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

What's next for us?

First, the three themes that have guided us for the past five years -- build the culture of excellence, enhance the educational experience, build the Maryland family -- remain fundamental, and we will continue to pursue them vigorously.

At the same time we are taking steps to adapt to the changing economic and global realities. I have identified three focuses. The first two relate to financial circumstances - they are partnerships and innovation. The third relates to our international priorities.

First our focus on partnerships. We need to accelerate the building of partnerships that allow us to leverage our resources and expand our effective assets. This will be a primary mechanism for us to increase opportunities for students and faculty, and also to increase our impact as a university. Because of our location and position, we have exceptional opportunities to build partnerships with major organizations. The focus should be broad, including partnerships with federal laboratories like NIH, NOAA, NASA, NIST, to name a few of more than 100 labs located around the campus; partnerships with the Smithsonian, the National Archives, and the National Symphony, as exemplars; partnerships with corporations like biotech companies; partnerships with state agencies like with the Department of Business and Economic Development; with schools; partnerships with countries like China through the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education; partnerships through professional development programs like those we have in China, Taiwan, Argentina as well as here at home; and partnerships with universities at home and abroad.

Our success at turning partnership opportunities into expanded university contributions will be a primary determinant to the continuing advancement of the university. We all need to recognize the high value in securing the right partnerships and then set about to create them and make them work.

Next, innovation and entrepreneurship will play increasingly important roles in bringing resources to the campus and using them well. Last year the Senate and I appointed six task groups to examine campus operations in academic and administrative affairs, undergraduate and graduate programs, financial modeling and fund raising. Each group presented its recommendations on the Senate floor last Spring. They ranged from accelerating time to degree, to incentivized budgeting, to combining units. Their reports are substantial and are now being implemented.

Our research park M-Square will bring new resources to the campus in due course. We also need to ratchet up the benefits we receive from our excellent entrepreneurship programs like our incubator, Maryland Industrial Partnerships in engineering, the Dingman Center in business, and the Office of Technology Commercialization.

We also need to expand instructional programs that bring both resources and opportunities to the campus. This will happen through the ingenuity of our unit leadership. For instance the Executive Development Courses given by the Institute for Global Chinese Affairs have reached over 900 Chinese executives. There are four groups here at this moment and a total of thirteen will be here this calendar year. There may be no more efficient way to acquire enthusiastic, talented and well-placed alumni than through one of these self-funded programs. The Executive MBA of the Smith School, given at home and in Beijing; the MA program in Criminology and Criminal Justice given in Nanjing, and expanding soon to Beijing and Shanghai; the Professional Writing courses for business and government given by English are examples of units running with these opportunities. We all need to consider how we can "do well by doing good." The campus will look favorably on entrepreneurial ideas for such programs because more should be created. This is a time to look inward for resource generating capabilities that support the university's mission. This is not a time to be passive.

In short we are beginning to grasp the necessity for innovation and entrepreneurship in our operations and programs; the need is here to stay and will likely increase in the near term. This is where the puck is heading.

The third focus going forward is on international priorities. In this new world our community is a global one. Our reach, reputation and impact are global. Many of our entrepreneurial opportunities are global. Our role for the state is global. We need to think and act globally. The university will give increased consideration to developing new programs abroad, either alone or in partnership with others. Programs of high value that can be self-supporting will add substantially to building the university. We will also need to examine how we recruit and serve our international students. I will ask for a review of programs and services for international students to guide our policies going forward. We don't live in a small town any more. And we need to see ourselves living in the global community. That's where the puck is going.

>>A Clear Direction

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