Good morning,
Thank you, Ambassador Kenney for your inspiring thoughts and Congratulations, Professor Post for your commitment to our students.
Let me add my welcome to all who have joined us for the Victor Hurst Academic Convocation. Each of you is a vital part of Clemson and the intellectual environment we are building together.
Last week as I watched the campus go from quiet to chaos and from pastoral to high energy I was reminded of John Masefield's (English poet) statement"There are few earthly things more splendid than a university." Further, to be a part of a university sited in a wonderful college town on the shores of the Southeast's largest lake surrounded by a pristine forest helps me understand this "splendor" of Masefield.
Those of you who are faculty and staff who are joining this community this year are beginning to recognize the opportunities you will have in this place. We welcome you to this intellectual community.
Our task, (as Alan Bloom said) is not replace a closed mind with a cluttered mind. Our task is to replace an empty mind with an open mind.
So how are we doing in meeting this challenge? I am very proud of how we are meeting this challenge.
I was asked about our ranking at 34th this year compared to 32nd last year. The question was, "Are you disappointed?" My response was that I am proud of our progress during the past 12 months. We are not yet to the half way point of our ten-year quest to become a Top 20 public university. We have move from 74th to 34th since 1997 and few universities have ever moved so far so fast. I believe in Clemson and in you. And this is why...
(just last year)
- We have increased research support.
- We have increased alumni giving and alumni support.
- We have increased retention and graduation rates (so much so that the American Association of State Colleges and Universities sent a team for three days to learn what we are doing). Their conclusion: These graduation and retention rates are among America's best because at Clemson faculty care about students.
- We reduced class size.
- We generated millions of dollars for facilities; equipment and infrastructure through the Research Infrastructure Act and the required matching gifts.
- Started a new graduate collaborative with Greenwood Genetics Center.
- Joined the Health Science South Carolina collaborative
- Completed the Clemson-ICAR master plan and the Campbell Graduate Engineering Center design
- Received our best freshman class ever in our history
- Opened a European portal for study abroad in Belgium
- Published the Michelin Guide to Clemson University
- Hosted the National Concrete Canoe Championship, an international physics conference (only held once every 3 years in the US) and the 3rd National Conference of Best Practices in Black Student Achievement
- Remarkably, we even got every student in the classes they needed during pre-registration and orientation more smoothly than ever. (Thank you. Thank you.)
- Together we earned LEED silver certification for environmental sustainability in our new Advanced Materials Research Lab (1st public building in SC to earn this designation). All other buildings we build will meet this standard.
- Hired architect to design the new home for the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston
- Moved to the next level of review in our Phi Beta Kappa process with the conclusion in Spring 2006.
I could go on
My point is that we have dramatically improved in all these areas.
However, our biggest challenge is that we have moved into a new league; not just the new Atlantic Coast Conference in athletics, but a new academic league with national universities. We moved ahead of Auburn, Florida State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona now we are tied with Virginia Tech and NC State and we have to compete with Minnesota, Georgia, Purdue and Wisconsin. This is our challenge in this new league. It gets harder the closer we get to the Top 20.
How do we do this? It seems to me that the benefit of our progress (up by 40 places) is to increase our self-confidenceconstantly comparing ourselves with the best public universities in the country, because we are one of these schools.
However, if we do our work well and focus on our students, everyday; the rankings will take care of themselves.
The year upcoming is filled with promise as we shape the quiet transformation of Clemson University. As Whitehead observed, our task is "the creation of the future":
- The creation of the future of each of our 17,000 students
- The creation of the future of SC's knowledge-based economy
- The creation of the future of civic responsibility and public service for each of us.
- The creation of the future for our planet that is environmentally sustainable.
- And the creation of the future that brings peaceful resolution of international conflict.
Let us begin this new year with confidence and a deep commitment of service to our students.
Let us remember this campus is a garden. We are the gardeners and our students are the living results of our gardening. As you walk the campus and appreciate the beauty of this garden let us remember our responsibility to our students.
With this as our focus, we are going to have our best year ever. Best wishes and thank you.
Sincerely,
James F. Barker, FAIA
President