Build community. Get connected on campus. Serve other Shiawassee County students.
The Cook Scholars (CS) program, launching in summer 2025, provides:
- professional staff and Resource Navigator peer mentors who assist with general advising, available by in-person or virtual appointments, email, or chats. (Drop-in hours will be posted in fall term.)
- online summer engagement opportunities that prepare students for their first term at Michigan.
- introductions and social events in order to meet all the Cook Scholars on the Ann Arbor campus.
- social, departmental, and leadership events throughout the academic year to build their campus network.
Each element is designed to help you make the most of your Michigan career.
Summer 2025
Congratulations on deciding to Go Blue. Now that you've made the decision to study at Michigan, you might be wondering, "What makes students successful at U-M?" Are they innately smarter? Better at testing? What's the secret and how can I use it?
Students who reach their goals use the programs and people around them to their best advantage. They tap into the wide knowledge base on campus and utilize their campus community to its full potential. That's it -- the "secret" revealed.
These Go Blue! Go Cook Scholars! units can jump-start your Michigan experience by focusing on a few key strategic areas:
- Plugging into U-M Tech & Resource Basics
- Reviewing Study Best Practices & Setting Your Goals for College
- Building Your Best Campus Life
More summer CS opportunities:
- Get to know the other Cook Scholars and introduce yourself to the CS group, using the Canvas private discussion board (invitation to Canvas course in June 1 newsletter);
- Join a summer Q&A webinar with the Resource Navigators--come with questions or we’ll have advice to share, as you get ready to arrive in Ann Arbor (click to register);
- Attend an Orientation Meet & Greet when you’re on campus, open to you and your family or support people (click to register the number in your party);
- Make an appointment with a ResNav to talk about what’s on your mind as you prepare for college.
Incoming CS students will receive a newsletter on June 1, which outlines all the dates, times, and spaces these things are happening. You'll hear more about choosing, accumulating points toward CS recognition and earning swag.
Fall 2025
Continue to check out the monthly CS newsletters (in your umich.edu inbox); they will keep you posted on plans for Welcome Week, the annual CS Pizza Party, and more! This website will also be updated with the most recent news and information.
Follow the Cook Scholars Calendar on Happening @ Michigan
Campus Email: [email protected]
Links for Early Connections on Campus
- Cook Scholars on Canvas. Meet the group through intros, discussion boards, and weekly updates over the summer, as you prepare for your undergraduate career at Michigan. Participation is incentivized through an earned-points system and redeemable for Cook Scholars swag. (Opens June 1, 2025. The incoming cohort will receive an invitation; check your umich.edu inbox.)
- Office of New Student Programs. Supports new Wolverines and their families as they navigate the start of their Michigan experience. See page for information regarding Orientation, Welcome Events, the University Mentorship Program, Transfer Connections, and Veterans & Military Services.
- Resource Navigators. Offers peer-to-peer wayfinding that helps you pinpoint the spaces, places, and people at Michigan. All Cook Scholars will meet this student team through monthly newsletters (beginning June 1st) and summer appointments.
- Student Life. Individually Cook Scholars represent the 19 schools and colleges at Michigan (Ann Arbor), but all are part of Student Life and the broader campus community. Here, you can find your own place on campus, connect with other students, get involved in student organizations, find leadership, internship, and employment opportunities, and choose the right housing, dining, and living options that work best for you.
- Michigan App. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play (free). The tool offers in-app messages and reminders related to academic life, personalized class schedule information, search based on places (campus buildings) and people (faculty, staff and students), location-based content including bus stops, parking locations and dining halls, and featured university events.
- MFamily. Enables the support network of new Wolverines by providing information and resources. Sign up for monthly webinars, the Coffee Chat series, MFamily Portal, and the MFamily Association.
- Parent & Family Weekend. Welcoming parents, families, and supporters, this Michigan experience is held annually. Registration is through the MFamily Portal.
The Cook Family Foundation
About: The Cook Family Foundation, a multi-generational family foundation based in Owosso, Michigan, collaborates with organizations to support education, the environment, the arts, and community stewardship. They work to be a catalyst for positive community change to promote a more equitable society.
Eligibility: Any graduating high school senior with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher from any of the ten high schools serving all or part of Shiawassee County will receive at a minimum one $3,000 scholarship from among the four scholarships connected to the foundation’s work if they enroll at U-M in Ann Arbor, Flint or Dearborn. These schools include Byron, Chesaning, Corunna, Durand, Laingsburg, Morrice, New Lothrop, Ovid-Elsie, Owosso, and Perry. Applications are welcome from any Shiawassee County resident who has graduated from any high school or home-schooling. You must complete an application and be accepted to the University of Michigan as an undergraduate student to be eligible for a scholarship from the Cook Family Foundation. Scholarships are available to applicants attending any of the schools and colleges at U-M Ann Arbor (link to Admissions)--including Literature Science and the Arts (LS&A), Engineering, Information, Ross School of Business, Ford School of Public Policy, Nursing, Kinesiology, Pharmacy, Public Health, Dental Hygiene, Marsal Family School of Education, Music, Theatre & Dance, Taubman Architecture & Urban Planning, and Stamps School of Art & Design--as well as U-M Dearborn or U-M Flint.
For application information, please see the Cook Family Foundation's website: https://www.cookfamilyfoundation.org/.
