Universities must work together to keep graduates in Michigan, leaders say
- Presidents of the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Michigan State University say cooperating is key to creating Michigan jobs
- Together, the schools make up the University Research Corridor, a collaborative effort to foster economic growth in Michigan
- Michigan’s population is projected to shrink by 2050
Leaders of Michigan’s three largest universities say they must work together to help create jobs and keep students from fleeing the state once they graduate.
The presidents of the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and Michigan State University agreed Tuesday that collaboration is key and will help grow Detroit and Michigan’s economy. They spoke at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club.
“We have to think about articulation between institutions,” said Santa Ono, president of the University of Michigan. “We have to think about how we might be able to transfer credit from one to another, and we need to just think about the entire portfolio of educational initiatives that we make available in Detroit and throughout the entire state,” he said.
Together, the three universities make up the University Research Corridor, a research alliance aimed at increasing economic growth in Michigan.
“We owe to citizens of Michigan to create intellectual property, to create spin-off companies, to ensure that they stay here in Michigan, so that we create jobs, and also that we are a magnet for other companies that will want to move towards the talent that we produce,” Ono said.
Related:
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Michigan’s population is trending older and is projected to shrink by 2050. The state gained almost 4,000 residents in 2023, but the population has dropped by 40,000 since 2020. Job growth, meanwhile, has been largely flat. As of August, the 12-month increase in non-farm employment in Michigan stood at 0.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Spotlight on AI, small business
One area of focus for the University Research Corridor is artificial intelligence, which is becoming a more common workplace tool.
“We are responsible, the universities … to retool the workforce,” said Kevin Guskiewicz, president of Michigan State University. “It shouldn't be replacing jobs and careers, but we have to retool and reimagine what is needed. We are going to help solve those challenges around AI.”
Wayne State University is fostering job growth by focusing on small technology businesses, Kimberly Andrews Espy, president of Wayne State University said
“We work with our faculty and have a robust technology commercialization and support arm, but we also have a community-based approach in our TechTown (WSU’s Detroit entrepreneurial hub) that works with community-based businesses. So when we think about economic development, each of those strategies needs to come together.”
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