Conversation report: Excellence, community, resources are key ideas, president says

By Nancy Wick, University Week

Three major themes emerged from the University’s “Conversation About the Future,” according to its initiator, President Richard L. McCormick. In a report on the Conversation released this week, McCormick cites (1) a shared ambition for the future excellence of the University, (2) a strong desire to strengthen the bonds of community, and (3) a persistent concern about the need for sufficient resources as the issues that rose to the top during the year-long series of events.

“It’s no surprise that these issues would surface,” McCormick said, “but the pervasiveness of the expression of all three of these, I think, is important.”

The Conversation began a year ago when the President used his annual address to the campus to suggest that the University community join with him in a conversation “that will lead us toward a collective sense of the UW’s strategic opportunities and responsibilities in a changing world.” Since then, more than 85 organized events have been held, from open agenda meetings to panel discussions and even a class offered by the Comparative History of Ideas Program called “Rethinking the University.”

McCormick sifted through the record of all these events to understand what had been learned and what should be done as a result. He emphasized that the report, available on the Conversation Web site and also on paper, is not a consensus summary but his own perspective.

Further details on each of the major issues cited in the report are given below:

Ambition for Excellence

The ambition for excellence came through, McCormick said, in every discussion. People want the University to “advance human knowledge and to help solve the world’s most pressing problems.” Within that ambition, several specific ideas were repeatedly mentioned.

  • Interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers would like to collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines; students would like to take classes outside their majors. Both cite many barriers to doing this.

  • High quality teaching. Both faculty and students express a desire for more experiential learning, including students working with faculty on research. Students are particularly concerned that their classes prepare them for their lives after graduation.

  • Use of technology. Faculty, staff and students are all concerned with open access to and training for the latest technology, as well as the use of such technology in teaching, learning and research.

  • Strengthening the liberal arts. There is a widely-held belief that the liberal arts are central to educating a citizen of the 21st century, but a feeling that the University is not doing enough to emphasize and fund these programs.

  • Raising academic standards. Both faculty and students expressed concern that academic standards are not high enough.

    Desire for Community

    McCormick called the desire for community “the most pronounced theme” during the Conversation. Although such a desire might be considered a meaningless “feel good” notion, the President doesn’t see it that way. “The Conversation has shown us that community is important in the achievement of our academic goals,” he said. “When students, faculty and staff all talk about isolation and barriers, it is clear that we need to increase our sense of community if we are to get where we want to go.”

  • Internal community. Within the University, students think community can be improved by such things as encouraging interdisciplinary opportunities, creating peer mentoring programs and establishing a campus discussion series. Staff would like to feel that they are valued members of a team and be recognized for their contributions. Both groups would like the chance for a greater leadership role, and both are keenly interested in more affordable child care to help them participate fully in community.

  • External community. Conversation participants also wanted to see the University forge stronger connections to the wider communities of which it is a part. Students, faculty and staff all mentioned getting more involved in and publicizing projects in the community.

  • Diversity. One issue within community that inspired the most passion, according to McCormick, was that of diversity. Students, faculty and staff are interested in recruiting individuals from underrepresented groups to their ranks and providing a supportive climate for them after their arrival on campus.

    Resources for the Future

    Resources weren’t often explicitly mentioned in the Conversation, McCormick said, but the subject was “referred to indirectly in almost every discussion throughout the year.” People recognize the need for more resources to develop new academic programs - including interdisciplinary programs that so many on campus want - to increase diversity and improve the campus climate and to increase faculty and staff salaries.

    “We simply cannot be at the forefront of educational transformation without more funding,” McCormick concluded.

    McCormick said information gleaned from the Conversation is reflected in both the long-and short-term goals of the University. His three overarching goals for the coming year, along with some specific activities under each are:

  • Transforming the educational experience

    - expanding student opportunities for research and experiential learning

    - advancing new interdisciplinary programs

    - applying technology to teaching and learning

    - increasing the diversity of students, faculty and staff

  • Strengthening the bonds of community

    - improving the diversity climate of our community

    - identifying ways to increase the availability of childcare for students, faculty and staff

    - continuing improvements to the customer service orientation of University operations

  • Obtaining resources for the University’s future

    - securing the best possible state budget

    - completing plans for a major fundraising campaign

    - expanding the UW’s technology transfer programs

    - increasing the University’s already substantial research support

    - reviewing the University’s major programs of budgetary reallocation

    The Conversation About the Future is officially over, but in many ways the conversation will go on, McCormick said. The class on Rethinking the University will be repeated with a new group of students; a University-wide forum on resources for the University’s future will be held this fall; the President will continue to meet with his Staff Forum and will probably repeat his cycle of meetings with students in each college and school.

    “I don’t want to claim too much for the Conversation, but the fact that it occurred in its various settings with so many people participating was extremely valuable,” McCormick said. “Did it transform the institution? Of course not. But it did produce many useful ideas and got people talking to each other in ways they haven’t talked before. I’m grateful to everyone who participated and will continue to incorporate what we’ve learned into plans for the future.”

    The full text of the President’s report will be available on the Conversation About the Future Web site: http://www.washington.edu/change/#future on Oct. 3. To request a paper copy, contact the President’s Office, 543-5010.



    University Week
    The faculty and staff publication of the University of Washington
    uweek@u.washington.edu
    September 28, 2000