Making The Case For The Future - The 2010 Commission

By John White and Bob Smith*

Our vision for the University of Arkansas is clear: A nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world. But is it understood by the people we serve-our students and Arkansans at large? Do our state's citizens understand the benefits of a nationally competitive research university? Do they know how the state's future prosperity is inextricably linked to the success of our state's flagship institution? If so, then do they understand what it takes to build and sustain a research university that will serve our state's needs?

Enter the 2010 Commission-a group of 92 dedicated business, government, and academic professionals and students who have been charged with studying and presenting answers to these and other questions critical to the health of the state's major higher education resource and our state's future.

The 2010 Commission (see listing @ http://www.uark.edu/admin/chaninfo/2010/comission.html) is chaired by Reynie Rutledge (Chairman, First Security Bank in Searcy), a 1971 UofA alumnus and a state leader who instills in others the type of inspired dedication that will help us illuminate our situation and craft strategies for future efforts. One product of the 2010 Commission's work will be a report, Making the Case: The Impact of the University of Arkansas on the Future of the State of Arkansas, which will be used to communicate to all Arkansans the benefits they will enjoy when the University of Arkansas realizes its vision. More specifically, the objectives of the 2010 Commission's report are:

• Demonstrate that Arkansas' economic future demands a comprehensive research university ranked among the nation's top 50 public institutions.
• Define the University of Arkansas' role in driving the intellectual, economic, and cultural imperatives of the state.
• Identify and assess the financial support that will be necessary for us to reach our goals, based on wise stewardship of current resources.

This paper provides background on the initial work of the Commission and an outline of the Making the Case document that will be drafted soon and ultimately finalized by the Commission on October 25, 2000. Most importantly, we want the UofA community to be well-informed about the Commission's purpose. Furthermore, we want all to know about the efforts we are making to involve our constituents-faculty, students and staff-in the Commission's work. Thus, we will be describing later the process for such involvement along with our shared responsibilities.

But first, let us offer an outline of the Commission's report, as it has been crafted thus far:

• Recent Higher Education Initiatives in Arkansas
• Role of Higher Education in Society
• Roles and Benefits of Research Universities
• How Arkansas and the University Compare
• University of Arkansas Progress Report
• Closing the Gap-Making the Case

Many of our UofA colleagues could write this report themselves. But it will be important for us to secure our vision and craft a set of strategies that all of us can embrace and articulate to our friends and neighbors. So bear with us, while we offer some approaches that we think will be important in developing the sections noted above.

Recent Higher Education Initiatives in Arkansas-In this section, we propose to highlight the expanded access recommendations of the 1988 report of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Rise to Excellence: Higher Education in Arkansas) as commissioned by the Arkansas Business Council. We will note how a physical expansion of the state's higher education system supported an increase in the Arkansas "college going rate" in the early 1990s but failed to prevent a subsequent widening of the gap between the Arkansas rate and the "national college going rate" toward the end of the 1990s. We will articulate our concern about the relatively high number of exceptional college-age Arkansans who attend colleges outside of Arkansas. We will also want to note how the focus on college access did little to enhance the research competitiveness of the UofA.

Role of Higher Education in Society-Here we will want to consider points such as: preparing students with liberal arts background, problem solving skills, a love for lifelong learning, and professional attitudes and values; how institutions make vitally important discoveries, act as stewards of our heritage and culture, and help society interpret and use information, and overall, enrich our personal and community lives-in part-by being society's key transmitter of wisdom and knowledge.

Role and Benefits of Research Universities-Under this rubric, we will probably want to point to the National Governor's Association year 2000 report (Using Research & Development to Grow State Economies) containing recommendations that research universities: provide intellectual infrastructure, technology transfer, and physical infrastructure for research; address technically-trained workforce needs; favorably affect quality of life; support an entrepreneurial climate and stimulate venture capital availability; cause economic multipliers--as much as a factor of ten--in benefits from research dollars brought into the state. We should also consider quoting the June, 2000 Rand Report, which noted: "When the locations of federal laboratories and major federally funded R&D activities at universities are mapped with the locations of high-technology start-up companies, the ripple effects of federal R&D investments on regional and local economies become [clear]. Little wonder that states and localities compete . . . to attract federal R&D support to their jurisdictions." We will also want to use this section to emphasize the need for a nationally competitive research university in Arkansas-positioned among the nation's top fifty public research universities.

How Arkansas and the University Compare-Here, we propose to do some comparisons of the economic viability of Arkansas versus states such as North Carolina and Georgia where there have been state-based initiatives to invest in their research universities to spur economic growth throughout their states. We will also consider states (e.g., Kentucky) that have recently made extraordinary commitments to support their research universities.

University of Arkansas Progress Report-In this section, we will highlight some of the good things the University has done in recent years, such as improving the quality of our incoming freshmen and increasing sponsored research and private support. But, we will also want to make the case that we have a long way to go to enter the ranks of the most nationally competitive research universities. We will also need to suggest a set of goals that will have to be met by the year 2010 such as increased faculty and staff salaries and benefits, increased student quality and numbers of students in undergraduate and graduate programs, and increased levels of extramural research and private support.

Closing the Gap-Making the Case-Here we will have to quantify the University's needs if we are to become the nationally competitive research university to which we aspire. We will also need to discuss the mix of state, federal, and private support that will be necessary if we are to realize our vision.

Having noted where we are going and what might be contained in the Commission's report, you could be asking: How do I get involved? Involvement is just a few keystrokes away as we are actively soliciting counsel and ideas from all of our colleagues via e-mail. These messages should be directed to Bob Smith (bobsmith@uark.edu), who is serving as Executive Secretary of the 2010 Commission. Beyond your individualized contributions, we invite your interest in a series of focus group meetings-six of them-that will be held during this September. These meetings will involve between 15 and 20 faculty, students, and staff members and will literally focus on the topics likely to be included in the Commission's report. Bob Smith will begin each meeting with a 15 minute (no more than that) summary of the Commission's charge and the background information found at the website devoted to the 2010 Commission and its work (http://www.uark.edu/admin/chaninfo/2010/comission.html). The focus group sessions will continue-with the help of a facilitator-with discussions about the report's content. The discussions may also be stimulated by a series of questions that we think are of critical importance to the task at hand:

• To what extent is our vision of a nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world truly shared by a large majority of our campus constituents?
• What size institution should we become? Some have suggested a total enrollment of 22,500 (17,000 undergraduates and 5,500 graduate students) by the year 2010. Is that the right size and mix of students?
• What number and range of programs should we be emphasizing in the years ahead?
• What research emphases make sense to address the economic and cultural needs of Arkansas? Some have suggested the themes of Food, Technology and Culture (specifically addressing cultural divides). Are there others (e.g., Leadership)? What about these themes and the notion of identifying themes for research emphases?
• How bold should we be in establishing instructional and research goals? For example, should we think about trying to actively involve tenured and tenure-track faculty in every course offering at the University, including lower division undergraduate course offerings?
• Some have suggested that our research goals should include projects and programs federally sponsored at $50 million per year and $100 million per year, overall, by the year 2010. What needs to be done to position the UofA to reach these goals?

Surely, the focus group participants will have questions and ideas to proffer. The discussants' thoughts will lead us into a number of areas. But, at end, we hope that common themes and common understanding will emerge-all oriented toward our shared vision of a nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world.

Interested in participating? Bob Smith has written to the Deans, the Associated Student Government leadership, Campus Faculty, Faculty Senate and Staff Senate leadership, and the President of the University of Arkansas Retirement Association, soliciting nominees for the focus group meetings. If you would like to volunteer your participation, please seek out the campus leaders noted and signal your interest. If you are unable to participate in person, please take a few moments to e-mail Bob Smith (bobsmith@uark.edu). The work of the 2010 Commission represents a landmark effort for the University of Arkansas. We seek broad and thoughtful participation as we Make the Case about our nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world. We welcome the participation of all who are served by the 2010 Commission website (http://www.uark.edu/admin/chaninfo/2010/comission.html) or otherwise become aware of this important endeavor.

* John White is Chancellor and Bob Smith is Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University of Arkansas. 1