There were so many moments during the past year that made me realize my good fortune to be here. Like that morning last October when "Good Morning, America" was broadcasting from our campus. When the host, Kevin Newman, introduced me to the T V audience, there was a spontaneous roar– I optimistically describe it as a roar of appreciation –from the students crowding around. Everybody on the set–including me – was really surprised, and I have never felt more humble.

I’m not going to try to list our extraordinary achievements over the last twelve months. We’d be here ‘til tomorrow. It suffices to say that most people see that the state of our campus has never been better. Our students are more talent ed, our reputation is growing, and our fund-raising efforts break records every year. We have a master plan for construction and facilities renewal that will improve every aspect of university life, and we have the financial and moral support of the state for our goals. I am encouraged by all that I have learned this year that everything we hope for can be accomplished. We are free, as never before, to pursue our dreams. In fact, the state is counting on us to do so.

Let me share a couple of events that happened this year that to me exemplify our dreams. I’ll start with Maryland Day 1999, our first-ever campus-wide open house. The impact of those 20,000-plus visitors–especially the families with the littl e kids involved in everything from making robots to petting tarantulas–was magnificent. And from what I observed that Maryland Day did more to build pride among our staff and students than any other single event last year.

Another event was the Higher Education Forum on the morning of my inauguration. Sharing the podium with the presidents of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania, dealing with substantial issues in a highly visible forum, was a sour ce of pride for me–especially in the way the university presented itself, hosted the event, and carried out the day. Your efforts during the entire week were extraordinary. Thank you again for giving me those unforgettable moments.

Women’s lacrosse–winning its fifth national championship. They continue to set new standards for excellence that are probably beatable only by them. Their record is a large part of our Number 8 ranking in women’s athletics by Sports Illu strated for Women and our top 25 Sears Cup ranking for our entire athletic program. My congratulations, and thanks, to all the players, coaches and staff who contributed to these prestigious, highly visible honors.

Last evening, my wife Patsy and I were honored to welcome the new faculty at a reception at the President’s Residence. What a bright and talented group it indeed is. There were many outstanding faculty appointments here during the past academic y ear, and though I hesitate to mention anyone, I must mention someone. And simply by way of example I am enormously impressed by the extraordinary faculty recruitment effort in the Department of Psychology that brought many leading scholars to the campus and has turned the nation’s attention to Maryland. These appointments will have a great impact on the stature of our programs, not just in the department but in crosscutting research in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and computational analysis. Well done. And the Smith School of Business’s ranking as the nations 3rd best MBA program for high technology professionals is a truly remarkable achievement meriting kudos to all concerned.

Let me take a moment to talk about some things I’ve learned this year, things unique to this institution, things that make my job so exciting and fulfilling. As you know, when I arrived here a year ago one of my first duties was to serve on the La rson Task Force, looking at the issues of governance and funding in the University System of Maryland. It was an excellent, though sometimes turbulent, introduction to our system. But what that task force clarified for me was the commitment of the state a nd the system to see us fulfill our mandate to become a pre-eminent public research university.

Simultaneously, the campus was preparing its plan for the 1999 legislative session, seeking an expansion of the previous year’s "Flagship Initiative." The outcomes of both these efforts are historic for this institution. Just to hit a fe w highlights:

First, our funding base was increased 10%–an additional $27.8 million in the FY2000 allocation.

Second, funding guidelines have been developed and implemented by the Maryland Higher Education Commission to ensure that we will be measured against funding and performance levels of our peer institutions: Berkeley, UCLA, North Carolina, Michigan and Illinois.

Third, the elevation of this campus to the echelon of our peers is the highest priority of the state’s higher education initiatives.

Fourth, we have been granted a remarkable level of autonomy in governance and operation with the designation of the system as a public corporation, rather than an agency of the state.

Fifth, we have the opportunity, for the first time, to establish a University of Maryland, College Park, Foundation. This foundation will be the centerpiece of a campus-wide advancement program. For the first time we will have a foundation board that will be personally committed to the success of this campus. Within a year the infrastructure and staffing will be in place allowing us to move toward the realization of this important initiative.

Sixth, we have established important relationships with the governor and the legislature, and our supporters in Congress. Our colleague, Governor Glendening, deserves our deepest gratitude for his appreciation of the importance of University of Maryland, College Park, to the future of the state.

Throughout this intense period, I learned a great deal about the special role of the university in economic development of the state, and even more about its potential. I was able, I think, to strengthen the idea in the minds of many that this univers ity is key to the development of a high-tech economy in Maryland, just as other universities are in the research triangle of North Carolina or in Silicon Valley. I have pointed out the complementary strengths of the two major research universities in the state–Maryland and Johns Hopkins–in the areas of information and biosciences. Together we form the research backbone of this state, with additional power from University of Maryland, Baltimore, the government laboratories and private corporation s like Northrup-Grumman, Lucent and others. The essential building blocks of a thriving, high-tech, economic base for Maryland in the twenty-first century are here.

Another of my important lessons, thanks to all of you, is the value of our shared governance. One of the initiatives that I am proud of came directly from shared governance–the creation of the Student Fee Advisory Committee. This committee made up of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and Campus Senate representatives, will participate in the review of mandatory student fees for campus-wide and unit programs. For the first time, students will have a voice in a process that impacts their lives–and their pocketbooks. This plan has been submitted to the Senate for its review.

You may have been wondering about my priorities for this campus during my term as president. I do want to talk about them today. Over the past year, with colleagues across the campus, I have been discussing a five-year agenda, one that should keep us all very busy in the short term, and by 2004 give us all a sense of true accomplishment. Let me assure you that this agenda, though bold, fits well with our existing strategic initiatives and supports in every way our mandate to become a preeminent nation al research university.

We have an opportunity this year, with new leadership among the vice presidents and with many new deans and faculty on board, to set some new marks that will focus our strategic planning process. In fact, some of you are already working with the provos t on a process of updating our 1997 strategic plan.

Our five-year goals embody the spirit of what we are trying to accomplish in our pursuit of national eminence. In this effort, it is crucial that our focus turn outward, without devaluing our achievements internally. We have to take the excellence we h ave built and expand our national influence. We have to put aside reticence in favor of presence. We need to be in the thoughts of our colleagues across the country–we must be involved with them on the highest levels. We need to project ourselves acr oss the oceans and knot our international ties. This external focus must be an underlying driver of our plans and activities.

You may remember that in my inaugural address I set out three themes for my presidency: Strengthen the Culture of Excellence; Enhance the Educational Experience; and Build the Maryland Family. I would like to expand on these themes, illustrating how we will benefit from this external focus.

First, we will strengthen the culture of excellence at the University of Maryland. Let’s characterize this culture as an ethos where all faculty, staff and students feel lifted by their relationship with the University of Maryland, feel pride in a ssociation with their peers, and feel constantly compelled to raise the standards by which we measure ourselves.

Where does such a culture come from? It comes from the quality of our students, the effectiveness of our programs, the depth and span of our facilities, libraries and technological capability, but most directly and most importantly, from our faculty. F aculty is the key to the reputation, impact and visibility of this university. There are no shortcuts to excellence in scholarship and research, but there are opportunities to recognize–and reward–the excellence that currently exists here, and t here are strategies to raise our competitive level across the campus.

First, we must compete assertively with our peers in the recruitment of faculty and graduate students. This means recruiting faculty who are committed to a high standard of scholarship, who have demonstrated that commitment and who are often in demand at top-ranked universities. It means charging search processes to bring onl y the top candidates to us. It also means setting high expectations of performance for the faculty and students in every department.

• Next, we must take an active role in placing our doctoral graduates on the faculties of top institutions–especially our five peers. This means not only educating and mentoring our top students but carrying our responsibilities to them forwa rd to the national academic community–an activity that will enhance our visibility nationwide.

• We must also increase the number of faculty who hold membership in national academies. Currently, 22 of our faculty hold memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of the Arts and Sciences or the Institute of Medicine. We need to take the steps necessary to raise that number to 50 by 2004. This will put an important public face on our excellence.

• Also we need to increase the quality of all graduate student admissions. First, we must increase the number of applications by 50% over five years. We must also raise the average GRE scores of our admits by at least 100 points. Our facilities, our resources, our location and our faculty are compelling attractions f or advanced degree seekers. We need to recruit more visibly, assertively and effectively. This will mean greater national exposure for individual programs, more contacts with colleagues, and improved mentoring of our graduate students.

• To help us recruit against our peers, we will raise $30 million in private funds for graduate fellowships. Some of this funding will be linked to our partnerships with business and industry, but most will come from private donors.

• We will also increase our annual sponsored research funding by 50%, to $300 million by 2004. Much of this increase will be from underrepresented funding sources that are key to our future success, like the National Institutes of Health and high- tech corporations.

• By 2004, we will have at least 100 faculty chairs and professorships at this campus. With only 46 funded today, it is crucial that we exceed the goals of the Bold Vision•Bright Future campaign and more than double our total. These chairs an d professorships are essential to retaining and recruiting top quality faculty in competition with our peers. We literally cannot succeed without this support.

• In the next five years, we will achieve a ranking among the nation’s top 15 public research universities, with at least 25 major programs ranked in the top 10 nationally. Today, we are 22nd among the publics, and last year we were 30th. We have 14 programs ranked among the top-ten by U.S. News and World Report. We are moving up faster than any other large public university in the country. Momentum is on our side.

There are many other factors in building a culture of excellence–broadening our diverse campus community, adding physical space for laboratories and classrooms, recognizing and rewarding the achievements of faculty, students and staff. None of the se avenues will be overlooked as we implement our action plans for achieving these goals. As we revisit the university’s Strategic Plan this year, we have an opportunity to focus on these objectives during our planning.

The second theme that will resonate throughout our planning in the coming years is to Enhance the Educational Experience for all Students.

The quality of our students has been rising for the last eight years, and there is no reason that the trend should stop. As quality rises, we will be continually challenged to improve our programs, our course content and the campus environment. One pre tty obvious case in point–more students want to live on campus than ever before. This is a true shift from 1993, when three resident halls were closed and there were 1100 empty beds. It means that we’ve been very successful at building an appeal ing, welcoming campus community, especially for our most talented students. We need to extend that effort to all students to ensure that they get a high quality experience, as well as the financial support they need, and the access to opportunity that wil l keep them at the university until they graduate.

We will undertake the following targets:

• First, we will expand the resident campus atmosphere for our undergraduates. This will mean providing more beds over the next five years – at least 2,000 on or near campus. We have already formed private/public partnerships to achieve part of this goal. It also means implementing more living/learning programs that bring students into smaller communities with faculty and staff mentors. The successes of our Honors Program, the College Park Scholars program, and Gemstone are indisputable.

My eye this year is on the CIVICUS program, created by the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences for any student interested in the meaning of a civil society. These "value-added" programs are vital to keeping students connected and invol ved for their entire university experience, through to graduation and beyond. I expect to see at least 10 additional programs introduced over the next five years.

• Next we will reach a full-time student graduation rate of more than 80 percent. Right now, only 20 percent of our undergraduates are carrying 30 or more credits per year. Their graduation rate is 95 percent. Another 20 percent of our students ca rry less than 20 credits each year. Their six-year graduation rate is 16 percent. Our overall graduation rate is 67% in six years. This picture is a pretty clear. Now, we don’t need every student to take a traditional, four-year path to graduation, b ut if we increase the course load of some of our students by reducing the financial pressure that requires them to work truly excessively, we will increase graduation rates substantially. So

• Then we must make sure that no student in good academic standing is forced to leave the university for financial reasons. I am setting a target to raise $25 million for need-based scholarships by 2004. We have already set an ambitious goal of $ 25 million for merit-based scholarships in the Bold Vision•Bright Future campaign, and are very close to meeting that goal. But we need support for all students, so fewer wind up dropping out or struggling to get their undergraduate degree over six o r eight years because they are working too much. I talked this summer with a young woman who had just gotten her master’s degree from the College of Education, and had accepted a position as a counselor in the Prince George’s County school syste m. She carried a debt burden into her job of more than $37,000. She told me she plans to pay it off in four years. I may be old-fashioned, but how many of us would have taken on that debt–especially looking forward to the pay scale of a school counse lor? We need to vigorously address this problem, which, by the way, is prevalent among first-generation college students and disadvantaged students.

• I want to create what might be called the Incentive Scholarship Program. As part of our need-based scholarship campaign, we will raise private funds for scholarships directed to students in the state’s most troubled high schools–studen ts who will not be their class valedictorian, or have scored 1400 on their SATs, but who have demonstrated drive, capability, and the guts to succeed in their education–students who have overcome very great disadvantage in their lives. I would like t o see these students working together, with strong support from the campus, to meet the challenges of university life–academically and socially. I see them mentoring succeeding high school classes, and building a leadership cohort that will connect t hem to their neighborhoods. In this way we can provide opportunity for disadvantaged students, and contribute to Maryland’s need for fresh, highly motivated citizens and leaders. I hope some of you will join me in giving shape to this program.

• Finally, we must strengthen our commitment to a safe and welcoming campus. Understanding the value of a diversity of people, ideas, talents, and perspectives is key to a thriving academic community. I value every struggle against prejudice, exclusivity, and, yes, hate. That struggle must take place on a daily basis if our community is to be truly inclusive and enriched. I would charge every member of this Senate body to take this message to the campus: Intolerance is antithetical to the values of this university. Acts of intolerance must be exposed and expunged. Keeping this campus free and open is our individual and collective respon sibility. Don’t you all believe it is about time to stand up?

My third theme is to Build the Maryland Family

The Maryland family is the key to our future in many ways. Our family includes alumni and donors, legislators, business leaders, opinion setters, state policy makers, educators, employers, taxpayers, and all of us. We–the faculty, students and sta ff are at the center of this family. It is our job to ensure that the whole family feels connected to us and manifests pride in the University of Maryland.

When questioned about the state’s greatest assets, I want people to say - the "University of Maryland". When asked where they studied, I want our alums to say proudly, the "University of Maryland." When high school counselors advise their brightest students where to go, I want them to say the "University of Maryland." When corporate leaders look for help, I w ant them to think the "University of Maryland." When asked where you work or study, I hope that you say with genuine pride, the "University of Maryland." And when asked to support a University of Maryland scholarship, I want everyon e to say "that’s a great cause."

As a matter of fact, this was a record-breaking year for private giving to the university. We raised $81.7 million dollars. That money is improving the quality of your job and your workplace. Yes, we are proud of this accomplishment, but let me say we have a long way to go to help our Maryland family understand how crucial private giving is to our growth and future. The Bold Vision•Bright Future Campaign is entering its third year. We’ve raised over $250 million toward a $350 million goal. Th at’s a lot of people putting a lot of money where their heart is. I hope that many of you talk about that as a source of pride. We should all feel ownership of this campaign. I will be working hard for it in the years ahead.

We have a lot to be proud of, a lot to be excited about. Believe me, getting that word out, beyond this forum, beyond our classrooms, and beyond Route One, should be a high priority for everyone who cares about this university.

The targets I have set for the Maryland Family are as ambitious as the others.

• We need to increase greatly the number of alumni who are actively involved with the university–through alumni association membership, volunteer activities and advocacy. By 2004 We will increase the number of Alumni Association members by 40% to over 35,000.

• And, by 2004, we will see 50,000 people here at the Maryland Day openhouse, a substantial increase over the 20,000 in our first year.

• Also by 2004 we will double the number of annual donors to this campus. And annual gifts from all sources will exceed $125 million–that’s 50% more than our record total in 1999.

I can assure you that we will be relying on all of you–the faculty, staff and students–as we develop the action plans that will bring our vision for the University of Maryland to fruition. The spirit of shared governance and collaborative pla nning is special at this university. I look forward to working with you all to give shape to these aspirations. Our goals are vigorous, and will require the qualities from all of us that we have used to characterize ourselves: Hard working, forward-lookin g, ambitious, creative, principled, confident. We could not find a better team than ourselves to move us forward.

When we meet these goals–indeed, even as we strive for them–we will fulfill our mandate to become one of the best national research universities in the country.

•We will stand proudly among our peers and will be "in the conversation" with them, nationally and internationally.

•We will meet our obligation to become a driving force of Maryland’s economic prosperity and to become the vital link in Maryland’s research backbone.

•We will fulfill our commitment to students by providing them with the finest education and preparation available.

And we will create a loyal family, one that shares the joy of every accomplishment, that applauds our seriousness of purpose, that participates in the daily life of a vibrant university, and that supports us generously and enthusiastically in many ways . I look forward to the excitement of these next five years, to working with you, and to celebrating our success as the inevitable reward of our shared commitment.