It is clear that numerous opportunities exist for research and scholarly endeavors that reach outside the University and link UVM to community, industrial, and government concerns. In forging these alliances, appropriate care must be exercised to retain faculty independence in research, and University policies regarding such endeavors need to be updated. Access to information is a serious issue that bears directly on the University research community. Current information concerning research programs, funding, and the significance of scholarship at the university should be readily accessible to the campus and external communities, preferably via the Web. University information technology systems should provide broad campus access to external resources.
Some promising programs are underway, such as increasing access to online journals and databases.
Although there are a large number of significant issues revolving around research and scholarship, there is strong belief that our future is very bright. This University is in the enviable and relatively unique position of being able to offer our students and faculty a tremendous breadth and depth of high quality research programs. We envision the continued nourishment and development of a campus community of scholars whose work has critically important consequences for our local and global communities. The University of Vermont and others. All rights reserved.