General Faculty Meeting
Good morning.
Let me add my congratulations to my colleagues being recognized today for their remarkable work and for their long term commitment to Clemson.
My thoughts today will be illustrated for two reasons: 1) To dazzle you and hold you spell bound with Power Point technology. 2) To present to you the same material that I presented to our Board of Trustees at our meeting two weeks ago. I believe this kind of direct and consistent communication is important.
A great university is not built with bold, sweeping moves; rather a great university is built in thoughtful, deliberate and small steps taken every day.
I believe I see evidence of such small everyday steps being taken at Clemson and I want to point these out to you today as a way of saying congratulations. It is important to recognize progress and have small celebrations to say thank you to our faculty, staff and students.
Our vision to become one of America's Top 20 Public Universities is not about bold sweeping moves. It is about small steps. It is about "tending to our knitting" of excellent teaching, research and service, everyday.
But for just a minute this morning let's pause and reflect on our progress.
The question I will pose to you at the end is this: "What does it all mean?"
Click here for the Power Point Presentation
Progress Toward the Top 20.
Click here for PDF version of material.
Let me conclude by addressing the question I posed earlier, "What does it all mean?"
I believe it is all meaningless if you have not witnessed a change in the intellectual environment at Clemson; in your classes, in your interaction with your colleagues, in your own expectations of your department and in your own expectations of your own work.
In other words, the only true meaning to be found in all of these numbers and words is in your interaction with your students and colleagues.
We know that more employers are coming to campus to recruit and some of these companies are seen as the finest in the world.
We know that more students are being accepted into the finest and most competitive graduate schools.
We know that even though we have not increased enrollment our students are winning more prestigious national scholarships and fellowships than ever before.
The same is true of our faculty and staff recognition.
What I believe it all means is a growing sense of self-confidence on campus and a genuine momentum in lifting our intellectual environment.
You have shared experiences with me from your classrooms, laboratories and studios that describe this elevation of our intellectual environment on campus.
If these numbers and words combined with your own experiences on campus describe meaningful progress then it is worthy of pause and reflection and a small celebration as a way to say thanks.
Best wishes for the summer. Thank you.