Florida State University State of the University Address 2000



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State of the University Address
Fall Faculty Meeting, Thursday, October 5, 2000, 3:30 p.m.
Florida State University
Remarks by President Talbot D'Alemberte

A Future We Would Welcome - How We Measure Up
An Update on the Recommendations
of Florida State University’s Commissions on the Future

Three years ago, we called together two groups of Florida State friends to provide direction for this university’s future. Two Commissions on the Future--one internal and one external--worked throughout the year and reported their findings and recommendations in 1998.

I.		Move FSU into the top tier...
II		Improve the educational experience
III		Improve access...
IV		Initiate a new Capital Campaign
V		Expand services to Floridians ...
VI		Integrate computing technology ...
VII		Increase private-sector partnerships
VIII		Obtain adequate public funding
		Conclusion

It is said that it’s only when you know where you’re going that you can get where you want to go. In this case, we started off with an acknowledgment that we could not predict the future, and would not know with any certainty where we were going, but we should at least know where we want to go. For that reason, we asked faculty, alumni, staff and students to present a vision of a future they would embrace.

Under the direction of Tom Petway and Marie Cowart, these commissions came to remarkably similar conclusions and provided a shared vision to all of us--those who work on our campus and those who, though not here every day, are committed to this university. The charge to these commissions was to “think big.” And they did. Some members of these commissions are here today, along with a few of the many people who made presentations. I would like to ask all of them to stand and accept our thanks.

Today, I am pleased to report considerable movement toward putting foundations under the vision that our Commissions articulated. Tom Petway, who served as chair of the External Commission, and now chairs the Board of Regents, put it well. He said:

"The overarching goal that we pose is that Florida State University strive to become one of the top public universities in the country. Simply put, this institution, of which we are all so proud, is capable of great strides forward for the benefit of our students, their parents, the citizens of Florida and the nation. Attaining this goal is a lofty challenge, but one we are confident can be reached."

I believe that the report I give you today justifies that confidence. Today, we can only touch on the high points. Reporting on all the wonderful changes that we’ve seen in the past two years would take hours. And I would prefer to provide a short overview and then join you at the reception that follows this presentation.

I will track the Commissions’ recommendations and give you my sense of how this road map for progress is being navigated.

The Commissions’ first recommendation was to:

Recommendation I