AUGUST 21, 2026 BACK TO SCHOOL Understanding Michigan Online SOPHIA YEE U-M student contributor In today’s rapidly changing job market, continuing to learn new skills has become more important than ever. But traditional education is often too expensive, time consuming and inflexible. In response to this challenge, Michigan Online has partnered with Coursera to offer a resource that many students, faculty and staff may be unfamiliar with. Michigan Online is a way to access Coursera’s catalog of 4,000+ guided projects and courses, and even obtain Professional Certificates. Michigan Online provides an accessible way to learn through thousands of hours of free educational content. This material is available to help extend existing knowledge or explore entirely unfamiliar subject areas. With access to courses ranging from "Finance for Everyone: Smart Tools for Decision Making" to "Rocket Science in Everyday Life," there is always something new to discover. Beyond courses, Michigan Online offers collections, series and teach-outs, each having a different focus and expected time of completion. Scrolling through available programs on Michigan Online allows a glimpse into the countless hours of content available through this website. To access a lecture series, simply go to online.umich.edu, click the title of the series or course of interest, and select the “free access button” to log into Coursera with a university account. While more learning opportunities are available to complete free of charge for University of Michigan students, faculty and staff, most courses are available to audit for free to the general public. While auditing a course does not provide graded feedback or official credentials, it is still a great way to acquire new skills from these classes without having to pay to learn. Coursera offers financial aid for many programs to support the journey of those who do not have the financial means to enroll at this time. To apply for financial aid, select the program of interest on coursera.org, and there will be a link to apply on the description page. Coursera typically responds to financial aid applications within 16 days, making it a relatively quick process for those in need. Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, originated in 2008 to help remove geographical and financial barriers to education by enabling all people to access content and complete the material at their own pace. Learners can take weeks or even months to finish these courses, creating a meaningful, low-pressure environment. The flexibility offered by MOOCs accommodates working students, parents and those with irregular schedules. Although they are not replacements for degree programs, they are helpful supplements that enable learners to build skills, supplement other coursework, and explore potential career paths. For U-M students specifically, these courses offer ways to test out potential majors before committing, or build valuable skills for competitive internship applications. The existence of Massive Open Online Courses like Michigan Online and Coursera highlights a shift in how we think about education today. With these resources, learning is no longer limited by geography or income. Community members can access the same Coursera platform, audit courses for free, and apply for financial aid if needed. For people ready to invest in themselves, the opportunity awaits! Get started at online.umich.edu. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 13 SHINE from page 7 year. They approached us with the idea in 2025 and the garden went in this spring in front of the township building. It’s hard to see because it’s in its infancy, but it’s there.” In the eyes of this social work professional, the concept of adding OT to a re-entry program and/or to reduce recidivism has considerable merit. SHINE evolved from a program aimed at reducing recidivism by increasing financial stability, networking, improving self-esteem, improving daily function, addressing health disparities and increasing a person’s support MLIVE from page 11 their attempts to rezone 500 acres near Milan for a toxic data center. But these pieces were in the Ann Arbor section rather than the Environment section. To MLive, data centers are not newsworthy due to the well-documented ecological destruction they bring, or the financial disaster they mean for locals, but as a quirk of local politics that the little people in little places outside Ann Arbor are "raising concerns" about. MLive is a billionaire in a U-M hat, pretending to be local saying "Hey, aren't these homeless people really aggressive and disruptive?" while network. One OT student recently presented the idea of using OT with survivors of human trafficking and those experiencing post-partum depression. However, LAITR’s OT business model lacks the appropriate coordinated level of professional services the formerly incarcerated population deserves, and the readily available data for LAITR’s OT pilot study is suggestive of questionable ethics. At this time, according to LAITR’s website, they are not funded for future OT services through the corrections system. However, its website also states, “As of August 2026, we have actively running cover for his billionaire landlord buddies, his own toxic AI data center interests, parasitic energy rentseeker DTE, and the politicians that rubber-stamp their putrid agendas. Data centers are a class interest barometer. Nobody local wants toxic waste dumped in their rivers, while the few with wealth and power that don't live here want to dump toxic waste in your rivers for profit. Y'know what's disruptive and aggressive? The creators of homelessness: landlords, police, politicians; also data centers poisoning the water supply, and billionaires poisoning the news. transitioned SHINE to our team lead’s nonprofit, DM19 Collaborative Reentry Services (DM19). Leroy Harris has worked with SHINE since SHINE’s first day. He then was promoted to team lead and supervised the work crew as they performed their work throughout Ypsilanti. Through his hard work, he has grown into the role as Executive Director at DM19 and will continue to lead SHINE under his nonprofit.” According to Ypsilanti community leadership interviews and documents, contracts are in place through 2026, and are expected to continue into 2027. While the SHINE team is proud of the work they do to improve their community, and residents feel prouder of their surroundings because of the work the SHINE team does, one former SHINE team member described LAITR’s program as “not better executed than other similar student-led research type projects and non-profits.” The formerly incarcerated deserve a shift from “if” interventions may work, to a higher standard of services rendered, which include intentional longevity, culturally appropriate supports, sustainability, consistency and transparency.
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