An interview with President of the University of Michigan, Ms. Mary Sue Coleman, by Yong Tang, People's Daily Washington Correspondent

The University of Michigan (UM) is one of the most distinguished universities in the world. It has been enjoying a reputation for being the model American public university. The University of Michigan, together with two other public universities, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been called by some as " Three Magnates" of public universities in the United States.

The University of Michigan has a shining history: since its founding in 1917, it has produced seven Nobel laureates, including the famous Chinese American physicist Samuel C.C. Ting, one A. M. Turing award winner, five National Science Medal recipients, and numerous Pulitzer Prize winners. Among the current faculty of the University, 26 of them have been elected to the American National Academy of Sciences and 17 to the National Academy of Engineering. Former U.S. President Gerald Ford is also an alumnus of the University of Michigan.

How does it feel like to be the president of such a top university as the University of Michigan? How has the University of Michigan, being a public university, achieved its reputation as a world-class university? With these and many other questions in mind, I recently made a special trip to Ann Arbor, a picturesque city where the University of Michigan is located, and conducted a one-hour-long interview with its president, Ms. Mary Sue Coleman.

Ms. Coleman is a professor of biological chemistry and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in 1997. Prior to her appointment at Michigan, she had served in high-level administrative positions and on the board of trustees of a number of colleges and universities. According to some report, Ms. Coleman's annual salary at the University of Michigan is as high as $650,000, exceeding that of President Bush of the United States. When I finally met her in her office, I saw in front of me an elegant lady with a soft voice, a brisk gait, and a scholarly grace.

An edited version of my conversations with Ms. Coleman follows:

Be Cautious about rankings

Do you consider the University of Michigan a world-class university?

Of course! (laugh)

Why are you so confident about that? What makes the University of Michigan stand out among its peers?

The University of Michigan has always been an important base for academic research in the United States. It provides academic programs on nearly all aspects of human knowledge. Here you can find world-class professors and scholars in almost any academic field. The University of Michigan is well known for its strength in natural science, arts and humanities, and social sciences. It is a world leader in social sciences research.

If you ever look into the rankings of graduate schools and graduate programs, you will find out that many of the professional schools and graduate programs at the University of Michigan are ranked among the top in the nation.

But when people talk about prestigious American universities, most of them tend to have those famous private universities in mind, for example, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton. Public universities seem to be rarely mentioned.

Private universities such as Harvard and Yale have a smaller student body. In many states public universities were founded through appropriation from the state legislature. They are generally larger than private universities. What is so great about the University of Michigan is that it has managed to maintain its high quality of education with its huge size. That is a very unusual achievement.

In fact public higher education in the United States can be said to be very successful. The University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Virginia, the University of Illinois, the University of North Carolina are all famous public universities. Teaching and research in these universities are nothing less than in those prestigious private universities. On the contrary, private universities are far behind public universities in terms of the size of student body. Therefore I have emphasized on various occasions that states should invest more on public universities. For citizens of a state, the benefit of having a good public university in the state far exceeds that of an ordinary private university.

What do you think of the rankings published by the US News and World Report every year? According to its 2004 ranking, the University of Michigan was ranked as the 25th among American universities. Both Berkeley and Virginia are ranked as the 21st. The top 20 are all private universities.

I myself do not care much about the ranking of the US News and World Report. (Laugh) I do not agree with many of its ranking criteria. It mainly bases its ranking on a limited number of indicators, including inputs per student, student entering scores, acceptance rate, etc.

Since public universities are bigger in size than private universities, they are at a disadvantage when such indicators are used to rank schools. When it comes to making judgment about whether a university is successful or not, it is far from adequate to look at the amount of money spent on each student. It is more important to examine the quality of the teaching and research staff, the quality of its education, and the performance of its students after graduation. Taking these factors into consideration, the University of Michigan has done as well as such private universities as Harvard and Yale. Many of our graduates have become leaders in their own fields, for example, I am sure you know about the Chinese American Nobel Prize winner, Mr. Samuel C. C. Ting, who is one of our alumni.

However I should make it clear that I am not debasing private universities here. Private universities such as Harvard and Yale are indeed great universities. But the University of Michigan is by no means inferior to any of them.

As far as I know, the ranking of US News and World Report is very influential in China. Most Chinese students will refer to it when they are considering applying for American universities.

That is indeed a big mistake. (Laugh) I suggest that Chinese students should go to the Internet to check the information of different universities and try to get the whole picture of a university and base their decisions on a variety of factors rather than on one or two indicators. If you want to study in a large yet good university, the University of Michigan is no doubt the right choice. You can meet and communicate with people from every walk of life and every part of the world.

President's role in fund-raising

What is the annual budget of this university?

It's huge: 4.2 billion dollars. Expenditure on undergraduate and graduate education is about 1.2 billion.

Where does all this money come from?

We have four major revenue sources: research funding from the federal government, tuition, state appropriation, which is about $300 million each year, and private donations. You can see that the amount of money from the state is very limited. Being a public university, the room for tuition increase is also rather narrow. Research funding from the federal government and private donations, therefore, account for a large proportion.

I have been told that fund-raising is the most important job of American university presidents. You must be very busy raising money for the University every day of your work.

That's right. I do spend a lot of time and energy on this. (Laugh). The most important job of the president of an American university is to help obtaining research funding from the federal government and raising money from other sources. Our university has just initiated a large fund-raising campaign called "The Michigan Difference". Our goal is to raise $2.5 billion within 5 years. Up till now we have achieved half of the goal and raised $1.3 billion. Our alumni have made great contribution to this campaign. Many of them are very successful in their career and are grateful to their Alma Mater. We therefore approach them and encourage them to give to their Alma Mater. These donations are used for scholarships for students, to support faculty research, or to build instructional equipment.

How do you usually approach the alumni for donations? Is it always hard to ask for money?

We use a variety of approaches. We always exchange correspondences with our alumni. We also invite them back for various activities. At the same time we try to involve our alumni in various advisory boards. In these ways we can keep contact with the alumni. To be frank, it takes us a long time and persistent efforts to build and develop relationships with our alumni. Moreover you have to show the donors that we make good use of their money and that the money does bring in desirable changes. If the money donated is used to set up a scholarship or research fund, we will usually name it after the donor. Likewise, if the money provides a substantial part of the funding for a new building or other instructional equipment, the building or equipment will also be named after the donor.

Nothing special about being a woman president

The presidents of most prestigious American universities are men. Do you feel anything special about being the first woman President of the University of Michigan?

I don't think there's anything special about it. It's hard to be university presidents. This is true to both male and female presidents. They face the same challenges and pressures. In the past several years there have been an increasing number of women presidents in American colleges and universities. This trend, I believe, will continue in the coming decade. It also seems to be an international trend.

Many people believe that women presidents have some advantages that their male counterparts do not possess. For example, some people believe women presidents are more persuasive and it is more likely for them to win sympathy, which makes it easier for them to raise money.

(Laugh heartily). Such arguments do not do justice to male presidents and my male colleagues. I know many male presidents who are outstanding in this respect. I don't think there is much difference between male and female presidents.

What do you think is the most important quality that a university president must have?

First of all, he or she must know the university setting well and has rich experience of being a faculty member and doing academic research. This is absolutely necessary to be a good president. In my own case, I am a biochemist. Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, I served as President of the University of Iowa for 7 years. I also served as provost, vice president and in various other administrative positions.

Nowadays, it is crucial for many American universities to raise enough funds. This requires the president to reach out and raise money for the university. A good president, therefore, must be good at communicating with all kinds of people, including the alumni who are willing to give and the government agencies who distribute research funds.

Having no right to fire professors

How do you deal with your relationship with the faculty?

The relationship between a university president and the faculty is not one of governing and being governed. Departments and their faculty have great autonomy. Most often it is the deans and the Provost that deal directly with faculty members concerning their work. Of course I am also more than willing to communicate with our faculty members.

Can faculty members and students make a complaint directly to you?

They can contact me directly. Usually I will try to understand what it is that they complain about and decide whether it is appropriate for me to get involved. If what they complain about is not under my directly jurisdiction, I will transfer it to the relevant unit within the university. Each month I set aside a day as "President's Day". Any student can come and talk with me on that day, presenting whatever criticisms or suggestions about the university administration. I have even more chances to meet with the faculty.

Can you fire a faculty member?

I myself alone can never do that! Of course I would like to have that kind of power. But the University of Michigan would never allow me to do that! (Laugh). Faculty members here enjoy high status. The University provides many protections for them. First, there is the tenure system. Once one obtains tenure at the University of Michigan, the University will never be able to fire him or her. Even when the University wishes to fire a certain untenured faculty member who has made serious violations of university regulations, a strict procedure must be followed. I as president can never make the decision alone concerning the firing of a faculty member.

The American Model does not always fit

Are you familiar with Chinese higher education and the work of the presidents of Chinese universities?

The University of Michigan has close collaboration and cooperation with many key Chinese universities. Due to frequent inter-institutional communication, I have had opportunities to meet a number of Chinese university presidents. My observation is that Chinese higher education has been going through huge changes. Chinese universities seem to be seeking for new models of enrollment, recruitment and management. Quite a number of them have shown great interest in the American model.

There are different models in American higher education. For example, public institutions differ from private institutions in their management model. But generally speaking, like the American government, higher education in the United States is highly decentralized in which institutions enjoy high autonomy. Both the federal government and state government seldom get involved in institutional management. Within each institution, the faculty also has high autonomy. The practice of higher education in the United States has shown that this model fits our situation well and has contributed to the success of American higher education. But I am not sure whether this model will succeed in the Chinese setting. I don't think the American model can be applied to all situations. Each country must choose a model that fits its own situation. I think the current effort to look for a model that fits the Chinese higher education will prove to be worthwhile.

In the past several years, there has been a merger wave in Chinese higher education. As a result, the size of many institutions has increased enormously. Many people seem to believe that the bigger the size of a university the better. Do you think that is a misconception?

That's not necessarily the case. Not all small universities are good. Nor are all bigger ones bad. In the United States, there are many small institutions that are not so good, whereas there are many very good large universities. The University of Michigan, for example, has a student body of 39,000. The University of California system, including its campus in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Dan Diego and many other places, is nothing but huge. The University of North Carolina also has 16 campuses. These universities are all very big and have multiple campuses, but they all provide high quality education. If China is going to build large universities, it might be worthwhile to refer to the development model of these universities.

What do you think of the performance of Chinese students and professors at the University of Michigan?

For over 100 years, the University of Michigan has tried to recruit best students and professors from all over the world. I am sure you know that there are many outstanding Chinese professors and students at the University of Michigan. They are also part of the reason why this university has achieved its world-class status.

The Chinese students here are doing very well. They work hard and have great ambitions. So are the Chinese professors. Many of them are leaders in their fields. For example, the Chinese American professor, Dr. Bright Sheng in the School of Music, has been named a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow and has won the nomination of Pulitzer Prize twice. There are numerous other such professors at the University of Michigan.

Never close the door to international students

Chinese students have had great difficulties in applying for American visa in the last couple of years. Many of them were denied the visa. Some students who are already in the United States are afraid of going back to China to visit their families for fear that they might not be able to come back. As President of the University, what do you think of this situation?

I am also very concerned about this problem. I myself and all the American university presidents I have met insist that we can never close the door to international students. The visa barriers for foreign students will do harm to the development of American higher education and the long-term interests of the country. In the past two years, we have been keeping on lobbying in the federal government, particularly in the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, trying to convey to them this argument of ours.

This is no doubt a very tough problem. What we have to face is a huge bureaucracy. So far we haven't made much progress in loosening the visa restrictions. But we haven't given it up. We are still trying hard.

Promoting cultural, racial and ethnic diversity

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case against the University of Michigan by some white students who claimed that they were denied admission to the university because of the university's race-based admissions policy. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the University. What will be the impact of this case on the University and on American higher education?

The impact has been and will be huge. The University's admission policy, which gives minority students extra points, is designed to maintaining the racial and cultural diversity of the campus. This is one of the important reasons why the University is among the best universities in the world. The ruling of the Supreme Court provides a green light to our practice of pursuing diversity. This will have huge impact on all of higher education in this country.

Many Chinese know the United States very well. The Americans, however, is reletively less familiar with China and the outside world. It is reported that although American soldiers are fighting in Iraq, many Americans are not able to identify Iraq correctly in a map. What do you think has led to this kind of imbalance? Isn't it because there is something wrong with the American education system?

This is indeed a problem. Americans in general do not have adequate knowledge about the outside world. Many people think this is because of "the isolationism" in the country's history and its national character. But I do not agree. I do not think there is much difference between the Chinese and the Americans in terms of learning about the outside world. If difference does exist, it results from different environments.

I believe we are improving in this respect. Particularly in American colleges and universities, students have become increasingly interested in learning about other cultures. In fact in trying to enroll students and recruit faculty from all over the world, the University of Michigan has aimed at creating an academic environment where different cultures co-exist. In such an environment students and faculty from different cultural and racial backgrounds can communicate and learn from each other. It provides great benefits for all. We even encourage students and faculty to travel to foreign countries in order to learn about foreign societies and cultures. Such trips greatly enrich their experience and may change their view of the world.

Keep breaking disciplinary boundaries

What do you think is the latest trend in higher education internationally? How has the role of universities changed?

I should say the emergence and prominence of cross-disciplinary work in the academic world. As a result disciplinary boundaries are gradually disappearing. This is true for natural sciences as well as social sciences. The collaboration and cooperation of scholars from different disciplines are often needed in order to solve a problem. Hence at the University of Michigan, there has been increasing interdisciplinary communications. Students generally take courses in different departments and different schools. Many professors from different programs work on the same project. For instance, a professor from the history department can work with a sociology professor and a professor in biochemistry often collaborates with professors in the medical school. Such communication and collaboration are now ubiquitous. I believe an important function of today's universities is to create new disciplines and new knowledge by breaking the old disciplinary boundaries. Universities should be the base and lab for new disciplines and new knowledge.

Never feel tired of the job

Do you have any spare time after work?

No! (A hearty laugh)

Then this job of being a president must be very tiresome?

Not at all. I agree that sometimes it can be very exhausting. But I am never tired of it. This is really a very interesting job.

What else do you want to say to our Chinese readers?

I am delighted to be able to talk to the Chinese people through People's Daily. Higher education is important to every country. I am glad that for over 100 years, the University of Michigan has been able to maintain its ties with Chinese students, professors and universities.

By Yong Tang, People's Daily Washington Correspondent