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|Spring Faculty and Associates Meeting
April 30, 2007, Rosebud Theatre
Listening to the introductions of our outstanding faculty who have received awards reminds me of what a retired senior administrator once told me. He said the highest reward for a university administrator is to help create an environment in which faculty can flourish in teaching and research.
I particularly identify with that feeling today as I think about the excellence in scholarly endeavors, which has been recognized here today.
As administrators, it is our mission to foster an atmosphere at UT Arlington where you can achieve your aspirations and contribute to the success of our University. As president, I am very proud of your accomplishments and to be your colleague.
As we continue our collective ascent as a University, we mark the end of another extraordinary year. Today's occasion gives us a chance to reflect upon what we have accomplished and what still lies ahead. Throughout this academic year, we have made much progress toward achieving many of the goals outlined in the University's Strategic Plan. We have taken great strides in improving learning, discovery, and engagement at our University.
In the two years since we've raised our admission standards, we have seen an increase in the quality of our student body. And, with our residence halls, we are seeing an increasing number of traditionally aged students.
While the diversity of our student body is what gives UT Arlington such a rich environment, it poses challenges for which we need to create innovative solutions. Almost 40% of our students are of traditional age. The remaining non-traditional students bring with them rich experiences, with many being the first in their family to attend college. We must continue to ask ourselves how we might best provide an enriching educational experience for all.
To address this question-and through your hard work-we have identified an institutional research initiative in the Quality Enhancement Plan that promises to shape our pedagogical practices and ensure that we use our instructional resources in the most effective and beneficial ways. This also will ensure that we are well positioned to lead the growing national conversation on educational quality, and provide the evidence that we are delivering on our educational mission.
In the same spirit of improving classroom instruction, we have taken strides to modernize our classroom technology by adding almost $850,000 to upgrade 100 classrooms. Additionally, we have formed a committee to investigate the adoption of a common University-wide Classroom Response System-so-called "clickers"-in order to ensure that faculty who want to use this technology have the institutional support to do so. We are in the final stages of selecting a common system.
We have continued to strengthen our faculty ranks with some 100 new faculty lines over the last three years, and many of you have worked hard to ensure that we have seen increases in research activity and funding. To that point, our research and sponsored activities have grown by 80% since 2001. Research funds from federal sources have almost doubled in that same time.
Research here at UT Arlington-ranging from studying the effect of Katrina on Fort Worth/Dallas school districts, to Asian civic involvement, to management training in the Balkans, to studying how to remove noxious fumes from the air-reflects the range of our faculty interests and expertise. It also underscores the important contributions that you make everyday that will benefit those well beyond our own University community.
We have heard over and over from our external program reviewers how strong our programs are, and how we have built such a strong faculty by hiring professors who could go to any institution in the country. But they choose UT Arlington.
Additionally, with the approval of funding by the state legislature for a new engineering research building that will house additional classroom and lab space, and the opening of the new Smart Hospital, we can continue to compete in emerging areas of technology and workplace needs.
We have also seen our University become a more energized and engaged community. I'm often pleased to see the number of students in the library late at night, or studying and gathering in various venues across campus. Or faculty meeting in the new University Club with colleagues and campus visitors.
We have also had the opportunity to hear from nationally and internationally recognized speakers like Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Joe Klein, Stephen Carter, and Ben Stein. And we will be privileged to have First Lady Laura Bush as this year's Graduation Celebration speaker, as well as former Sen. Bill Bradley and Spike Lee next academic year.
We have been enriched with our cross-disciplinary One Book conversations that have built a sense of intellectual community on a University-wide scale. In a word, it has been phenomenal.
With any strides come challenges, or as I like to think of them-opportunities for new success. We continue to work with our legislative delegation in Austin and in Washington to secure the funds we need to achieve our vision of becoming a major research university. While there's still much work to be done on this front, I am encouraged by the progress we're making.
We continue to see as high priorities the identification of ways to address salary-compression and competitiveness issues as well as the diversification of our faculty. We are also committed to finding new sources of support that will help us attract the best and brightest graduate students.
We continue to seek outside funding to improve our existing facilities and for new projects like the Special Events Center to enrich our entire academic community and the community around us.
We continue to investigate avenues to turn our research innovations into solutions that will benefit our community and beyond. We are streamlining and improving the Institutional Review Board procedures to ensure that our research continues to move forward while still abiding by federal guidelines. Through the development of our new online Research Database, we are seeing collaborations develop-both across campus and with partners in the community.
We also need to continue to be mindful of state and national demands for improving retention and graduation rates. Likewise, we must be prepared to demonstrate that our students learn what we say they are learning. I encourage you all, as the leaders in our classrooms, to be keenly aware of the role you play in defining what our students need and what our University provides.
In that spirit, let me take a moment to talk about one of our most-respected leaders. This is truly a bittersweet moment for our University-and for me personally. I have the highest admiration for Dana Dunn as our Provost and my partner and colleague. She has been a superb provost-the best person at the right time for UT Arlington. She understands that the heart of the university is our faculty-and she has been a great advocate and effective leader in creating an atmosphere where faculty can flourish and make their best contributions. So we celebrate her return to the faculty, and we recognize her for the enormous contributions she has made-the mark she has made at UT Arlington. [applause]
We are fortunate that Ron Elsenbaumer, our vice president for research, has agreed to serve as Interim Provost. And I'm confident that our nationwide search will result in the selection of the best possible provost for our great University.
We can all agree that education empowers people and expands minds, and that is the essence of our mission at The University of Texas at Arlington. While we celebrate our accomplishments, we draw upon lessons we've learned along the way-lessons that will inform our decisions for the future. As I look ahead, I have every confidence that we are on a course for continued innovation and success. I ask each of you to continue the fine work you're doing that will help us achieve the milestones along the way.
Congratulations to all of you whom we've honored here today. The contributions you make every day are vital to the health and welfare of our University. When the faculty succeeds, all of UT Arlington succeeds. [applause]
Now, please join me in the Palo Duro Lounge for a reception and champagne toast to our honorees and Provost Dunn.
