It goes without saying that our urban location also gives us advantages in research on the problems of the cities, whether education or employment or social services. The First Ideas of the Milwaukee Idea and emphasis we have on the 3 E's of Education, Economic Development, and Environment and Health all recognize that in the applied side of our life. Again, I do not see that those few areas are exhaustive, just illustrative. The Task Force Researching our Research should engage in a gap analysis that comprehensively identifies what the needs are, what the opportunities are, what our capabilities are, and what we need to do to stretch our capabilities to meet the needs and opportunities. Building our scholarly capability is critical because from it comes all else.
Scholarly prominence brings recognition from our intellectual peers.
It permits us to recruit the best faculty. It helps us create more doctoral programs. It draws high quality graduate students who will carry the reputation of UWM outward. It will attract highly talented undergraduates. Those students, as alumni, will bring political and financial support for UWM and its next generation of scholars and students.