Aycock Auditorium
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Posted: 8-20-08
Chancellor Linda P. Brady
It is indeed my pleasure to welcome you to the 117th opening convocation of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I am absolutely thrilled to be here with you today, delivering my first convocation remarks as chancellor of UNCG. In my acceptance speech back in June, I referred to this as one of the very best jobs in higher education. I say that to you again today, energized by my meetings and contacts with many of you during the past days. Being chancellor of our university is an honor and a privilege, and it is a trust that I take seriously. I look forward to working alongside you and serving the people of North Carolina together as members of the UNCG community. There is nothing that we cannot accomplish through our collective efforts on behalf of this outstanding university.
This is not your typical convocation address because as I speak to you today, this is only my 20th day in a new and very exciting role – not that I’m counting. Although it has been a busy 20 days and I have already learned a great deal, I will not be delivering a formal “State of the University” address this morning. We will hear a bit later on from Provost Dave Perrin, who will provide an update on much that has been accomplished during the past year and his priorities for the year ahead.
During the coming weeks, I plan to visit with members of the UNCG community, alumni and friends of this university, and partners in Greensboro and beyond to learn more about the challenges and opportunities we face. But I want to share with you today how I, as a newcomer to this community, see UNCG, and why I believe the months and years ahead offer us an opportunity to build on excellence and shape a public metropolitan research university that is responsive to the needs of our students and the communities we serve.
I feel very fortunate to be part of UNCG at such a significant moment in her evolution. UNCG is a very special place. The evidence is all around us. This morning we are gathered in the beautifully renovated Aycock Auditorium. While I am a newcomer to Aycock as well, I have heard from so many who have missed her during this transformation; but are delighted to have her back in such a grand state. I know the campus and the greater Greensboro communities look forward to returning this fall for shows, musical performances and theatre productions, as do I.
Accomplishments
Of course, Aycock is only one of many spectacular campus improvements that you have witnessed over the last several years. Soon we will be able to enjoy Kaplan Commons – a place at which we can gather together outside for lunches, lectures and fellowship. From our very own commons area to the many new and renovated academic buildings and attractive landmarks that grace this university, UNCG has a beautiful, modern campus to be envied.
I invite you to see these changes, and all of the other impressive achievements of our faculty, staff, and friends of the university, through new eyes and with new appreciation – as this newcomer sees them. Think about how you can take credit for the university that UNCG is today. What you do on this campus each day plays a part in making UNCG “a great place where great people make great things happen and everyone can succeed.” Your efforts demonstrate why UNCG was recently profiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the “2008 Great Colleges to Work For,” and why The Princeton Review included us in their 2009 edition of “The Best 368 Colleges” – one of the nation’s best universities for undergraduate education.
As examples…students tell us they come here for opportunity and for the ability to be seen as individuals, not numbers. The Carnegie Foundation recognizes UNCG as a research university with high research activity in the same league as William & Mary, Georgetown and Wake Forest. The General Assembly has funded a Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering linking UNCG and North Carolina A&T in efforts to enrich interdisciplinary research, expand educational opportunities for our students, and fuel economic development in the Triad. And in recent years, alumni and friends have contributed more than $100 million dollars in support of our work. In short, UNCG is a remarkable university. You have been part of her exciting evolution, and you will be a part of her extraordinary future.
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to help guide UNCG during the next era of achievement and service to the State and region. Without a doubt, Patricia Sullivan, throughout her 14 years of exemplary leadership, transformed UNCG – and positioned this university to take advantage of the many new opportunities that we will seek and create. Chancellor Sullivan has been so generous of her time and personally supportive during this period of transition. Indeed she called me just this morning to congratulate me on the excitement that we will experience as we move through the new year. I look forward to continuing to engage with her as I learn from her experience and build upon her many successes. Today, as your chancellor, I stand before you and commit my energy, passion, imagination and determination to this university and the tasks at hand.
What can you expect from me in the next weeks and months? In general terms, you can expect a commitment to transparency and an environment of teamwork and collaboration. I will actively engage with and learn from the university’s senior leadership, Faculty and Staff Senates, the Student Government Association, faculty, students, and staff, and alumni and friends of UNCG. You can expect that I will take my job seriously, but that I will also take time to get to know you and enjoy being part of the UNCG community. Now and then you may see me having lunch with students in the Dining Hall or coffee with faculty and staff. Some of you may even see me (or perhaps more likely hear of me) on campus at midnight visiting Campus Police or with housekeeping staff in the early morning hours. You may hear of an occasional guest lecture in a political science class, or join me in cheering on the Spartans. You will notice that I set high expectations of myself and others because the university, our students, and our community deserve nothing less.
Priorities
This is a time of new beginnings. A new academic year is upon us, and I feel a tremendous amount of excitement and optimism about the months ahead. Let me highlight three areas in which we will be engaged immediately.
Our most immediate priority will be to develop the next UNCG Five-Year Strategic Plan for 2009-2014 and implement the UNC Tomorrow priorities. The planning process will be overseen by the Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. A Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by a member of the faculty, will be appointed shortly. The Planning Committee will be broadly representative of the UNCG community, and will include faculty, staff, students, alumni/ae, administrators, the Board of Trustees, and the Greensboro community. A subcommittee of the Strategic Planning Committee, working closely with the Deans Council, Faculty and Staff Senates, and Executive Staff, will prepare the Phase II response to UNC Tomorrow, to ensure integration of these important initiatives.
The strategic planning process will set the stage for who we are and what we will accomplish in the next five years. Universities are social institutions with a responsibility to the public we serve. We tend to focus internally on our needs – which indeed are great, from support for students, faculty, and staff to facilities. However, the public demands that we also focus on their needs and engage directly in creating and translating knowledge necessary to solve the many pressing problems of our society – including improving the quality of K-12 education, enhancing public health, and ensuring sustainable development. The public expects our universities to improve quality of life, for individuals and communities. The question we will focus on in coming months, as we engage the strategic planning process is: “How can UNCG help?”
I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to members of the Planning Preparation Committee, chaired by Professor Rebecca Adams, for their outstanding work on Phase I of UNC Tomorrow as well as development of a valuable and insightful “bridge” document that suggests important topics for discussion as we move from “UNCG Today” to “UNCG Tomorrow.”
A second priority is to assess how best to support the ambitious goal of growing our research productivity and infrastructure consistent with UNCG’s classification as a research university with high research activity. The exciting development of Gateway University Research Park and the collaboration between North Carolina A&T and UNCG provides one platform on which to build. Interdisciplinary research in both basic and applied fields will develop the intellectual capital needed to improve the quality of life of individuals and our communities. We will leverage existing and emerging strengths in the sciences, education, business, and the allied health professions to expand our research portfolio in selected areas in which our faculty is likely to have a significant impact. A renewed commitment to the arts, humanities, and social sciences will send an important message about the role of these disciplines in enhancing creativity, contributing to the cultural life of our communities, and building social institutions.
A third priority is to continue the momentum associated with “Students First” through the end of this already successful campaign, which provides a foundation upon which to build a culture of philanthropy for the future. I want to extend my deepest appreciation to faculty and staff for your contributions to this campaign. Of course, no campaign is ever “done,” and there are unmet needs that I will put my energy behind during the final year of this campaign. These needs include undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships and faculty support. Scholarships, especially need-based scholarships, are critical to support access and diversity. Fellowships are essential to recruit the very best graduate students who in turn enrich the quality of the educational experience for undergraduates and help fuel the research enterprise. Faculty support is crucial to support academic quality, to enhance research productivity, and to strengthen UNCG’s impact on economic development and quality of life in this community, the State of North Carolina, and the region. What unites these initiatives is a belief in the importance of investing in human capital. People are our most important natural resource.
This is a time of transition, an opportunity to explore new possibilities. But I can tell you that the values integral to UNCG’s identity will form a solid foundation for future planning. They will help shape the vision for my work and our work in this first year and beyond.
I want you to know that I am committed to that which UNCG has been committed to since its inception. This is a university of great traditions and honorable values, all of which took root generations before you and I arrived here. UNCG began largely as a school for educators. And we paved the way for women when many other doors were closed. I am particularly sensitive to and appreciative of this history, for I, too, attended a woman’s college as a first generation college student.
Among the values that will shape my actions and our work are:
• a commitment to access and student success, consistent with our identity as a student-centered research university;
• a belief in the importance of diversity and inclusiveness, which is essential to our mission and to quality learning and discovery;
• a dedication to liberal education which inspires growth, personal enlightenment and understanding;
• a passion for discovery in our research, scholarship and creative activity through which we invent the future and shape the quality of life for the generations that will follow us; and
• a commitment to making a difference, in the lives of our students, the Triad, the State of North Carolina, and the world.
Meeting New Opportunities, Challenges
We are at an important point in the history of the university and indeed in the history of the state. Let us make the most of it. We are fortunate to be bolstered by the achievements of a tremendous leader – Pat Sullivan – who leaves an outstanding legacy of service to the university and the state. We have the people, the passion, and the possibilities to take UNCG to the next level. As we do so, we will inspire a brighter future for all connected to UNCG.
Let me close with a reference to the work of an author who has influenced my thinking about how to respond to challenges and opportunities facing higher education in the 21st century. In a widely read book entitled Good to Great, Jim Collins analyzes what distinguishes good companies from great companies. And while universities are not businesses in the traditional sense, I believe Collins makes five points that offer lessons to us as we move forward:
• First, lead with questions, not answers. Curiosity drives creativity and learning. Universities are in the “business” of knowledge generation and creativity. We should stop to ask the “big questions” that shape individual lives and the quality of our society. Questions such as: How can we build and sustain healthy families and communities? How can we ensure sustainable economic development? How can we best prepare the next generations of citizens and leaders? How can we fuel creativity and innovation? What makes a successful life in modern society?
• Second, identify what we are passionate about, and pursue it. Passion is contagious. Faculty who are passionate about their work engage and excite students. Universities that are passionate about their missions and visions engage alumni, friends, and communities in ways that enhance the educational experience of our students and improve quality of life in all of the communities we touch.
• Third, determine areas in which we can be best in the world. Don’t follow others. Don’t assume there is a single path to success. UNCG has an unparalleled opportunity to build a metropolitan research university based on a new model – one that is grounded in our commitment to students and our passion for improving quality of life. We must define our competitive advantage and pursue it. This means we must make strategic choices because we cannot do everything and be excellent in all that we do.
• Fourth, focus on the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems. Of course we face difficult challenges, but we face unlimited opportunities: the opportunity to make a difference, to contribute to economic development, to improve the quality of life for individuals and our communities, to inspire the next generation.
• Finally, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. Jim Collins challenges us to create something that makes a difference and gain the satisfaction of knowing the time we spend on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.
Education changes lives. This is a university where the next generation of leaders is born and where students from all walks of life can achieve their dreams. We must ensure these opportunities are available to future generations of North Carolinians. This is a university where research, scholarship and creative activity engages the problems of our times and improves the quality of life in our communities, across the State of North Carolina, and around the world. What we do matters.
Please join with me in the coming weeks and months as we imagine together about our future and shape this vision. There is nothing that we cannot accomplish through our collective efforts on behalf of this outstanding university. Thank you for joining us this morning and welcome to the beginning of another exciting year at UNCG.
