Our future lies in ensuring the excellence of our academic programs so that we create the assets and energy that we will need to pursue our core mission, which is the creation, interpretation, and sharing of knowledge. We do not need to transform this university. Instead, we need to release its energies and support its involvement with its many constituencies. By selective investment in those features that differentiate us from other universities and by the exercise of fiscal responsibility and strategic thinking, we can continue to develop the extraordinary qualities that characterize the University of Vermont and assure ourselves that we will leave for our successors an institution of quality and distinction that will continue to enrich the lives of many generations to come. We must continue to invest in a targeted and strategic way in those aspects of UVM that create our distinctive character as an intellectual community and that enhance our ability to accomplish our mission.
Education is life itself.
I propose to focus our investments in five critical areas, all of which can be derived logically from both the history and tradition of UVM and from our mission. These are all programs that build upon our strengths, fit with the character of our state, and meet the critical needs that higher education must address for society. Ours is a two-tiered challenge. And we must step higher.