What we have going for us is a vibrant and energized campus, both new and continuing leadership that is off to an excellent start and a sound financial base on which to build. What we need to do is build new capacities, especially within the faculty. Partnerships with outside organizations that need the research and training that our University can provide will go a long way toward meeting these challenges. Creating an undergraduate experience that prepares students for careers after graduation and educates them to know themselves and make a contribution to the society will increase the attractiveness of this private university in the eyes of both students and prospective students. Shaping our graduate programs so that they are recognized as the premier programs in their respective fields will improve our competitive advantage.
Higher education is under attack.
It is too expensive for most people. It is too distant and aloof from the problems most Americans face. Many are concerned about what we teach and how much we teach it. There is a testiness in the society that challenges many of our central institutions in terms of what they do and how they do it. We are not immune from this cynicism and doubt.