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Introduction
 This past year was one of robust growth. We took stock of our strengths and continued to build on them: a new School
of Public Health, a new Bioscience
building (shown left), and a new plan for East
Campus. We increased our attention to our environment with multiple sustainability measures and a new living-learning program for students who want to specialize in environmental protection. We made improvements on safety and security, as well as diversity and access. Our national and international rankings continued to climb and our Middle States ten-year accreditation review was outstanding. The Great
Expectations Campaign and the State Funding Commission are helping us to map an even greater future for the University. Our plans for East Campus, the M-Square
Research Park and even more student housing on campus are part of this vision. This year marked another step in the University's rapid rise into the ranks of the nation's premier academic institutions.
The University of Maryland recently completed a ten-year
accreditation review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, affirming UM's accreditation and compliance with all of the review standards. The Commission conducted a site visit to the University in March and in an open forum the reviewers gave the University a glowing report, with no impediment to re-accreditation. The University was highly commended on multiple levels by the Commission's evaluators, who were particularly impressed by the extensive self-study conducted in preparation for the review. The rating of 'no changes needed' is highly unusual for the Middle States Commission. The review process was truly a collective campus endeavor, and the entire community is to be congratulated on the thoroughly positive outcome.
Several important steps were taken this year in the reconstruction of the College
of Health and Human Performance as a School
of Public Health. The new School will address the full range of behavioral, social, environmental, and policy science determinants of health and quality of life across the life span. Thus far the School has recruited 17 new faculty and has received recognition as an official school of public health. The School will be formally launched at the end of September and anticipates full accreditation by December, 2009. Among other changes the transformation will include the introduction of several new graduate programs: three new concentrations in our Master of Public Health, a Master of Health Administration, and Ph.D. programs in Health Services, Epidemiology, and Maternal and Child Health. The new School will serve the State of Maryland's public health needs for research in critical health areas. Its collaboration with UM, Baltimore, will also increase the high quality research on disease prevention and health promotion.
Enhancements
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