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CONVOCATION |
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you. Good morning! The Shepard Family – Cyndie, Paul and I – extend a warm welcome-back to you our colleagues and now friends. And, a special warm welcome from all of us here to those friends to be, those for whom this is their first UWGB Convocation. And, we hope you and your families had a great summer. Of course, if you experienced summer, that means you were someplace other than Green Bay. We are gathered on a special day, a milestone day that began with a ribbon-cutting at our magnificent new Laboratory Sciences Building. And the day is special for another reason: we are privileged to have with us as our keynote speaker, Dr. Kevin Reilly, who, in just a few days, will become the sixth president of the University of Wisconsin System. Thank you for joining us, today, Kevin, to help start UWGB’s academic year. You may recall that my Convocation remarks last year focused upon reclaiming the “public good” in public higher education, beginning on our own campus with attention to our own shared common well-being. Indeed, as a political scientist passionate about this public policy topic, I spoke … and spoke … and spoke. In fact, I distinctly recall, about two thirds of the way into my treatise, looking down to see Cyndie going (gesture: finger drawn across neck) This summer, I decided that the greatest personal contribution I could make to our common good, today, would be to be brief. Now, Cyndie, hearing of this commitment, expressed her support. But, as ever helpful spouses are wont to do and not that she didn’t trust me, she did insist that I bring along an aid. (pull timer out of pocket, set time to 30 minutes, look to Cyndie, dial back to 15 minutes, and place on lecturn) |
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We
began the gathering by celebrating the excellence that pervades our campus.
I want, first, to add my own congratula-tions here to each of our Founders
winners: David . . .Cheryl. . .Regan . . .Dennis . . .Cristina . . Jan Thank you, each of you, for what you do in “connecting learning to life.” This recognition is truly well-deserved. Turning now to the substance of my remarks… In the gastronomical fashion of the day, this will be a low-carb address. All meat. And a very lean presentation, at that. As is the habit on such occasions, I will offer a progress report. But, progress towards what? Let’s remind ourselves where we are headed. I first had the opportunity to speak to you at convocation three years ago. I only barely knew you and you barely knew me. But, I had been listening. And, in my remarks, I suggested a simple vision: “Our challenge is to take the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and make it Green Bay’s University of Wisconsin.” I suggested a strategy too, a six-word “strategic plan” if you will: it was the phrase: “Communities support universities that support communities.” In the first months that followed, I would meet with individuals and small groups, over two thousand colleagues and friends of UWGB, and eventually summarize, in a lengthy report back to you, the directions you told me you wanted UWGB to pursue. |
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What
did you emphasize? Foremost was a strategic rededication to our
intellectual heritage: our revolutionary founding academic plan: • multiple perspectives • practical, hands-on problem solving • engagement in the community, and issues of the day. You told me, convincingly, that there is no better academic approach as we address the challenge of preparing students for careers not yet invented and societal problems and opportunities not yet known. And, even as universities around the country struggle to become more interdisciplinary, we do need to remind ourselves of our continuing uniqueness: there is not another university in the nation like UWGB where organizational structure and campus culture support rather than impede this orientation. Several other things stood out from that “Educating the Chancellor” exercise three years ago. I heard you emphasize: • Partnerships: campus and community, faculty and academic staff, public and private, educational and other sectors, • Diversity: a campus reflecting the diversity that increasingly enriches the communities we are privileged to serve. • Growth: we need to grow to meet existing demand – good students are being turned away – to serve a large region in transition demographically and economically There was much more and you can find the details on the web. But, that’s enough of a framework upon which to hang a progress report. |
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OF PAGE Office of the Chancellor, David A Cofrin Library, Suite 810, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 Phone: 920-465-2207 E-mail: shepardb@uwgb.edu Comments to: Chancellor's Web Manager Revised: 03/02/2006 |