(HorizonPost.com) – A professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business has spent the last two years commuting to the Ann Arbor campus from her home in New York City, the New York Post reported.
In a column for Business Insider, Professor Susan Miller described herself as a “supercommuter.”
The New York City resident began traveling to the university as a guest speaker in 2007. In the fall of 2021, the chairman of Ross School of Business Dr. Mary Hinesly offered Miller a full-time position as a lecturer. At first, Miller was hesitant to accept, unwilling to leave New York. Ultimately, however, she agreed, deciding that she could have the best of both New York City and academia by commuting to her job each week.
Miller began teaching at the business school in January 2022. Each week, she flies to Ann Arbor and returns to New York for the weekend. She said it often takes her less time to commute from her New York City apartment to the University of Michigan than it did for her to take the Long Island Railroad to her former job in Manhattan.
Because Miller books her airline tickets well in advance, the air travel isn’t nearly as expensive as you’d think. Already, Miller has started booking her weekly flights for the fall semester and even opened a Delta credit card to get an additional 15 percent off ticket prices.
She said her roundtrip tickets run between $120 and $250 a flight. By contrast, her monthly pass for the Long Island Railroad is $468.
While in Michigan, Miller stays at a hotel attached to the Ross School of Business where she receives faculty rates. The on-campus hotel means her commute from her hotel room to her classroom is 180 steps. After two years, Miller said the hotel feels like a second home, only “without the upkeep.”
Miller said all of the sprinting for flights has gotten her in shape and she has become an old hand at navigating flights and ride-shares. She also avoids traveling during New York City rush hour to keep her commute time as short as possible.
So far, Miller has never missed a flight, and while some of her flights were canceled, she quickly learned that Delta has a flight from New York to Detroit nearly every hour.
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