President Dr. Jay Noren , during his university-wide address, said Monday that “access to higher education, response solutions to urban stresses, citizenship and economic revitalization” were “critically important” problems for WayneState to address as part of its responsibility to the people of the Detroit and beyond.
Noren's address was part of WSU's Welcome Back Week celebration. This was his first university-wide address since becoming president earlier this year.
“All four demand an intensive challenging of our combined research, education and community engagement expertise to produce the kind of results that are called for, for the quality of life we all deserve,” he said.
Noren said that society is entering an era where those without a college education will be left behind and that public universities, such as WayneState, have an obligation to ensure that everyone who has the ambition, the ability and the energy to pursue a higher education has every opportunity to do so.
He said the most important element in allowing that would be the university’s ability to support incoming students, both financially and educationally with programs, like the ComericaStudentSuccessCenter,MathCorps., and APEX, that have improved retention and graduation rates.
“We have to constantly pursue innovative methods to address the disenchantment of students and convert their potential failure to resounding successes,” he said.
As for urban stresses, because WayneState is a part of the metro Detroit community, Noren said that what happens in the city, happens to us.
For that reason, Noren said that Wayne State is willing and ready to offer its resources to the city government of Detroit, especially now, during its transitional period following the resignation of Kwame Kilpatrick.
“WayneState is committed to continually nurturing models of effective cooperation with community organizations,” he said.
As an example of this, Noren mentioned the work of the School of Medicine, which every year has 700 physicians work at the DetroitMedicalCenter without pay to treat uninsured patients. The fees of such work usually total $50 million a year, he said.
Noren also said that it was important for WayneState to instill the importance of the democratic process into students because such issues as healthcare, education, and economic policies affect them, so they should be concerned with and involved in the decisions made regarding them.
One initiative he said that might be pursued is collaboration with “The American Democracy Project” initiated by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to prepare students to become engaged in the democratic process.
These earlier responsibilities, he said, ultimately point to economic revitalization, which is key to the city’s vitality, to Michigan’s future prosperity and the future of WayneState.
“When Michigan returns to economic health, it will be because WayneState and other institutions act and act now,” he said.
He mentioned WayneState’s work with technology, in such areas as biomedical engineering and robotics, as examples of how the university is working and thinking ahead.
“It’s been said that Michigan could not open for business without WayneState.”
He also said that with such projects as the University Research Corridor, TechTown, and SouthUniversityVillage, it is possible to recreate the Detroit that once was known as “the Paris of the Midwest.”
“That potential is still there, he said. “These are realistic goals that can be achieved.
“I firmly believe that WayneState is in the right place, at the right time, and with the right people to dramatically enhance the quality of life and the vitality of the citizens of the community and the institutions we serve and what could be a better way to spend our days?
What could be more fun?”
Lauri Robitaille of the School of Medicine said she thought Noren was “impressive” and was glad that he stressed the importance of education.
“I think he has a good vision and I agree with him 100 percent,” she said.
Patti Paquin, also of the School of Medicine, thought the speech was “excellent” and liked that the president mentioned WSU’s work with the DetroitMedicalCenter.
“I don’t think a lot of people in the community knew that,” she said.
