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|Spring Faculty Meeting
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The UT Arlington faculty—including your exceptional peers who we've just honored—reminds me of the extraordinary power of a university.
It's not the power to coerce, but rather the power to change our course by advancing new ideas, by introducing to our students the world that is, and the world that could be. It's the power to overcome the constraints of conjecture and map out new territories of thought. It's the power to replace prejudice and preconception with reality and reason. As a community of scholars, we have the power to eliminate obstacles that impede the progress of knowledge. And what's more, we have that responsibility.
Today, as we celebrate excellence among our colleagues, and as we thank them for their distinguished service, we note the progress that we've made together. We reaffirm our commitment to creating new knowledge. We remember that we're here not to build barriers between us but rather to tear them down. That our best, most significant accomplishments are those that are collaborative and inclusive.
Two professors who lived and taught with that belief were Buzz Anders from the Department of History and Denny Bradshaw from the Department of Philosophy. Our hearts are heavy at their recent passing, but we remember them with admiration and pride. They left a lasting legacy at UT Arlington and in the lives of the many students and faculty who were privileged to have known them.
As we remember Professor Anders, Professor Bradshaw, and their many contributions to our University, we are also reminded of the importance of celebrating the collective accomplishments of our community. That list is long, I'm proud to say. That list is illustrious. Illustrious as in the distinguished researchers among us who have committed themselves to the greater good. Whose passion for discovery, whose proclivity for hard work, whose promise of innovation will help eliminate barriers that stand between us and a better future.
This year—as in years past—we reached new heights as a research university. We climbed to new levels of sponsored research funding—from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and others—some $42 million. We achieved a record number of patent submissions, and more inventions disclosures than ever, which means we're not only creating new knowledge, we're sharing what we discover for others to build upon.
For example, Professor Christopher Ray in the College of Education is conducting research that will help those who are visually impaired maintain their independence. He is examining the physiological aspects of blindness, and developing new interventions that can help blind people lead more active lives, reduce their fear of falling, and—should they fall—more effectively rehabilitate after an injury. In other words, Professor Ray is breaking down the barriers that too often exist between blindness and self-sufficiency.
Such groundbreaking research is being conducted elsewhere on campus, as well. Together, faculty from the School of Nursing and the Department of Electrical Engineering are turning bio-sensors about the size of pencil erasers into devices that may prevent disorders like Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This technology is being developed right here at UT Arlington.
These are just a few examples—and there are many more that we could talk about—that represent this university's unwavering commitment to research that makes a difference in people's lives, and in the life of our state and nation. Compelling research, creative works, and scholarly achievements at UT Arlington aren't occurring in just one or two schools or colleges. They're prevalent all over campus. We see them in Art as surely as in Architecture, in English as in Engineering, in Business as in Biology.
In this way, research activity is powerful. It's important. And it's vital to any great university, including ours. But it's not all that makes a great university. Just as we create knowledge through research, we impart knowledge through instruction.
We see professors using innovative pedagogy to challenge their students to think critically and engage in their own learning process. Active Learning is not just a buzzword on campus, but a new way of thinking about classroom curriculum and how students learn higher order thinking skills. In other words, through teaching, we are breaking down the barriers that hold back the promise and progress of education.
Professor Tuncay Aktosun noticed that his math students deftly solved equations. But they lacked those same talents for oral, written, and presentational work. And so Professor Aktosun asked his students to conduct research as a class requirement. They analyzed a problem and formulated it mathematically; applied what they learned in class to solve it; presented their research; and then analyzed and critiqued their own work. The learning opportunities he has designed for his students have boosted their confidence going forward.
Of course, he's not alone.
In the Honors College, Dean Bob McMahon and Professor Tim Henry are teaching a course on bioethics that require students to think critically about controversial issues that play out in society today. They challenged their students to speak up and speak out, if they felt compelled. To debate and discuss. They have taught their students to inform and communicate their opinions, and to engage in active citizenship. And one of their students actually complained that the class time was too short!
What Professor Aktosun and Professors McMahon and Henry are doing reflects the innovations that UT Arlington faculty bring everyday to their students' lives. Thinking outside the box, asking ourselves the same questions we ask our students: how do we reach new heights, new understandings, and new appreciations? It is what defines being a Maverick. But those are not the only story that we can tell.
Faculty working in our Smart Hospital educate nurses through real-world experiences, using state-of-the-art technology and unparalleled facilities. Their legacy will be lasting for Texas hospitals, for the healthcare and well-being of our citizens, and will be a blueprint for how nurses are educated. These faculty members represent the way faculty all across campus are breaking down barriers that block access to the best education. Consider this: One student was looking at a number of the nation's top nursing schools, including UT Arlington. She toured the Smart Hospital, then the facilities at a competing university. Here, she saw the high-fidelity patient simulators; at the other university, they showed her how to start an I.V. drip using an orange. Needless to say, she has enrolled at UT Arlington.
She wouldn't have, nor would our other students, without the efforts of all of you. I'm proud that UT Arlington faculty—all of you—are using your talents as educators to break down barriers for your students.
Despite balancing teaching and research—and that is demanding—you still make time to answer the call of service. You are leaders in your research and in your teaching and also in your community. Your acts of service, your commitment to humanity, build bridges and relationships beyond our campus borders.
Professor Emily Spence-Almaguer, in our School of Social Work, found a novel way to find out what the homeless residents of Tarrant County need. She asked them. She conducted more than 100 interviews with homeless men and women throughout the area, asking them about everything from education to immigration. And she shared that information with the School's partnering agencies to get those she interviewed—and others like them—the help they actually needed.
Together, History Professor Alusine Jalloh and Engineering Professor Wei-Jen Lee are using their talents and education to help impoverished rural Africa turn its abundant natural resources into the power supply that it needs. Within five years, the efforts of these two UT Arlington professors may transform parts of Africa that lack industrialization simply because they lack a modern power grid. Considering that Africa is home to 13 percent of the world's population, and 15 percent of its land, our professors are serving the world in a significant way.
More than 200 years ago, Goethe reminded us that "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. And willing is not enough; we must do." In that spirit, we must continue to dedicate our best efforts and our academic and research pursuits. Not for the sake of prestige, though prestige is appreciated. Not for the sake of fulfillment, though fulfillment is necessary. But for the sake of our neighbors and our fellow citizens. Whether they're in Arlington or in Africa. We must continue to be a public University not only in name, but because we impart a public good. We must continue to move forward in all aspects, not only as a research institution, and not only as a place for having an outstanding faculty. We must also move forward with efforts to ensure student academic success.
Last week, we celebrated Academic Excellence Week and we recognized the accomplishments of our best students. For this, we should be proud. And while we have our share of outstanding students, we have too many students who encounter academic difficulty, who leave school never to return, who stop short of graduation.
Just as we pay attention to improving our research productivity, we must devote attention to student retention and graduation rates. To assist us in this endeavor, I intend to create a Task Force that will examine student retention issues, with a special focus on our students' first-year experience. I will talk more specifically about this initiative in the coming weeks. But let me say this: We can—and we must—eliminate the barriers that block student success. If we are to enhance UT Arlington, we must achieve higher levels of quality and ensure the value of our undergraduate education.
We move forward together at a time of great change for our University. After a thorough national search, our new Provost, Don Bobbitt, joins us July 1. I know many of you met Dr. Bobbitt during his campus visits and have been as impressed with him as I am. We welcome him with great enthusiasm. We will soon announce two new deans—for the Honors College and the School of Urban & Public Affairs. As these gifted leaders join with us in our cause, we enter a period of transition. We mark a change in administration, but not in trajectory.
Provost Bobbit and our new deans are joining a University that's on the move. In the last few years, we've gone from well-hidden to highly regarded. And that's not all. We're becoming a university that's first-choice and we are first-class, elite but not elitist, though our work is not completed and never will be.
Still, I believe there's never been a better time to be a Maverick than right at this moment. Based on a comparison of our peers, we're doing quite well indeed. Let me give you a couple of headlines. An important architecture journal recently ranked our School of Architecture No. 2 in the Southern United States. That is a source of both pride and prestige. And our School of Urban and Public Affairs climbed 19 places in the U.S. News & World Report's latest national rankings to No. 57 (out of more than 400). Who else has done that? Our Marketing Department is now ranked No. 27th in the world, according to an American Marketing Association survey, tied with Columbia and ahead of Harvard, Cornell, and Berkeley. Not bad company to have following us.
And there's more. As we gained our internationally recognized Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society chapter, that organization's president commented that "UT Arlington is a university on the move and is becoming a 'university of choice' throughout the country."
Our achievements are many. But our course is ambitious. It is challenging. And it is never-ending. We've broken down many barriers already, but more remain in front of us. On such barrier relates to diversity. You can't be a part of the UT Arlington community without recognizing the important role diversity plays. In a number of ways, we're doing well. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities recently recognized us as a national leader for the success of our Hispanic students. We have enrolled more African-American students than ever—and the most of any academic institution in The UT System. But the challenge remains in diversifying our faculty. We will not make excuses, but we are committed to making progress. And we are.
In the last two years, our "target of opportunity" searches have resulted in 12 new African American and Hispanic tenured and tenure-track faculty members, who have made an immediate impact at UT Arlington. This is a modest but important step. These targeted searches will continue. Increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff will continue to be a priority.
This has been a memorable year at UT Arlington. I'm proud of the advances we've made together. In particular, I deeply appreciate Ron Elsenbaumer's service as interim provost throughout the academic year. He has done an outstanding job at a critical time. We are all deeply indebted to him.
And so, with renewed focus we rededicate ourselves to our charge. With strength of mind and solidarity of purpose, we remember the extraordinary power we have at The University of Texas at Arlington. Not to coerce, but to change. Not to settle for, but to seek out. Not to accept, but to explore and create.
Together, we must embrace the great responsibilities that this extraordinary power gives us: to make a difference in the lives of our students, to pursue new discoveries, and to improve the quality of life in the world around us.
