Gov. Rick Snyder has signed two pieces of legislation that provide vital funding to the state’s 15 public universities.
Snyder on June 26 signed the state budget that provides an additional $36 million in funding for state universities. The budget provides these levels of funding to the three U-M campuses:
• Ann Arbor: An additional $4.25 million, a 1.6 percent increase.
• Flint: An additional $1.34 million, a 7.6 percent increase.
• Dearborn: An additional $882,500, a 4.2 percent increase.
On June 25 the governor signed the capital outlay bill, committing more than $300 million to higher education construction projects, including one on each U-M campus. Those projects include:
• Ann Arbor: Renovation of the G.G. Brown Memorial Building, built in 1958 for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The state will provide $30 million toward the project estimated at $47 million on North Campus.
• Dearborn: Renovation of the science and the computer information buildings. Both are original to the 1959 campus. The project will upgrade the buildings with new research and instructional technology. The state will provide $30 million toward the $51 million project.
• Flint: Renovation of the Murchie Science Laboratory Building will create a science education facility to better prepare K-12 teachers and equip students for careers in science, technology and engineering. Total cost is estimated at $22.2 million. The state will provide $16.6 million.
Jeff Kopmanis, application programmer senior at the Center for Space Environment Modeling, College of Engineering, on his job: “I make the Web front-ends (that) make it possible for ordinary people to run these very sophisticated tools.”
