oined with Michigan State University and Wayne State University to create the University Research Corridor. This effort was undertaken to highlight the capabilities of the state's three leading research institutions and drive the transformation of Michigan's economy.[110] The three universities are electronically interconnected via the Michigan LambdaRail (MiLR, pronounced 'MY-lar'), a high-speed data network providing 10 Gbit/s connections between the three university campuses an

ersity of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and the Life Sciences Institute are located at the university. The Institute for Social Research (ISR), the nation's longest-standing laboratory for interdisciplinary research in the social sciences,[104] is home to the Survey Research Center, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Center for Political Studies, Population Studies Center, and Inter-Consortium for Political and Social Research. Undergraduate students are able to participate in various research projects through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) as well as the UROP/Creative-Programs.[105]
The U-M library system comprises nineteen individual libraries with twenty-four separate collections—roughly 13.3 million volumes.[106] U-M was the original home of the JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of history and economics, and has initiated a book digitization program in collaboration with Google.[107] The University of Michigan Press is also a part of the U-M library system.
In the late 1960s U-M, together with Michigan State University and Wayne State University, founded the Merit Network, one of the first university computer networks.[108] The Merit Network was then and remains today administratively hosted by U-M. Another major contribution took place in 1987 when a proposal submitted by the Merit Network together with its partners IBM, MCI, and the State of Michigan won a national competition to upgrade and expand the National Science Foundation Network(NSFNET) backbone from 56,000 to 1.5 million, and later to 45 million bits per second.[109] In 2006, U-M joined with Michigan State University and Wayne State University to create the University Research Corridor. This effort was undertaken to highlight the capabilities of the state's three leading research institutions and drive the transformation of Michigan's economy.[110] The three universities are electronically interconnected via the Michigan LambdaRail (MiLR, pronounced 'MY-lar'), a high-speed data network providing 10 Gbit/s connections between the three university campuses and other national and international network connection points in Chicago.[111]
The University of Michigan is a participant in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), an academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference plus former conference member the University of Chicago. The initiative also allows students at participating institutions to take distance courses at other participating institutions and forms a partnership of research.[112] Students at participating schools are also allowed "in-house" viewing privileges at other participating schools' libraries.[113][114]
Student life[edit]

Residential life[edit]
Main article: University of Michigan Housing
Red brick facade with white stone fronts and angled roof

North Quad Residence Hall
The University of Michigan's campus housing system can accommodate up to 10,900 people, or nearly 30 percent of the total student population at the university.[115] The residence halls are located in three distinct geographic areas on campus: Central Campus, Hill Area (between Central Campus and the University of Michigan Medical Center) and North Campus. Family housing is located on North Campus and mainly serves graduate students. The largest residence hall has a capacity of 1,240 students,[116] while the smallest accommodates 25 residents.[117] A majority of upper-division and graduate students

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at over US $445 million, while the College of Engineering was second at more than $160 million.[96] U-M also has a technology transfer office, which is the university conduit between laboratory research and corporate commercialization interests. In 2009, the university consummated

aduate students, 5,367 are seeking academic doctorates and 6,821 are seeking master's degrees. The largest number of master's degree students are enrolled in the Ross School of Business (1,812 students seeking MBA or Master of Accounting degrees) and the College of Engineering (1,456 students seeking M.S. or M.Eng. degrees). The largest number of doctoral students are enrolled in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (2,076) and College of Engineering (1,496). While the majority of U-M's graduate degree-granting schools and colleges have both undergraduate and graduate students, a few schools only issue graduate degrees. Presently, the School of Information, School of Natural Resources and Environment, School of Public Health, and School of Social Work only have graduate students.[54]
In Fall 2010, 2,709 Michigan students were enrolled in U-M's professional schools: the School of Dentistry (439 students), Law School (1,182 students), Medical School (802 students), and College of Pharmacy (439 students).[54]
Research[edit]
See also: List of University of Michigan faculty and staff
The university is one of the founding members (1900) of the Association of American Universities. With over 6,200 faculty members, 73 of whom are members of the National Academy and 471 of whom hold an endowed chair in their discipline,[95] the university manages one of the largest annual collegiate research budgets of any university in the United States, totaling about $1 billion in 2009.[96] The Medical School spent the most at over US $445 million, while the College of Engineering was second at more than $160 million.[96] U-M also has a technology transfer office, which is the university conduit between laboratory research and corporate commercialization interests. In 2009, the university consummated a deal to purchase a facility formerly owned by Pfizer. The acquisition includes over 170 acres (0.69 km2) of property, and 30 major buildings comprising roughly 1,600,000 feet (490,000 m2) of wet laboratory space, and 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) of administrative space. As of the purchase date, the university's intentions for the space were not announced, but the expectation is that the new space will allow the university to ramp up its research and ultimately employ in excess of 2,000 people.[97]


A. Alfred Taubman Biomedical Science Research Building at the U-M Medical School
The university is also a major contributor to the medical field with the EKG,[98] gastroscope,[99] and the announcement of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine. The university's 13,000-acre (53 km2) biological station in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan is one of only 47 Biosphere Reserves in the United States.[100]
In the mid-1960s U-M researchers worked with IBM to develop a new virtual memory architectural model[101] that became part of IBM's Model 360/67 mainframe computer (the 360/67 was initially dubbed the 360/65M where the "M" stood for Michigan).[102] The Michigan Terminal System (MTS), an early time-sharing computer operating system developed at U-M, was the first system outside of IBM to use the 360/67's virtual memory features.[103]
U-M is home to the National Election Studies and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. The Correlates of War project, also located at U-M, is an accumulation of scientific knowledge about war. The university is also home to major research centers in optics, reconfigurable manufacturing systems, wireless integrated microsystems, and social sciences. The Univ

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ding the Michigan Constitution.[67] Academics[edit]

o non-partisan voting-related information and increase student voter turnout.[61] CSG has also been successful at reviving Homecoming activities, including a carnival and parade, for students after a roughly eleven-year absence in October 2007.[62]
There are student governance bodies in each college and school. The two largest colleges at the University of Michigan are the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LS&A) and the College of Engineering. Undergraduate students in the LS&A are represented by the LS&A Student Government (LSA SG).[63] The University of Michigan Engineering Council (UMEC) manages undergraduate student government affairs for the College of Engineering. Graduate students enrolled in the Rackham Graduate School are represented by the Rackham Student Government (RSG). In addition, the students that live in the residence halls are represented by the University of Michigan Residence Halls Association (RHA).[64]
A longstanding goal of the student government is to create a student-designated seat on the Board of Regents, the university's governing body.[65] Such a designation would achieve parity with other Big Ten schools that have student regents. In 2000, students Nick Waun and Scott Trudeau ran for the board on the state-wide ballot as third-party nominees. Waun ran for a second time in 2002, along with Matt Petering and Susan Fawcett.[66] Although none of these campaigns has been successful, a poll conducted by the State of Michigan in 1998 concluded that a majority of Michigan voters would approve of such a position if the measure were put before them.[65] A change to the board's makeup would require amending the Michigan Constitution.[67]
Academics[edit]

University rankings
National
ARWU[68]    18
Forbes[69]    30
U.S. News & World Report[70]    28
Washington Monthly[71]    12
Global
ARWU[72]    23
QS[73]    22
Times[74]    18
The University of Michigan is a large, four-year, residential research university accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.[75][76][77] The four year, full-time undergraduate program comprises the majority of enrollments and emphasizes instruction in the arts, sciences, and professions and there is a high level of coexistence between graduate and undergraduate programs. The university has "very high" research activity and the "comprehensive" graduate program offers doctoral degrees in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields as well as professional degrees in medicine, law, and dentistry.[75] U-M has been included on Richard Moll's list of Public Ivies.[78] With over 200 undergraduate majors, 100 doctoral and 90 master's programs,[79] U-M conferred 6,490 undergraduate degrees, 4,951 graduate degrees, and 709 first professional degrees in 2011-2012.[80]
National honor societies such as Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Tau Beta Pi have chapters at U-M.[81] Degrees "with Highest Distinction" are recommended to students who rank in the top 3% of their class, "with High Distinction" to the next 7%, and "with Disti

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