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|Remarks to the Fall 2004 Faculty Meeting
4 p.m., Tuesday, October 19, 2004
UC Rosebud Theater
I would like to share some thoughts on the progress we have made in recent months, as well as the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. As I was preparing for this meeting the other day, I took the time to reflect on the past eight months since I became president on February 2nd.
As you already know, and as I have come to learn, this is a wonderful university. We have strong students, dedicated staff, and a truly outstanding faculty. As president, my task and my challenge for each member of the U.T. Arlington community is to build on our successes to make this university a place where you can, not only, "expect great things" but a place where each of us can expect, indeed demand, "excellence" of each other.
Accomplishments:
In recent months we have made tangible progress on several fronts that I believe significantly improve this university:
- First and foremost, we have hired our largest group of faculty in the university's history. These faculty, paid for in large part by the increase in student tuition, bring national reputations and excellence in a number of fields. Many of these new faculty members have left universities such as the University of Illinois, U.T. Southwestern Medical Center, Brown University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Louisiana State University, and the University of Alabama to join us here at UTA.
- In addition to hiring first-rate faculty, we are pleased to have this fall our most impressive and highest ranked new freshman class. As many of you know, this fall we raised admission standards for freshmen and we will soon raise standards for our transfer students. The result has been a better-prepared class. We can expect more of these students and, in turn, they will expect more from us.
- We have our largest enrollment ever (25,297). In fact, our enrollment grew for the 17th semester in a row, which is a testament to the quality of our programs and the efforts of our recruiters. It is important to note that the growth was slower than in previous years, which was done intentionally to slow the rapid growth that was placing undue stress on our infrastructure. Our goal in the coming years will be to continue our growth, but in a managed, focused manner that does not jeopardize the quality of the education we provide or compromise our goal of becoming a leading research university.
- Last spring we created the Academy of Distinguished Researchers and inducted our first group of members. Provost Dunn and I take great pride in this new academy, and we hope you do, too.
- As you are undoubtedly aware, we have completed or are nearing the completion of several important construction projects:
- KC Hall opened this fall with 421 beds and was recently dedicated. The new dormitory includes our first Residential Learning Communities and Freshman Interest Groups. We expect them to significantly increase our retention rates and speed students' progress toward graduation.
- We are nearing completion of a major renovation to the Nanofab laboratory. State-of-the-art microscopes are being installed which will assist us in securing important research dollars and help us maintain a leading role in this important area of cutting-edge research.
- We are also nearing completion of our work on the Studio Arts Center which we anticipate dedicating in the spring. The new arts space provides a high profile and much needed space to our Art Department.
- A new cafeteria to support our increased student population has been completed in the University Center. The Connections Café is a bright, energetic addition to our campus and I encourage each of you to visit it.
- We have also completed the Herpetology and Amphibian Specimen Annex (HASA): Better known as the "Jonathan Campbell collection."
- Finally, I would like to note that we recently dedicated the new recreational sports fields. These fields provide a much needed face-lift to the west side of campus and provide important recreational space for students, faculty, and staff.
- I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the tremendous contribution that members of our Physical Plant make toward completing these projects. Their work is always of high quality, on-time, and frequently done under very tight schedules.
- Finally, I would like to note that I have made significant progress in shaping our leadership team. Last spring I regularized John Hall, Rusty Ward, and Ron Elsenbaumer as Vice Presidents. More recently, Dana Dunn was announced as Provost and Beth Wright became the Dean of Liberal Arts. I have also added Lynn Handley and Gary Cole as VPs for Communications and Development, respectively. We have searches underway for a Vice President of Information Technology and for a Dean of Science. We will soon start a search for a new Vice President of Student Affairs.
Challenges:
While we have much to be proud of in recent months, there are important challenges and opportunities ahead of us.
- In January, the Texas Legislature will be in session. As someone new to the state, I look forward to working with the U.T. System and members of our legislative delegation to tell UTA's many stories of the excellence and value we add to the D-FW Metroplex and Texas. While I recognize that all legislative sessions are highly unpredictable, I think we can be assured that we will not be blessed with an abundance of new resources. In recent years the Texas legislature, as is the case with other state legislatures, has asked higher education to become increasingly self-reliant. I believe it is safe to assume that this trend will continue, but we must be tireless and thoughtful in our advocacy on behalf of UTA. My job is to make sure that the U.T. Regents, the Governor, and the legislature understand the contribution UTA makes to the community and to the state, and the importance of adequately supporting higher education. I have already appreciated the strong indication of support from our local legislators.
- While we will have little control over the happenings in Austin, we can more directly control what happens on our campus. In the coming months, we will continue to face the following challenges:
- Salaries-Both faculty and staff salaries are compressed, low, and often non-competitive. We recognize this and will do what we can to improve the situation. We must improve. We must improve to keep our quality faculty and staff and to attract additional faculty and staff that can contribute to our mission of excellence. The topic of competitive faculty salaries and salary compression will be discussed in a separate forum later this academic year. An effective strategy must be incremental and long-term. My goal is to make progress in tangible ways every year. We need to confront this issue head-on.
- An additional challenge is to hire faculty to replace retiring and departing faculty and to keep pace with enrollment demands. This is one reason it is important for us to manage growth. I might also note that if we wish to maintain our trajectory toward excellence, we will be competing for the best faculty in an even more competitive marketplace.
- Student retention and the graduation rate must continue to improve. We have done a wonderful job in recent years of attracting students to our campus. We have not, however, been as successful as we need to be in assisting these students' in their progress toward a degree. Once we attract students, we must commit to providing them with an environment conducive to staying in school and making sustained and steady progress toward a degree. Building traditions, such as our New Student Convocation earlier this fall and our plans this spring for a pre-commencement convocation, are examples of building support for our students. Additionally, the Provost's Office has created a task force with broad-based representation designed to offer suggestions for how we might improve our retention and graduation rates.
- Sports Expansion. I've been told that the two most frequently reoccurring topics on this campus have been parking and the resurrection of the football program. Parking will continue to remain a topic on this campus and most every campus in the country. We do, however, have an opportunity to bring some closure to the topic of the role football will play in the future of UTA. Over the summer, I commissioned Neinas Sports Services to the examine costs associated with the proposed sports expansion. This plan is now available on the university's Web site, and I welcome your comments. After a few weeks of comments, and further input, we will make a decision about sports expansion. It is important, I believe, for the community to resolve this issue one way or the other so that we may move forward.
- Two other long-term projects remain on our horizon.
- SIS Implementation. Many of you may have heard that UTA has decided to go forward with a much-needed upgrade to our aging student information system. We have entered into a contract with PeopleSoft to install their SIS, and we have hired important staff and implementation partners to assist with this effort. We are calling this system "MyMav," and it will replace the existing SAM process. While the work is just beginning in earnest and will not be ready to go live until Fall '06, many departments on campus will be devoting countless hours to this project over the course of the next couple of years. In one way or another, we will all be asked to make adjustment and sacrifices for this project. As we move forward with this critical and exciting project, I ask for your support and patience.
- Strategic Planning. As most of you are aware, there has been a great deal of talk in recent years about UTA being a "well kept secret," about the need for UTA to partner with neighboring colleges and universities, about the growth of flagship schools statewide, and a host of other conversations that speak to UTA's vision and future. It is important for our university to engage in a series of strategic conversations about our future and to develop a strategic plan that will guide us in the coming years. We are at a good point to do this. Our enrollment is stable and growing. We have strong leadership in key administrative positions. We have, as noted earlier, hired our largest group of new faculty and we have our best qualified freshman class. This is, therefore, an opportune time to revisit our vision for the future.
- To this end, I will hold a series of strategic discussions in the coming weeks with various constituencies, both internal and external to the university. From these meetings, I hope to develop a set of planning priorities that will inform the development of a new strategic plan for the University. Once I have these planning priorities in hand, Provost Dunn and I will launch the second phase of this effort, which will entail the development of a university-wide strategic plan with consultation from the academic deans and the entire UTA community.
- Our first meeting for department chairs and program directors will be 3-4:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the Carlisle Suite. Our second meeting, open to all faculty, will be 3-5 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Architecture auditorium. Our third meeting, also open to all faculty, is 3-5 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Architecture auditorium. Please plan to attend one of these sessions. Additional sessions will be scheduled if needed.
- I believe this planning process is critical to the future of our university. It is important that we hear fresh ideas from the UTA community. It is extremely valuable to empower members of our community to have a voice and become engaged in the university in which they work and have dedicated their lives.
I look forward to working with all of you in the weeks and months ahead. We are a great university, but we still do not yet fully appreciate our own strengths and potential. And the future is, I believe, even brighter than our past.
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