General Faculty Meeting
Good afternoon.
For me, this month marks five years of service. As I reflect on this experience I realize what a remarkable opportunity I have been given to work with this faculty and staff in this place. No university president ever had a finer group of colleagues. You are making a measurable difference in the lives of your students and in the quality of life in your state and nation. I am very grateful for your commitment and your creativity and I am very proud of the work you are doing.
My thoughts today center on the future. I did some rough calculations recently and realized that our three basic missions of teaching, research and service have suffered budget cuts totaling $45 million over the past three years. This figure is sobering. During the same three-year period our new mission of economic development has received budget increases of $45 million. The combination of these two calculations delivers for us a very direct message of priorities.
Priorities are most clearly revealed during difficult budget times. Without question, South Carolina values Clemson and our ability to drive a knowledge-based economy so much that even during the most difficult budget period in the past 50 years they are making significant investments in Clemson to help our economy. That's the good news. The bad news is that judged by the size of our cuts, our basic missions of teaching, research and service seem less valued.
This moment of enlightenment for me caused me to pause and consider the difference between economic development and intellectual development.
Now I understand that the work of intellectual development must precede economic development, and I understand that the two can and must work together. There are many examples of how steps taken and investments made in economic development strengthen intellectual development. However, the last three years have revealed that we are now more on our own to find the resources for intellectual development.
If we are to continue to assume the responsibility for "the life of the mind" for our students and ourselves we are going to have to reconsider our revenue streams and our strategies. Be assured that we will work everyday to increase state support; however, if we wait for the good times to return or if we rely on others we will lose the very essence of the true mission of the University - which is intellectual development.
That is why we must assume more responsibility for our own destiny. We have been at work in this effort, possibly viewing it as a short-term solution to replace state support. Now we must plan our future as if this condition will be the status quo.
We must consider all of our resources, including our land endowment and any other resources we may have or develop, and we must use each one we have as carefully as possible. We must gain every efficiency we can so that we can be "wisely inefficient" in places where inefficiency means excellence. The best example of such a place is in the classroom, where we need to give as much individual attention and individual inspiration as possible.
Regarding our land endowment, we must begin a reasoned discussion on how best to use our land endowment. I have crafted guiding principles for this discussion. As promised, we will have a Town Meeting on January 27 to continue this dialogue. I commit to each step of this process being public and transparent. In return, I ask for us to treat each other as colleagues and to use the discussion as a wonderful example for our students to engage in and learn from this process. Let's show our students the best example of how trust and communication will yield progress and enlightenment. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, let's show them "the better angels of our nature." Anything less would not do justice to our role as teachers.
Here are the Guiding Principles I wrote last April regarding our land endowment:
* The University will develop a plan for the short and long term use of University land. The plan will be approved by the Board of Trustees.
* The Education, Research and Service missions of the University will have priority for use of University land.
* Planning priority will also be given to keeping the largest land holdings intact.
* In order to ensure that land will remain a valuable asset to fulfill the University's mission, the total acreage of Land Use Property will be aintained (approximately 20,000 acres).
* The use of University land will serve as a model for development and will demonstrate best practices in environmental policy, protecting existing and future research projects, as well as, sites of historic importance. Further, whenever possible, projects will engage faculty and students in learning experiences to enrich their education at Clemson.
* Proceeds from the sale or development of University land will be assigned to support University goals as determined by the President and approved by the Board of Trustees.
* All appropriate federal, state and local laws and regulations will be followed in the sale, development or exchange of University land.
I look forward to our discussion on January 27.
In a national context, I see urgency in this moment of considering our future as a public university. Unable to put these concerns to rest in my mind I did as many of us do, I wrote about my concerns. I envisioned this short statement as "a call to arms" for public education, perhaps as a national editorial or op/ed. Please recognize that I am looking at our national context and not specifically at our University. My concerns are for the national environment for all of public education (K-12 and higher education.) Let me read it - it begins with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:
"The diffusion of knowledge among the people - the surest safeguard of liberty ." Thomas Jefferson
A foundation of the democracy we enjoy in America is slowly being lost. This foundation is so much a part of us that we can't imagine a future without it, yet it is slowly slipping away. The loss has been so gradual that it has almost gone unnoticed. What is this democratic foundation? Public Education.
After the Second World War, America produced a system of public education (K-12 and Higher Education) whose quality and accessibility was the finest in the world. The GI Bill and the Public Land Grant University are the two best ideas America has ever had. With these tools America's "Greatest Generation" built the greatest economy and quality of life the world had ever seen. Public education was seen as a public good; it was the very foundation on which individuals and families built this nation's future.
Today public education is seen as a private benefit. This change from a public good to a private benefit has been 30 years in the making, and it has happened so gradually that we have not stopped to examine its impact. We must be more thoughtful about the role we ascribe to public education. The alternative is to lose the very core of our economy, our social structure, and our way of life in America.
We have shifted our national self-concept so that we now see America as a nation of taxpayers instead of a nation of citizens. In the process, we have jeopardized the intellectual capital on which we built America into the strongest and most respected nation in the world. Other nations have studied our example and are investing in public education. Why? Because they know the resulting intellectual capital will drive their future. They envision a future in which their countries outperform America.
What are we doing? Is this the future we want for our children and grandchildren? Do we really want to "privatize" public education? Without public education would America be America? If we do not want this future, it is now time to act. If we continue on the path we are now following we will slowly lose public education. In the process we will lose the system that produced America's greatest military, political, corporate and civic leaders. Where do we want our future to be shaped? Where do we want our future leaders to be shaped? If the answer is "in public schools," then we must stop the slow erosion of public education into private education.
It is not a coincidence that America's economy and quality of life are the best in the world; America has the best universities in the world. Consider the long-term impact on America's economy if our education system is segregated into two tiers: a small well-educated elite and a very large, poorly educated populace. (Case studies are available in Pakistan and India.) In a competitive world economy driven by knowledge and innovation, America will become weak without strong public education. From a purely economic perspective, the decision to reduce funding for public education will prove to be the worst financial decision America has ever made.
Most of America's finest public universities have budgets that are funded less than 25% by state support. At issue today, however, is something much more important than a single university's budget, or the budget for Higher Education, or the K-12 public school's budget. It is more important than a political position. At issue today is the very foundation of America's democracy and America's future. At issue today is the education that has built America, America's leaders and America's citizens. At issue today is the life or slow death of America's public education.
Our founding fathers understood that freedom could flourish only among educated people. The "Greatest Generation" embraced public education to make America the greatest country in the world. Our generation and our children now have the responsibility to maintain and build the world's greatest asset, public education.
Will the legacy of our generation be that we gave up on public education and started the erosion of freedom and the American way of life?
This is what I have written so far; I welcome your critique.
Now, on that cheery note, let me return to Clemson's future. I am convinced that if we continue our trust and communication and if we are wise in our use of resources we have a future that is very bright. If we continue to plan well, invest strategically, strive for efficiencies in the right places and spend the efficiency dividends where we need to be inefficient (small classes as an example) and if we build on the trust and communication we have developed I believe that no university in America has a brighter future than Clemson. Consider this - despite budget cuts over the last three years we have substantially increased the quality of Clemson in all areas. Most notably in the intellectual development of our students.
As we begin 2005, let us build on this momentum and arrive on campus each morning looking forward to our work with our students and our colleagues.
I wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday. Thank you.