nces Scholars program (HSSP) is located in Couzens Hall. The North Quad complex houses two additional living-learning communities: the Global Scholars Program[120] and the Max Kade German Program.[121] It is "technology-rich," and houses communication-related programs, including the School of Information, the Department of Communication Studies, and the Departmen

 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 live in off-campus apartments, houses, and cooperatives, with the largest concentrations in the Central and South Campus areas.
The residential system has a number of "living-learning communities" where academic activities and residential life are combined. These communities focus on areas such as research through the Michigan Research Community, medical sciences, community service and the German language.[118] The Michigan Research Community and the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program are housed in Mosher-Jordan Hall. The Residential College (RC), a living-learning community that is a division of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, also has its principal instructional space in East Quad. Also housed in East Quad is the Michigan Community Scholars Program, which is dedicated to civic engagement, community service learning and intercultural understanding and dialogue.[119] The Lloyd Hall Scholars Program (LHSP) is located in Alice Lloyd Hall. The Health Sciences Scholars program (HSSP) is located in Couzens Hall. The North Quad complex houses two additional living-learning communities: the Global Scholars Program[120] and the Max Kade German Program.[121] It is "technology-rich," and houses communication-related programs, including the School of Information, the Department of Communication Studies, and the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures.[122][123] North Quad is also home to services such as the Language Resource Center and the Sweetland Center for Writing.[124]
The residential system also has a number of "theme communities" where students have the opportunity to be surrounded by students in a residential hall who share similar interests. These communities focus on global leadership, the college transition experience, and internationalism.[125] The Adelia Cheever Program is housed in the Helen Newberry House.[126] The First Year Experience is housed in the Baits II Houses, Northwood Houses, and Markley Hall.[127] The Sophomore Experience is housed in Stockwell Hall and the Transfer Year Experience is housed in Northwood III.[128] The newly organized International Impact program is housed in North Quad.[129]
Groups and activities[edit]
Red brick building with large windows, tall central tower, and green ivy growing on the facade

Michigan Union on Central Campus
The University lists 1,438 student organizations.[130] With a history of student activism, some of the most visible groups include those dedicated to causes such as civil rights and labor rights. One group is Students for a Democratic Society, which recently reformed with a new chapter on campus as of February 2007. Another student labor campaign organization recently established on campus is the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). This group seeks to hold accountable multinational companies that exploit their workers in factories around the world where college apparel is produced. Though the student body

sted 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. T

onfigurable manufacturing systems, wireless integrated microsystems, and social sciences. The University 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

ty 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

er'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, rec