Taking Stock: State of the University 1999-2004, Office of the President, University of Maryland

The Way Forward

Overall, the showing on each theme has been strong with advances that are competitive with those of any university in the country. The themes are right, and the measures used to judge our progress are sound. Our responsiveness to opportunities was about right and our hits were solid, though a few not as long as we wanted.

Most people agree that we are not the same institution today that we were in 1999. We have higher expectations of ourselves. We are "going around with a different crowd." Wayne Gretsky of hockey fame never skates to the puck. He always skates to where the puck is going to be. That is what we did beginning in 1999. And that is why we feel comfortable where we are now. We got to the puck.

But what's next? Where's the puck going to be, let's say, five years from now? Let's try to see what's driving it.

The University of Maryland, like most other public universities, is moving down a dimly lighted road of decreasing public financial support and increasing public expectation. Some of the landscape has become fairly clear. First, it shows, whether we like it or not, that the primary source of financial support of the university is shifting from the public, through State allocation and Federal financial aid, to the students and university. This is not a temporary circumstance but reflects a transfer of responsibility that has been underway for about twenty-five years. Further, the less the State supports us, the less the State retains responsibility for us. We are becoming more independent, less controlled, and more on our own. I see no forces on the horizon that will change this course. So we need to take seriously the need to generate more financial support including financial aid for students. This is the royal we.

Next, the landscape shows that the society's expectation of university service remains very high. It is probably the highest it has ever been. But society does not want to pay for services through general fund allocations though it does see fees for services as possible.

Third, competitiveness between universities continues to increase. We compete with other universities in all domains: recruitment of students, faculty, and research. We seek the same rankings, awards, partnerships and recognitions. To succeed we must not only be competitive, but we must win many of these contests. There may not be a more competitive enterprise in our society that a modern research university.

Fourth, globalization is driving us. When the Cold War ended, we got globalization. We live in a tightly connected world where every major issue is a global one. Whether it is the economy, the environment, security, pollution, energy, health, food safety, nuclear issues, or education, all are global issues. And like businesses, top universities are global in scope, responsibility and competitiveness too. As an example of changing global competitiveness consider the emergence of top-class universities around the world. China has set a goal to build a number of world-class universities over the next decade. And so has Taiwan and so has Japan and so have a lot of countries. Though most of the World's top universities are currently in the U.S., many are determined to change this balance, and they probably will.

As another sign of globalization, international graduate students are now being recruited to first class universities in other countries and many are simply staying home because of opportunities there. For many reasons fewer are applying to U.S. universities. We received 3,800 fewer international applications this year than last. That's a 36% drop in one year. And other countries are beginning to recruit U.S. graduate students into attractive programs abroad. What goes around comes around.

This is a new world we are moving into. But this is where the puck is going. We have to skate to it.

>>What's next for us?

Office of the President, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742