear of retribution from the board of regents, Raiman said. This feeling is pervasive, he said, and stems from the disagreement between the majority of board members and the university administration. He contended that the overwhelming majority of faculty are against the unionization of GSRAs.

Raiman noted that in order for the unionization effort to move forward, signatures from more than 50% of GSRAs needed to be collected – and this was completed by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), he said. But many of the signatures were secured through misinformation or outright deception, he contended. He cited some specific examples of people he’d talked with, who told him that they hadn’t been informed about the $400 in dues they would owe to the GEO if the GSRAs are unionized. One person told him ”I signed their card to get rid of them,” Raiman said. These examples are anecdotal, he acknowledged, but he’s hearing more instances like this.

Victor DiRita, UM professor of microbiology and immunology, spoke during public commentary against the unionization of graduate student research assistants (GSRAs).

On Feb. 1, the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) will hold an administrative hearing on the legality of the election to unionize GSRAs, Raiman told regents. But his group is barred from attending – that means only one side of the issue will be represented, he said. He asked the board to ensure that the election is fair, if there’s an election. Raiman concluded by saying he was glad to see that there were faculty members brave enough to come and speak during public commentary.

The next three speakers were UM faculty: Victor DiRita, Finn Larsen, and Cagliyan Kurdak.

DiRita, a professor in the department of microbiology and immunology, is also associate dean for graduate and postdoctoral studies at the UM Medical School. He agreed with the sentiments expressed by Raiman. Saying he understood the impulse to offer choices to students, DiRita said that in this case, the choice is based on the flawed premise that students are employees. The faculty views that premise as a serious affront, he said. Faculty take mentoring and academic progress very seriously, and in fact it’s a red flag if someone treats a student like an employee, he said.

Larsen and Kurdak also raised concerns over possible GSRA unionization. Larsen, who’s chair of the physics department’s graduate program, said it’s meaningless to distinguish between thesis research and GSRA-supported research. Doing so will have a negative impact on the education and research missions of the university.

Kurdak, director of the applied physics program, also objected to characterizing GSRAs as employees. The relationship between faculty and students is very personal, he said. When problems arise between the faculty member and student, often times the problems are academic in nature – and union involvement would not be effective. In fact, it might result in escalating the situation so that there are no solutions that benefit the student, he said. Kurdak encouraged regents to recognize the academic nature of GSRA appointments.

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman thanked the faculty for coming to speak to the board on this issue.

Annual Research Report

Stephen Forrest, UM’s vice president for research, began his presentation by noting that this was the 90th annual research report to regents, but that it would be a more sober report than previous reports, because the university is entering sobering times. [.pdf of fiscal 2011 UM research report]

To put the research enterprise in context, Forrest noted its $1.2 billion in expenditures makes research the third-largest segment of the university, behind the health system ($2.4 billion) and education ($1.3 billion). He cautioned that these numbers can be misleading, because the three segments interlink in many ways.

Forrest then cited a 1962 quote from Harlan Hatcher, UM’s 8th president, on the occasion of the 40th annual research report: “The university fulfills three basic, interlocking functions: to educate youth in the widest possible variety of intellectual disciplines; to collect, increase, and disseminate knowledge that bears on these disciplines; and to perform those services for society, both individually and collectively, which, consistent with its education and research functions, it is peculiarly qualified to perform.”

Stephen Forrest, UM's vice president for research.

The statement was true then, Forrest said, “and it’s certainly true today.”

The challenge now, he said, is how to make the research enterprise thrive during a time of flat or declining federal support. Federal funding is the largest source of research dollars at UM, accounting for 66.7% – $824.75 million – of total research expenditures in fiscal 2011. For UM, federal funding has always increased year-to-year, Forrest noted, even when the overall amount of federal dollars available for research nationwide has declined. In fiscal 2011, federal funding for UM research increased 9.8% compared to the previous year.

In fiscal 2012, the university had expected federal funding to drop, but it didn’t, Forrest said. Regardless of the noise coming out of Washington, both political parties agree that innovation is a driver of American economy, he said.

In looking at funding received by UM from specific federal agencies, 46.2% of all UM research expenditures in fiscal 2011 were funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase of 12.6% compared to the fiscal 2010. UM’s medical school is the sixth largest recipient of NIH funding in the country, Forrest noted, and they ?? need to be concerned a little – “or maybe a lot” – about diversification, he said.

The university’s second-largest federal funding source is from the National Science Foundation. NSF funding increased 10.3% to $74.25 million in fiscal 2011. Federal energy funding grew 30.4% to $35.40 million – the largest percentage increase.

Research funding to UM dropped from two federal sources – NASA and transportation funds.

Total non-federal funding also decreased by 1.1%, to $105.63 million. Industry support accounts for $40.84 million of that non-federal total, an increase of 4% for the year. (Other non-federal sources are foundations and state or local government.)

Overall, funding from industry sources makes up only a small percentage of total research expenditures, Forrest noted. But it’s important, he said, because it serves as a catalyst for other funding. In the 1980s, the federal government started emphasizing “use-inspired” basic research – work that can eventually lead to the creation of jobs or that supports an “innovation economy,” Forrest said. Very often, federal grants require some kind of industry partnership.

Looking ahead, Forrest said the growth forecast is worrisome. The global growth domestic product (GDP) is hovering just above recession levels. The GDP dip in 2008 was “terrible,” he said, and subsequent shocks, like the tsunami in Japan or the debt crisis in Europe, have had an impact.

In the future, Forrest expects to see significant budget cuts across all federal agencies, as the nation’s debt catches up with it. The university dodged a bullet in 2012, he said, but shouldn’t get complacent. These trends are likely to persist over the next 5-10 years.

So what should UM do? It’s important to focus on the university’s research strengths that are priorities for the federal government and industry, Forrest said. The university’s “sweet spot” is use-inspired basic research, he said, in areas including health, energy, intelligent vehicle systems, advanced manufacturing and sustainability.

Secondly, UM needs to build on its culture and research environment, Forrest said. The university already has a reputation for strengths across disciplines, and for interdisciplinary cooperation, ties to industry, and international relationships, he said. Forrest also described the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) as the university’s “secret calling card,” with rapidly developing potential.

Finally, Forrest told regents that UM’s research operations need to streamline the administrative process. One example is the need to mentor young faculty, he said, so that they can more quickly start getting research grants. UM’s research administration needs to improve, he continued, by forging better relationships with the university’s office of technology transfer, business engagement center, and individual academic units.

The administration also needs to reduce barriers to working with industry, he said. Forrest concluded by telling regents that they can look forward to announcements about how the university will make it easier to craft intellectual property agreements, and in general improve its relationship with industry.

Annual Research Report: Regent Commentary

Andrea Fischer Newman said it seems that the university is losing money on its research – is that the case? Forrest replied that internal funding accounts for about 25% of UM’s total research program, paying for things like fellowships, infrastructure, and packages for startups that license university technology. Research returns a great value, he said, but it does cost a lot.

Newman said she wasn’t criticizing it. But she wanted to point out that tuition is used in part to subsidize the university’s research program.

Update from the Business School Dean

Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the UM Ross School of Business since July 2011, gave a brief overview of the school’s mission and approach to business education. Much has been written about the ill effects of business school graduates, she began – people who are narrow-minded, focused on short-term profits, and whose management skills consist of the ability to say, “You’re fired!”

Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the UM Ross School of Business.

That’s a caricature, she noted, yet there’s some truth to it. The future of business requires managers who think broadly and who have subtle management skills – and those are the kinds of managers that the Ross School is training, she said.

The school offers the traditional business disciplines, Davis-Blake said. But it also take an action-based learning approach, she added, focusing on organization sustainability – doing more with fewer financial, human, temporal and environmental resources, while creating positive outcomes for people and organizations. The approach is done in a multi-disciplinary way, she said, and involves not only faculty and students, but also alumni, businesses, nonprofits and government organizations.

Davis-Blake gave three examples to illustrate this approach. An “advanced model factory” at the Tauber Institute will be coming online in September, she said. Located at the North Campus Research Complex, it will be a small-scale replica of a real production environment. Because it will be easy to reconfigure, it will allow students to examine the effectiveness of various production methods. The focus will be on lean manufacturing and “green” techniques, she said, using principles of “factory physics.” In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, workshops will be offered to Michigan businesses as well, she said.

Davis-Blake also cited work done by the school’s Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship. The emphasis is on cultivating positive emotions, positive connections and positive interpretations of events. A “job crafting” tool, for example, helps people change the way they work to make it more positive and productive.

In her final example, Davis-Blake described environmental sustainability work at the Erb Institute, a joint venture of the business school and the School of Natural Resources & Environment. Graduate students complete a thesis that involves a real client, and alumni teams choose projects that are suitable for publication. Three books – printed locally by Thomson-Shore – have been produced so far, she said, on the topics of climate strategies, hybrid organizations, and sustainable hotels.

Davis-Blake concluded by noting that her father had been a business school dean, and photos from his tenure showed an all-male faculty. Ross is not your father’s business school, she said.

Coleman thanked Davis-Blake, and commented that the energy from students in the building’s Winter Garden – the first floor lobby – was palpable.

Health System Expansion

A major expansion into western Wayne County by the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers was on the Jan. 19 agenda for regents to authorize.

The $39 million project entails opening a new clinic along the I-275 corridor, at a site located at Seven Mile and Haggerty Roads in Northville Township – about a half mile away UM’s existing Livonia Center for Specialty Care. Attracting patients from outside the market of Livingston and Washtenaw counties is part of the UM Health System’s strategic plan.

The plan calls for signing a 25-year lease on 100,000 square feet, with base rent of $27.25 per rentable square foot per year, increasing 5% every five years. The base lease covers expenses related to the land, site work, design and management fees, and a part of the building construction. Operating costs would be an additional expense.

Ora Peskovitz, UM's executive vice president for medical affairs.

The location is expected to include primary and specialty care; a musculoskeletal program; eye care for adults and children; radiology services; infusion for cancer and non-cancer treatment; and a medical procedure unit.

The site is expected to be ready by the winter of 2014.

When he introduced the item, UM chief financial officer Tim Slottow noted that there were several reasons why this particular lease required board approval – the lease is longer than 10 years, more than 50,000 square feet, and over $1 million annually. He said the project is something that has been worked on for several years.

Ora Pescovitz, UM’s executive vice president for medical affairs, spoke briefly about the project, saying it was a very important facility and pivotal for the health system’s strategic plans. It’s responding to the burgeoning clinical needs in communities along this stretch of I-275.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the lease for the Northville Township health system expansion.

Executive Officer Reports

During every meeting, UM’s executive officers have the opportunity to give verbal reports, supplementing any written communications they provide to the regents.

Executive Officer Reports: Health Care Costs

Tim Slottow, UM’s chief financial officer, said that in light of changes to health benefits made at the state level, he wanted to remind people of the successes that the university has seen in its health benefits strategies. Changes that UM has made since 2003 have resulted in about $94 million of savings annually, Slottow said, or about $400 million cumulatively. Of that, greater cost-sharing by employees accounts for about 65% of the savings. Employees pay for 30% of their health care premiums and co-pays.

Other savings were gained from use of generic drugs, instituting a one-year waiting period before new employees get university contributions toward their retirement savings accounts, and reducing administrative costs, he said.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman said the administration recognizes that faculty and staff have been partners in cutting costs. Everyone is aware of the need to do that, she said.

Executive Officer Reports: Development

Jerry May, UM’s vice president of development, reported that there was a strong uptick in donations in December, but fiscal year-to-date giving to the university is only up about 2% – $140.88 million for the first six months of fiscal 2012, compared to $138.05 million for the same period in fiscal 2011. [.pdf of development report]

May noted that in 2009, UM president Mary Sue Coleman had issued a challenge grant, with $5 million in matching funds to provide a $1 match for every $2 in endowment gifts of up to $500,000. That meant that the development office needed to raise $10 million in contributions to the university to fund undergraduate and graduate study abroad.

That goal has been met, May said, and there is now a permanent $15 million endowment that over the years will benefit thousands of students.

UM Athletics: Renovations, Finance

Two action items on the Jan. 19 agenda related to university athletics – for renovations of Schembechler Hall and Yost Ice Arena. In addition, regents were provided with supplemental information related to a financial audit of the athletics department.

UM Athletics: Renovations – Schembechler Hall

Regents were asked to authorize a $9 million renovation to the entrance of Schembechler Hall, which will integrate the Margaret Dow Towsley Sports Museum area. The building at 1200 S. State St. was constructed in 1990 for UM’s football program, and contains locker rooms, meeting rooms, medical treatment rooms, training areas, weight rooms, and administrative offices. The project will add about 7,000 square feet to the building, and renovate an additional 7,000 square feet. Funding will be provided from athletic department resources.

Tim Slottow, UM’s chief financial officer, said the renovations would completely change the look and feel of the entrance. Regent Andrea Fischer Newman asked whether the changes would make the museum more accessible. “Absolutely,” Slottow replied. The museum is significantly underutilized, he said, and this project is rethinking its whole use.

Newman said that if the university is going to spend $9 million on renovations, the public needs better access. Slottow said the changes will result in the museum being far better used.

The museum is a collection of UM football memorabilia, including some of the program’s championship trophies. In a statement released after the regents meeting, athletics director Dave Brandon indicated that more interactive displays will be added to the museum during the renovations. There’s no admission and it’s open to the public, but hours are limited. It’s open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the renovations to Schembechler Hall.

UM Athletics: Renovations – Yost Ice Arena

In a separate vote, regents were asked to authorize issuing bids and awarding construction contracts for a $14 million project at Yost Ice Arena. The overall project was initially approved by the board at its June 2011 meeting, with a schematic design subsequently approved in October.

The project includes replacing seating on the east, south and west sides of the rink, improving accessibility and emergency exits, converting the west side media balcony into a series of loge boxes, adding a new level five on the west side for media, and constructing new corner and stair platforms for additional seating. The project will be paid for out of athletic department revenues, and has been designed by Rossetti Architects Inc. of Southfield, Mich.

There’s the potential that a donor might provide additional funding for enhanced window treatments at Yost, Slottow said – UM athletics director Dave Brandon and Jerry May, the university’s vice president of development, are working on that. If the donation comes through, Slottow said he’ll be returning to the regents asking for an approval of an additional $1-2 million for the project.

Outcome: Without comment, regents unanimously approved issuing bids and awarding construction contracts for renovations at Yost.

UM Athletics: Finance – Supplement to Audit

As an item of information, Slottow pointed regents to a supplemental report for the athletics department financial audit covering the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011. [.pdf of supplemental audit information] Slottow noted that the information is required by the NCAA. The report includes reviews of financial contributions from various booster organizations, financial aid for one student athletic in each of 10 sports, compensation for 12 coaches, and several other items. No exceptions were noted.

Renovation Projects: Kraus, Northwood

Regents were asked to approve renovation projects totaling nearly $10 million for academic and student housing purposes.

Renovation Projects: Kraus

A $1.7 million renovation to the auditorium of the Edward Henry Kraus building was on the Jan. 19 agenda for approval. The Kraus building is used by biology departments and was constructed in 1915. Its auditorium – one of the largest on central campus – was last updated in 1990.

The current project would renovate about 5,100 square feet and include accessibility improvements, new seating, power for laptops and other devices, and other upgrades. The renovation will be funded by the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the provost’s office. The work is expected to be complete by the summer of 2012.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the Kraus renovations.

Renovation Projects: Northwood

The board was asked to authorize a $7.5 million upgrade to the fire alarm and boiler systems at Northwood I, II and III – a 58-building apartment complex on north campus with 686 units of student housing.

The complex had been mentioned at the regents’ Nov. 17, 2011 meeting in the context of other housing changes on north campus and elsewhere throughout UM’s student housing system. At that meeting, regents approved renovations at two dorms – Baits II on north campus, and East Quad on central campus – and discussed the need for a broader strategic plan for student housing. Royster Harper, the university’s vice president for student affairs, had informed regents that the living/learning communities in the Northwood apartments I and II would be expanded to Northwood III.

The renovations to Northwood will be designed by UM’s department of architecture, engineering and construction, in collaboration with Riverside Integrated Systems Inc. and Structural Design Inc. The project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the Northwood renovation project, without comment.

Michigan Energy Institute

As an item of information, Stephen Forrest – UM’s vice president for research – noted that the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Institute is being renamed. As of Feb. 1, it will be called the University of Michigan Energy Institute.

When the institute launched six years ago, Forrest said, its name was chosen to reflect the legacy of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Institute, which had been formed in 1948 to focus on peaceful uses for atomic energy. It was a way to honor the more than 500 students and alumni who sacrificed their lives during World War II.

A prominent display about the Phoenix project will be located in the lobby of the building, he said, and the building itself will be named the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Laboratory on North Campus. [The building is located at the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) on Plymouth Road, site of the former Pfizer research operation.]

The institute’s new name will reflect a more interdisciplinary approach that draws on a range of disciplines, including science, technology, policy, business and other fields, Forrest said. It’s an academic research unit of the office of the vice president for research, with the mission of developing and promoting energy research and education.

Regents had no comments regarding the name change.

Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures

Regents were asked to authorize five items that required disclosure under the state’s Conflict of Interest statute. The law requires that regents vote on potential conflict-of-interest disclosures related to university staff, faculty or students.

The items often involve technology licensing agreements or leases. This month, companies involved are Edington Associates LLC, ArborMetrix, Valley View Farms, FlexDex LLC, and Diapin Therapeutics LLC.

Outcome: In one vote, regents authorized the five conflict-of-interest disclosures, without comment.

Public Commentary

In addition to the four people who spoke during public commentary against the effort to unionize graduate student research assistants, as reported above, a fifth speaker raised concerns over the proposed Fuller Road Station.

Public Commentary: Fuller Road Station

Nancy Shiffler, chair of the Sierra Club’s Huron Valley group, congratulated the university for its Planet Blue sustainability efforts, saying she was impressed by its goal and scope. However, she’s concerned about a project that runs counter to those goals.

Nancy Shiffler, chair of the Sierra Club's Huron Valley group.

The proposed Fuller Road Station would be a parking garage for potentially 1,600 vehicles, and would directly contradict the university’s sustainability goals, she said. The garage would primarily be used by UM employees commuting by car, although eventually it might include a commuter rail station.

Shiffler outlined several concerns. If a train station is eventually built, having a large parking garage there would discourage people from using commuter rail, she said. The structure would increase air pollution and traffic congestion, especially during hospital shift changes. Building on parkland, repurposing the land for non-park uses, violates city zoning. An extended lease or use agreement amounts to a de facto sale of parkland, which by city ordinance would require a vote by residents for approval.

In addition, Shiffler noted that the project’s first phase is expected to be funded by UM and an undetermined source of local funding. For phase 2, the city hopes to secure a federal grant, she said, which would require an environmental assessment and possibly an environmental impact statement. However, construction could begin on phase 1 and negate the results of those environmental reports. The Sierra Club has contacted the Federal Rail Administration about this issue, she said.

Shiffler concluded by saying that UM appears to tout its sustainability program, but ignores the program when it’s convenient to do so. She didn’t think this was the image that UM wanted, and she urged regents to look at the project from the point of view of sustainability.

Regents gave no response to Shiffler’s commentary. Other residents have raised this issue at previous board meetings. For example, in March 2010 Rita Mitchell also spoke to regents about Fuller Road Station, urging them not to proceed with the project. Mitchell attended the regents’ Jan. 19 meeting, but did not address the board during public commentary.

Present: Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio), Julia Darlow, Denise Ilitch, Olivia (Libby) Maynard, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andy Richner, Kathy White.

Absent: Larry Deitch, Martin Taylor.

Next board meeting: Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012 at 3 p.m. at the Fleming administration building on UM’s central campus. [confirm date]

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University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman before the start of the May 19, 2011 regents meeting, which was held at the Fairlane Center on UM's Dearborn campus. (Photos by the writer.)

The issue was a resolution introduced at the start of Thursday’s meeting – an item not originally on the agenda – to support the rights of graduate student research assistants to decide whether to organize and be represented by a labor union. Before the vote, Coleman spoke out against the move, describing the relationship between graduate researchers and faculty as a special one that was fundamentally different than an employee-employer relationship. Changing the nature of that interaction could affect the university in significant ways, which she said caused her deep concern. The board’s two Republican regents – Andrew Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman – also objected to the resolution, both criticizing the fact that it had been introduced at the last minute without time for adequate discussion.

The resolution passed on a 6-2 vote, with Richner and Newman dissenting. It was notable in part because, with the exception of votes regarding tuition increases, nearly all votes by the board are unanimous, and in accord with the administration’s recommendations.

The meeting also included a variety of other action items, but none that spurred commentary by regents. They voted to increase room and board rates for 2011-12 by 3%, approved the schematic design for a $52 million expansion of Crisler Arena, and authorized the tenure or promotion of 169 faculty members on the Ann Arbor campus.

Regents also authorized creation of the Institute for Health Care Policy & Innovation, a new venture to be housed at renovated space in the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) – a $13.7 million renovation project that regents also authorized at the meeting. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs, said the institute will be the largest co-located group of health care researchers anywhere in the world.

In other action related to the NCRC, regents approved agreements – among a collection of 17 conflict-of-interest disclosures – with six start-ups that will lease space in the former Pfizer site, as part of the university’s Venture Accelerator program.

And in another item added to the agenda during the meeting, regents voted to approve the hiring of Lisa Rudgers as UM’s new vice president for global communications and strategic initiatives, effective June 1 with a salary of $270,000.

The board also got an update from Sue Scarnecchia, UM’s vice president and general counsel, on the Compliance Resource Center – a new website that coordinates various compliance efforts at the university.

At the end of the meeting, philosophy professor Carl Cohen spoke during public commentary, passionately urging regents to intercede in the renovation of East Quad in order to prevent the Residential College from being pushed into smaller, inadequate space. The RC is a living-learning program that Cohen helped start in the 1960s, and that’s housed at East Quad. If regents did nothing, he said, “your Residential College will atrophy and fade away.”

Resolution of Support for GSRA Right to Organize

In a move that one regent called unprecedented, regents voted 6-2 to support the rights of graduate student research assistants to decide whether to organize and be represented by a labor union.

The resolution was introduced near the beginning of the meeting by Julia Darlow, the board’s chair. It states:

Consistent with the University of Michigan’s proud history of strong positive and mutually productive labor relations, the Board of Regents supports the rights of university Graduate Student Research Assistants, whom we recognize as employees, to determine for themselves whether they choose to organize.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman spoke against the resolution in a statement she read aloud prior to the vote. [.pdf file of Coleman's full statement]

Coleman told regents that she feels passionate about the issue personally, and is deeply concerned about it on an institutional level. She sees research assistants as students, not employees. This opinion has been formed from her past experience as a graduate student researcher, she said, as well as her work as a faculty researcher and mentor to graduate student researchers. If GSRAs choose to organize, it would fundamentally change the relationship between the GSRAs and faculty, she said. This relationship is key to recruiting both faculty and graduate students, she added.

Further, a student’s performance as a research assistant is indistinguishable from their progress as a graduate student, she said. They aren’t evaluated as employees – they’re measured in terms of their progress toward completing their degree.

Coleman noted that the funding for these positions is not a work-for-hire approach. Faculty raise funds to support the graduate student’s total education – including their apprenticeship in the lab or in other research-based academic settings, she said. “This has been an extraordinarily effective strategy for more than 60 years, and it is a model used by every major research institution in the country.”

It’s been a long-standing university policy that graduate student research assistants receive pay and benefit increases that are comparable to increases received by graduate student instructors (GSIs), Coleman said, so that GSRAs are not at a disadvantage. [GSIs are represented by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) union. The GEO has been lobbying for GSRAs to have the right to negotiate terms of their employment.]

Coleman concluded by saying the university has enjoyed excellent relationships with the unions that represent some of its employees, and she expected that positive working relationship would continue. If regents adopted this resolution, the administration would abide by the applicable election procedures and work to ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote can make a full and fair evaluation of the issue, she said.

Coleman said she appreciated the board’s concern for students as well as for UM’s academic quality. “We have worked through many vexing issues together, and although there is disagreement over this issue, I know we share an unwavering commitment to this great university.”

Resolution of Support for GSRAs: Regents Response

Regent Larry Deitch said he didn’t have an opinion about whether GSRAs should organize or not, but he was confident that they are employees, and as such they have collective bargaining rights. If they organize, that’s their choice, he said. It’s also the right of the university administration to reject any contract that doesn’t protect the qualities that Coleman had articulated, he said.

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman spoke against a resolution that recognized the rights of UM's graduate student research assistants to organize.

Regents Andrew Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman – the only Republicans on the board – both spoke out against the resolution. Both expressed dismay that they’d only received notice of the resolution shortly before the meeting.

Richner called the decision to act against the advice of the president unprecedented. He pressed Darlow to answer questions about who would define the group of GSRAs for the purpose of determining the bargaining unit. Darlow responded by saying that the term “graduate student research assistant” is defined in UM’s faculty handbook, and that there is already a process in place for determining how to define the bargaining unit. It’s premature to state who would be part of that, she said – that will be worked out later.

Richner asked whether Darlow would agree that the president can define that class of employees. Certainly not, Darlow responded. As Richner asked another question, Darlow said she didn’t feel it was appropriate to go into details about how this will be implemented. The board does not dictate the actions of the president, she said – they articulate policy.

Richner said it seemed then that Coleman would have some freedom to negotiate the makeup of the bargaining unit. Darlow said she’d already responded to that statement. Will the president, deans and others have the power to educate the campus about their views on this resolution and how it might impact the university? Richner asked. Darlow replied that everyone on the board was committed to the principle of academic freedom.

Richner then asked what Coleman was supposed to do with this policy. What if she determines that the law provides that graduate student research assistants aren’t employees? At this point, Darlow – clearly exasperated – told Richner that if he wanted to comment about the resolution, he should make a statement rather than try to use her as a vehicle to make his points.

Richner said there were a lot of questions about this resolution, and he didn’t feel they had a clear understanding of the issue. It’s one of the most important votes they’ve taken since he’s been on the board, he said, and he was disappointed that regents didn’t have the opportunity to discuss it – they’ve spent more time discussing issues of far less importance, he noted. He felt it would have a negative impact on the university’s reputation and on its ability to recruit faculty and students, and that there will be negative consequences to academic freedom.

Newman also objected to the resolution. She’d just seen it about 20 minutes before walking into the room, she said, though she understood that others on the board had known about it before then. She wished they’d had an opportunity to talk to people who would be impacted by this vote. She noted that she’d had experience working with unions both through her job and as a regent.[Newman is senior vice president-government affairs for Delta Airlines.] But the relationship between a GRSA and a faculty member is not an employee/employer relationship – it’s learning-centered, she said, and the university’s reputation hinges on that. They’ve worked hard to keep UM strong in the wake of competition, and this change would be harmful.

It was a rare occurrence when the majority of the board had such a fundamental disagreement with the administration, Newman said, adding that she found it deeply troubling. GSRAs should not be considered employees, she said, and she opposed the resolution.

A voice vote was taken without further discussion.

Outcome: By a 6-2 vote, regents approved the resolution, with regents Newman and Richner dissenting. Deitch left the meeting immediately following the vote.

Room & Board Rates for 2011-12

Regents were asked to increase residence hall rates at the Ann Arbor campus by 3% this fall. The rate increase for Northwood Community Apartments – housing primarily for graduate students and families on UM’s north campus in Ann Arbor – is 1% for the 2011-12 academic year. [.pdf of proposed rate increases]

Chart showing University of Michigan room & board rates for 2011-12. (Links to larger image)

Normally, the topic of room and board rates falls under the purview of the vice president of student affairs, Royster Harper. But Harper was out of the country, so provost Phil Hanlon made a few remarks before the regents’ vote. He noted that significant improvements to UM’s residence halls have been made over the past several years, with strong support from regents. Capital investments require a very careful balance between providing the best possible facilities for students, he said, while maintaining reasonable housing rates.

Hanlon said the rate increases reflect an anticipated increase of $2.6 million in expenses related to employee costs, food supplies and other items, but that the University Housing staff was able to reduce operating expenses in other areas by about $1.7 million for fiscal 2012, which begins July 1, 2011. He indicted that effort allowed the rate increases to be lower than they might otherwise be.

A staff memo accompanying the proposal indicates that the 3% increase for residence halls is divided into two components: 1% for increased operating costs; and 2% for residence hall renovations. Room and board costs for a single residence hall room would increase from $10,970 to $11,300. A double would increase from $9,192 to $9,468.

In April, Eastern Michigan University’s board of regents approved an aggregate 2.15% room and board increase, and a 3% increase for university apartments. A list of housing rate increases at peer institutions was provided as part of the regents meeting packet. At the top end is Duke University, with a 5.9% increase. A 5.1% increase is slated for Michigan State. Among other Big Ten universities, UM is at the low end of rate increases – only Purdue University has a lower rate increase, at 2%. However, UM’s room and board costs are among the highest in that group – only Northwestern and Purdue cost more. [.pdf file of comparison housing rates]

Regents had no comment on this item.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved increases in room and board rates for the Ann Arbor campus in 2011-12. They separately voted to approve a 2.9% increase for residence halls on UM’s Flint campus.

New Communications VP Appointed

In an item that wasn’t on the original agenda, regents approved the appointment of Lisa Rudgers as vice president for global communications and strategic initiatives. Her appointment takes effect June 1, with a salary of $270,000. She replaces UM’s previous vice president of communications, David Lampe, who stepped down from that job earlier this year. He now serves as executive director of research communication in the office of UM’s vice president for research.

Rudgers was the university’s vice president for communications from 2000-2007. She left the university to start her own consulting firm – Lisa Rudgers & Associates – where she worked for other institutions, including Eastern Michigan University. A 2007 article in The Ann Arbor News reports that EMU paid Rudgers $37,000 for media consulting services, providing advice on releasing a report and communicating with the media after a probe into the December 2006 death of EMU student Laura Dickinson.

In 2009, Rudgers returned to UM on a part-time basis as special counsel for communications in UM’s Law School.

In her new role, Rudgers’ responsibilities include developing the university’s communications strategy and overseeing the Freedom of Information office, Michigan marketing and design, public affairs, internal communications, Michigan public media, presidential communications, the film office and the news service. She will be a member of the senior management team and will advise deans, directors, executive officers and the president regarding communications, according to a statement issued by the university.

Crisler Expansion

At Thursday’s meeting, the board was asked to approve the schematic design for a $52 million Crisler Arena expansion project. The board had given its initial approval of the project at its January 2011 meeting, and had selected TMP Architecture and Sink Combs Dethlefs as the architects. Regents had also previously approved – at their October 2010 meeting – a renovation of the arena’s infrastructure and a replacement of seating to a capacity of 12,800.

Don Dethlefs, CEO of Sink Combs Dethlefs, was on hand to give a brief description of the project – his Denver-based firm specializes in sports projects. The expansion will add about 63,000 square feet of new construction, and includes building new spectator entrances, retail spaces, concession areas, ticketing counters and a private club space. In addition, roughly 54,000 square feet would be renovated to accommodate accessible seats, increase the number of restrooms and concession areas, and add other fan amenities. Dethlefs said a new colonnade will for the first time mask the arena’s service functions, such as its loading dock and trash area.

Dethlefs described the addition as essentially enveloping the current structure. The concourse level will include significantly more restrooms for women, and a roof deck accessible to fans, with a view to the east. One of the new entries will allow access to the southwest, convenient for people who park at the Pioneer High School lot, he said. Glass entries will make the building seem like it’s glowing at night when events take place there, he said, and allow for natural lighting in the day to reduce energy costs.

Construction is expected to be finished by the winter of 2014.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the schematic design for Crisler Arena’s expansion.

Institute for Health Care Policy & Innovation

On Thursday, regents approved the Institute for Health Care Policy & Innovation, a new venture to be housed at renovated space in the North Campus Research Complex – a $13.7 million renovation project that regents also authorized at their May 19 meeting. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs, told regents the institute will be the largest co-located group of health care researchers anywhere in the world.

The institute will be part of UM’s Medical School, and bring together researchers who are studying a range of topics related to health care services, including insurance design and preventative care. The hope is that housing researchers in close proximity will spur additional innovation and collaboration. It’s expected that researchers from other parts of the university – including the colleges of engineering and pharmacy, and the schools of nursing, public policy, public health and dentistry – will eventually become part of the institute.

A national search for the institute’s director will begin soon. That person will be appointed by the president and will report to the dean of the Medical School. The president will also appoint an executive committee to help oversee the institute.

As part of this effort, regents approved a $13.7 million renovation project at the NCRC – the former Pfizer site. The project entails renovating 120,000 square feet in Building 16. Five floors, three conference rooms and a fitness center will be renovated as part of the project.

About 100 researchers who’ll likely join the institute are already working at NCRC, in different locations on the site. Eventually, more than 500 researchers could be part of the venture.

SmithGroup will serve as architect for the project, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2012.

Outcome: In separate unanimous votes, regents approved both the creation of the institute and the NCRC renovation project.

Tenure and Promotion Approvals

Regents were asked to authorize tenure or promotion cases for UM faculty in the Ann Arbor campus, presented by provost Phil Hanlon and Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs.

Hanlon began by saying the university’s preeminence rests in large part on the quality of its faculty. Decisions that they make regarding tenure and promotions will shape the future of the institution, he said – they take the process very seriously. Of the 233 cases that were reviewed, 169 were accepted.

Hanlon recalled that when former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had given a lecture earlier this year on campus, she’d been asked which role she preferred – secretary of state, or faculty member at Stanford. He said she responded by saying she most preferred being provost, because it allowed her to see into the future of knowledge being developed, as she reviewed the work of faculty who were up for tenure and promotion. Hanlon and Pescovitz agreed that it was a highlight of their jobs, too.

Hanlon and Pescovitz each highlighted three examples of exemplary faculty, reading descriptions of the accomplishments that each person had achieved. The faculty who were highlighted include: Anthony Grbic of the College of Engineering; Laura Kay Kasischke in the College of Literature, Science & the Arts; Tiya A. Miles in the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies; Gary Hammer in the Medical School’s department of internal medicine; Celina G. Kleer in the Medical School’s department of pathology; and Alexandra Minna Stern in the Medical School’s department of obstetrics and gynecology.

Outcome: Regents approved the recommendations for faculty tenure and promotions.

Infrastructure Projects

In addition to Crisler Arena and NCRC renovations, regents approved other infrastructure-related projects at their May 19 meeting.

Infrastructure Projects: Beal Avenue Water Main

A $2.2 million water main project on Beal Avenue involves a 60-year-old, 12-inch water main, which serves all university buildings along Beal Avenue between Hayward Street and Bonisteel Boulevard, on UM’s north campus. Tim Slottow, UM’s chief financial officer, often jokes about the exciting nature of these infrastructure upgrades, and this meeting was no exception.

According to a staff report, recent breaks have reduced water service reliability, and buildings in the area have experienced water infiltration from flooding. A recent study recommended that installing a storm relief sewer is the best way to reduce the surface flooding. UM’s Department of Architecture, Engineering and Construction will collaborate with Hubbell, Roth & Clark Inc. to design the project. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2012.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the Beal Avenue water main project.

Infrastructure Projects: University Hospital

Two projects for the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers’ University Hospital – totaling $9.7 million – were on the agenda.

A $4.8 million project to improve access to the hospital’s computed tomography angiography (CTA) technology includes renovating two radiology rooms to house a new CTA scanner system. The architectural firm Integrated Design Solutions will design the project, which is expected to be complete by the fall of 2011.

In addition, regents approved $4.9 million to replace an existing CT simulator with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, and to renovate roughly 1,800 square feet in the hospital to accommodate the new MRI. The architectural firm Project and Design Management LLC will design the project, which is scheduled for completion in the winter of 2012.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the two University Hospital projects.

Building Named for Gorguze

Regents were asked to authorize naming the College of Engineering’s Engineering Programs Building as the Gorguze Family Laboratory. Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze donated $5 million to fund an expansion of the building, located on UM’s north campus.

Vincent Gorguze received a bachelor’s degree from UM in metallurgical engineering in 1941. He worked for Ford Motor Co. and Curtiss-Wright Corp. before joining Emerson Electric in 1962, eventually becoming president and chief operating officer. Gorguze is now co-founder and chairman of Cameron Holdings Corp., which specializes in acquiring and operating manufacturing, industrial services and distribution companies.

Outcome: Regents approved renaming the Engineer Programs building as the Gorguze Family Laboratory.

Wolfson Endowment

Regents were asked to approve a variety of uses for $419,000 in estimated income from the Julian A. Wolfson and the Marguerite Wolfson Endowment Funds, which support the UM law school faculty. The uses include paying for faculty to attend professional meetings, equipping faculty offices, and sponsoring the Wolfson Scholar-in-Residence program, among other things.

Regents also approved continued use of the Wolfson reserves – unspent endowment income accumulated from prior years – as recommended by the law faculty for emergency and housing loans to the faculty.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved items related to the Wolfson endowment funds.

Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures

On Thursday’s agenda were 17 items that required disclosure under the state’s Conflict of Interest statute. The law requires that regents vote on potential conflict-of-interest disclosures related to university staff, faculty or students. Often, the items involve technology licensing agreements or leases.

This month, the items included seven lease agreements, 11 licensing agreements and three research agreements with various companies, including several based in Ann Arbor.

Six of the agreements relate to start-ups that will lease space in the university’s Venture Accelerator program, located in Building 26 at the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) – the former Pfizer site on Plymouth Road. The highest-profile among those was a three-year lease agreement with Lycera Corp., which is planning to occupy 14,134 square feet of laboratory and office space. The item had been withdrawn from the regents’ April 2011 agenda because the deal hadn’t been finalized in time for the meeting. It was not on the original May 19 agenda, but was added at the meeting as a supplemental agenda item. Lycera is a start-up that’s developing treatments for autoimmune diseases like psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The lease would begin during the summer of 2011, with Lycera paying a monthly rate of $42,083.33 and 3% annual increases. The lease is a full service gross lease – all costs are covered by the monthly rent. In addition, Lycera will enter into an animal services agreement during the lease, paying standard rates for UM’s regulatory oversight of research animals for no more than $500,000 annually.

The disclosure was triggered because three UM employees also own stock in Lycera. They are David Canter, executive director of the NCRC; Lycera co-founder and UM professor Gary Glick, who also serves as the company’s chief scientific officer; and associate professor Anthony Opipari, a Lycera co-founder who serves on the firm’s scientific advisory board.

Other start-ups leasing space at NCRC that were approved by regents include Advanced Battery Control, Chemxlerate, Edington Associates, JBR Pharma Inc., and Reveal Design Automation Inc.

The remaining conflict-of-interest disclosures related to the following entities: 1250 N. Main LLC, BHJ Tech Inc., Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Baker-Calling Inc., LectureTools Inc., Possibilities for Change LLC, SenSigma Inc., and Vortex Hydro Energy.

Outcome: Without discussion, regents unanimously authorized all 17 conflict-of-interest disclosures.

Presentations: Compliance Website, MSA Report

In addition to a presentation related to business education at UM’s Dearborn campus, regents heard two other reports, regarding: (1) a new compliance website; and (2) the Michigan Student Assembly.

Presentations: Compliance Website

Sue Scarnecchia, UM’s vice president and general counsel, gave an overview of a new website that coordinates various compliance efforts at the university. The Compliance Resource Center has been developed over the past 18 months, Scarnecchia said – a process that included interviews with over 100 individuals and many campus groups. She introduced two staff members – Fiona Linn, compliance project manager, and Kris Snook, senior paralegal and compliance coordinator – who took the lead on that effort.

Sue Scarnecchia, UM's vice president and general counsel, gave a presentation about a new website that coordinates the university's various compliance efforts.

They also looked at the approaches taken by more than two dozen other universities, Scarnecchia said, and found two basic models: (1) a centralized compliance office; or (2) a decentralized approach, with compliance efforts handled by individual units. They didn’t think either model would work for UM, so they created their own, she said.

They didn’t want to create a duplicative process or add employees, so they decided to develop a website that coordinates existing compliance offices campuswide, she said. In addition, a compliance coordinator position was created – that job is held by Snook. The website is intended to respond to queries from outside entities or the regents, if questions arise about compliance issues. It also is designed to help people who are new to the university or to their roles, guiding them through compliance processes and providing resources.

The site allows users to browse by topic – such as athletics, health care or tax/financial – or by activity or operation. It also provides compliance overviews related to specific roles – faculty, staff, researchers or managers. There are mechanisms on the site to report concerns or ask questions, and a guide to “acting ethically.”

The site launched in March, and has had 3,500 unique visitors and about 13,000 page views since then, Scarnecchia said. Other universities have also started to ask if they can copy UM’s site design, she said.

Presentations: MSA Report

DeAndree Watson, president of the Michigan Student Assembly – the university’s student governing group – gave regents an update on MSA’s efforts to promote student activism, including an effort to boost recycling and composting on campus. He also noted that high school students at the University Academy, a Detroit charter school, have decided to model their student government bylaws and constitution based on MSA documents. Students from the school were coming to campus the following day to meet with him and other MSA leaders, he said. [.pdf file of MSA report]

Public Commentary

Carl Cohen was the only speaker during the meeting’s two opportunities for public commentary.

Cohen, a UM philosophy professor at the Residential College, outlined the history of the RC, a living-learning community located within the East Quad dorm. He noted that he was one of the faculty who designed the program, which opened in 1967.

UM philosophy professor Carl Cohen advocated for design changes in the upcoming East Quad renovations, to better accommodate the Residential College program.

Cohen said the RC does what’s now being praised at the new North Quad: “We integrate the residential circumstances of undergraduates with their university studies.” When the college celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007, more than 10% of graduates returned for the event – normally, such reunions only bring about a half percent, he said. What’s more, “our students have been more than loyal – they have excelled,” he said.

East Quad is about 70 years old, and will soon get a “badly needed” renovation, Cohen said. The RC, which he said will be exiled for the 2012-13 academic year, recently was shown plans for where the program will be located after the renovation. “Present plans are a total disaster,” he said. Spaces that have been used by the RC will be returned to university housing, and instead the program will be given less space in undesirable locations – including windowless cubicles for faculty in the basement, and classrooms and small offices that are “jammed on top of one another.”

“In this cramped and profoundly unsatisfying setting we simply cannot survive,” he said. Senior faculty won’t come, he added, nor will undergraduates be attracted to it.

Cohen urged regents to intervene and ensure that adequate space is provided to the Residential College in the renovated East Quad. He said he knew how passionate regents have been in supporting undergraduate education. “You have an opportunity to manifest that support,” he said. “You can make your pleasure known – you can save the college of which we have all been so proud. But if you do nothing, the planned deployment of spaces will go forward, and your Residential College will atrophy and fade away.”

Present: Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio), Julia Darlow, Larry Deitch, Denise Ilitch, Olivia (Libby) Maynard, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andrew Richner, Kathy White. Martin Taylor participated by speaker phone. Deitch left the meeting following the vote on the GSRA resolution.

Next board meeting: Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 3 p.m. at the Fleming Administration Building, 503 Thompson St., Ann Arbor. [confirm date]