Campus of the Future

Learning from the past to design tomorrow

Technology and design are reshaping how people learn, work, and belong. Campus of the Future brings students, faculty, and staff together to pair historical reflection with student-led innovation—experimenting with new tools and spaces while staying grounded in what endures about human learning.

Why It Matters

  • Emerging technologies demand new ways of learning and teaching.
  • Reflection on our history helps ensure innovation stays grounded in human experience.
  • Students who help design learning environments gain confidence to shape institutional change.

Guiding Questions

Questions We’re Exploring

  • What educational innovations prepare students for challenges we can’t yet predict?
  • How do we honor institutional history while co-creating transformative futures?
  • What models of campus and learning design serve diverse learning styles and career paths?

Michigan’s Commitments to Designing the Campus of the Future

Initiatives reimagining how people learn, work, and belong—pairing reflection on Michigan’s history with bold experimentation for what comes next.

Campus of the Future Design Challenge

A student-led competition inviting teams to reimagine learning spaces and experiences across disciplines.

Learn more

The 1817 Project

Historical research examining Michigan's 1817 founding through Indigenous treaties and land transfer, connecting the university's origins to contemporary questions of inclusion, belonging, and educational justice.

Learn more

Campus Plan 2050

A long-term planning effort guiding the design of learning, living, and working spaces that foster inclusion, sustainability, and innovation across Michigan’s campuses.

Learn more

Your Campus as a Lab

A cross-campus initiative turning university operations into hands-on learning and research opportunities that advance sustainability and student innovation.

Learn more

SEISMIC Collaboration

A national research partnership improving student success in introductory STEM courses through shared data, instructional redesign, and equity-focused collaboration.

Learn more

OptiMize

A social innovation hub where students design projects that create positive change in communities while learning the skills of entrepreneurial leadership.

Learn more

Preparing Future Faculty (PFF)

A Center for Research on Learning & Teaching (CRLT) program equipping graduate students and postdocs to teach, mentor, and lead in higher education—helping shape the next generation of educators.

Learn more

Generative AI at Michigan

Building AI literacy across campus through accessible tools (U-M GPT, Go Blue, Maizey), hands-on workshops, and resources for responsible use in teaching, learning, and research.

Learn more

Inclusive History Project (IHP)

A university-wide initiative documenting and sharing a comprehensive history of inclusion and exclusion across U-M’s campuses and Michigan Medicine. Through scholarly research and broad community engagement, IHP explores the university’s past to inform reparative actions and shape a more equitable future.

Learn more

These initiatives reflect Michigan’s living laboratory for the future of learning—where design, research, and reflection come together to imagine what education can become.

Get Involved

The michigan union

Apply for a Grant

Fund a project or pilot that tests new ideas for how people learn, design space, or use technology to shape the future of education.

an orchestra outdoors plays on a variety of instruments

Connect Your Work

Partner with LCE to link your design, research, or innovation initiative to campus and community efforts reimagining learning environments.

students chit chatting around a round table

Join an Event

Take part in workshops, showcases, and design challenges exploring how technology, history, and creativity can inform tomorrow’s campus.