How to Market a College in a Troubled Locale

Things are looking up for Detroit, and for Wayne State University and University of Detroit Mercy. Its two largest universities have increased their once-sagging enrollments, even as the number of high-school graduates in Michigan continues to drop. The secret to the colleges’ recent enrollment success is that there is no secret. They have relied on a suite of efforts to step up their recruitment game, lower barriers to entry for students, and shift perceptions of their location to an asset. "There are no silver bullets, but there’s a lot of silver buckshot," says Dawn Medley, associate vice president for enrollment management at Wayne State since 2016. 

January 1, 2018

What psychiatrists have to say about holiday blues

The holiday blues – that feeling of being in a lower or more anxious mood amid the significant change in our environment and the multitude of stressors that the holidays can bring – is a phenomenon that is yet to be researched thoroughly. However, as academic psychiatrists and neuroscience researchers, we have seen how several factors contribute to this experience.

December 21, 2017

How is Trump reshaping the American judiciary?

During his term, President Donald Trump has made a successful Supreme Court appointment and has appointed eight appellate judges. That’s the most first year appointments into a presidency since President Richard Nixon. What will this mean for Trump’s legacy and the future of the country’s judicial system? Robert Sedler, distinguished professor at Wayne State University Law School addresses those questions. 

December 18, 2017

AIAG and Wayne State Partnership Expands With Research Funded by $123,000 Grant

The Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business announces a $123,000 contract with the Automotive Industry Action Group to determine whether regulatory burdens spur or stall innovation in the auto industry. The research will aim to identify current and future industry best practices, costs of compliance and non-compliance, and possible benefits that result from sustainability practices.

December 15, 2017

Would you advise Trump on science? Survey examines attitudes of U.S. researchers

M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and board chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges, offers a simple formula for constructive interaction with the Trump administration. “Stay fact-based, and stay away from politics,” says Wilson, who calls himself an Independent. “Stand firm on what is known from evidence. There’s nothing to be gained by disengaging.”

December 13, 2017

New study to research the risk of hearing loss in Detroit firefighters

With the help of funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, a Wayne State University professor is researching gene-environment interactions to determine the association between environmental exposure to lead and cadmium and hearing loss in Detroit firefighters. 

December 13, 2017

Opinion: I-375 was a mistake. Here's what we can learn from it

Using urban freeway building as a reason for demolishing black neighborhoods was seen as accomplishing two goals at once — in other words, it was deliberate, not incidental. This is precisely what happened with the construction of I-375 in Detroit. Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, two vibrant African-American neighborhoods, were simply scraped off the face of the earth to accommodate the new urban freeways, Lafayette Park, the Detroit Medical Center, and, decades later, Ford Field.

December 11, 2017

Detroit, International Experts React to Trump’s Jerusalem Announcement

Saeed Khan, senior lecturer in Near East and Asia studies at Wayne State University, explains why there is so much tension behind the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Howard Lupovitch, associate professor of history and the director of the Cohn Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University, explains that President Trump’s announcement was part of promises he made during the presidential campaign.   

December 7, 2017

The Credibility Gap in Academe

The Harvey Weinstein scandal has led to renewed awareness about sexual misconduct in every sector, including a string of recent allegations in academe. In the past, claims by women — especially those in subordinate or less senior roles — were not always considered credible. That appears to be changing this time. Women are being believed, and predators are losing their jobs. Yet a recent incident showed me how much women’s credibility remains under siege, in subtle ways, even when dealing with faculty peers. In an academic environment where credentials are everything, women’s credentials may still mean little.

December 6, 2017

Wayne State to eliminate out-of-state tuition costs for some students

Wayne State University will offer in-state tuition costs to select nonresident students beginning next fall, saving those students about $60,000 over four years, the university announced Tuesday. The new four-year Discover Detroit Scholarship plan eliminates nonresident charges for qualified undergrads, who will also have access to other merit and need-based awards, the Detroit-based university said in a news release. Only U.S. citizens and legal residents can receive the scholarship.

December 5, 2017

Why psychiatrists should not be involved in presidential politics

The media, politicians, celebrities, athletes and other groups have questioned the fitness and mental health of the president, but one group has largely refrained: mental health professionals.

December 3, 2017

$10M gift helps Wayne State students become doctors

Mort Harris is one of Wayne State’s top five donors who has made a $17.5 million cumulative contribution to the university for its fitness center, social work and literacy programs. 

November 30, 2017

Wayne State finalizes 40-year, $1.4 billion student housing partnership

Wayne State University finalized Thursday a 40-year, $1.4 billion partnership with Corvias to develop, finance and operate the school's student housing. Under the agreement, the Rhode Island-based public-private property management firm will create 841 new beds and renovate 368 beds in addition to managing the existing 2,950 beds on campus, according to a Wayne State news release.

November 30, 2017

Column: Is Michigan committed to its teachers?

“It is difficult to overstate the importance of skilled, experienced teachers in our public schools. Most of us can remember the teachers who have inspired us and left lasting imprints on our lives. And growing research literature confirms our intuition: The classroom teacher is the most important school-based determinant of student success. When we confront our pressing state fiscal pressures, including rising teacher retirement costs, we need to remember that our public schools are investments in our economy and society, and teachers are their most valuable asset.”

November 30, 2017

Fighting online abuse shouldn’t be up to the victims

Online platforms do give women, ethnic and cultural minorities and others typically muted in public discourse opportunities to speak out. But that visibility also make them more vulnerable, continuing a pattern of women getting attacked for publicly speaking that’s as old as ancient Greece.

November 26, 2017

University Research Corridor seen as hub for innovation, venture capital

Michigan's University Research Corridor should be in the same conversation as the innovative research clusters in Boston, Silicone Valley and North Carolina, college presidents told The Economic Development Club Monday, Nov. 20.

November 21, 2017

What the first Thanksgiving dinner actually looked like

As an anthropologist who specializes in reconstructing past diets, I can say that even though we don’t have a definitive account of the menu at the first Thanksgiving, letters and recorded oral histories give us a pretty good idea of what they probably ate. And we know for a fact that it didn’t include mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

November 16, 2017

In an era of billionaire media moguls, do press unions stand a chance?

The newspaper industry and unions have a long history. One of the earliest unions formed in the newsroom was the American Newspaper Guild, founded in 1933. The guild (now renamed the NewsGuild) has evolved to represent 24,000 employees performing a variety of jobs, from reporters and editors to graphic designers. However, over the past several decades, rapid technological change and growing competition for readers and advertisers have strained labor-management relations in the industry.

November 16, 2017

Wayne State president elected medical college association board chair

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson will serve as board chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges. His one-year term began Nov. 7.  Wilson will lead the 17 board members of the Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit health care association. "I hope to build on the momentum that former AAMC chairs have established and sustained over their years of visionary leadership," Wilson said in a statement. "The vital contributions that medical schools and teaching hospitals make to health care, public health and innovative research in this country position the United States as a global health care leader. I'm honored and humbled to serve as board chair of the AAMC, and I'm eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work."

November 15, 2017

Suffering in silence: How Metro Detroit supports the health of its youngest immigrants and refugees

Treatments that address trauma have never been studied in refugee populations, but that's about to change. Dr. Arash Javanbakht and his team at Wayne State University's Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research and Clinical Program screened nearly 500 Iraqi and Syrian refugees in Metro Detroit and found that 50 percent of children have anxiety disorder, and nearly 80 percent show symptoms of separation anxiety.

November 13, 2017