Chancellor leads off KYU series with gusto

By Melissa Mitchell

When the football team takes the field, team members know they
can count on the cheerleaders on the sidelines to stir up
enthusiasm in the stands. The UI's biggest cheerleader these days
is Chancellor Michael Aiken, who takes advantage of every
opportunity he can to rally the campus community as it undertakes
a major strategic planning process aimed at preparing the UI for
the challenges it faces in the year ahead.

Aiken delivered his most recent pep talk Tuesday when he kicked
off the University YMCA's "Know Your University" lecture series
with a discussion of "Project 2000 - A Look at the Future."
Before launching into the substance of his talk, Aiken shared an
anecdote - borrowed from a UI alumnus who is president of another
university - to give the audience an indication of what it
sometimes feels like to be a leader in a complex organization:

"It's a lot like being the man who mows the lawn in the cemetery,"
Aiken said. "He has lots of people under him, but he's not sure
anybody's listening."

Aiken didn't have to worry about that Tuesday as he shared his
vision of the UI's future with an attentive audience. Before
concentrating on where the university ought to be in the next
century, however, Aiken reflected on how the UI got to where it
is now.

"I'm deeply mindful of the thought and complexity that went into
building this university over the last 125 years, and
particularly, in recent years," Aiken said. He noted that he also
is "keenly aware" that adaptations the university - and any great
university - makes over the years in curriculum, programs and
areas such as student services "are reflections of political,
social and economic influences" of the times.

Because of that, he said, "there is often a disjunction between
that repertoire of programs and activities [the university
provides] and those contingencies outside the organization." To
close that gap, Aiken said, universities must adopt "certain
strategies to deal with that disjunction.

From time to time," he said, "we need to take stock of
achievements" as well as "major changes impacting us at this
particular point in history."

Before outlining details of the current planning and evaluation
process taking place on campus, Aiken noted a number of "major
factors we need to be very aware of," which led to current trends
in higher education.

"Starting with recent history, something that began around the
time of the Carter administration that continues to impact us,
was that inflation went sky high and interest rates were way up
there," he said. The impact that had on universities was that
"faculty salaries fell way behind in terms of purchasing power."
To address that problem, many private universities implemented
double-digit tuition increases. "Public universities did not do
that because their money comes from state legislatures and they
don't have that control over tuition."

However, the chancellor said, "some factors began to spill over
to the publics as well." And as those institutions have tried to
raise tuition and keep pace with inflation, the public continues
to raise questions about the quality of education students
receive.

Other factors that have resulted in challenges for universities
today include the transference during "the Reagan Revolution" of
fiscal responsibility for social-welfare and environmental
programs from the federal government to the states. "This state -
and virtually every state - is facing some fiscal crisis" as a
result of that shift, Aiken said, "because tax structures have
not been in place to deal with it."

Compounding these problems, he added, are factors such as
weathering an economic recession and deflecting criticism of
higher education prompted by "highly publicized and unfortunate
athletic situations, as well as misconduct in some higher
administration offices." Add to the mix the need to address
issues related to changing demographics among the nation's
college students, pressure to transform research into economic
development, and the whole issue of political correctness, and it
becomes easier to understand the challenges universities face
today, he said.

From there, Aiken updated the audience on the UI's internal
strategic planning process, begun last year in an effort to put
the university on the offensive when it moves into position to
tackle the challenges that lie ahead. The process has involved
efforts by faculty and staff members throughout the campus, who
have conducted detailed studies of key areas of the university
culture - research, instruction, the library, international
education and public image among them.

"That process will synthesize during this academic year, so we
will have a shared plan - a blueprint - for the future," Aiken
said. The 10 committees completed preliminary reports in May, and
those reports were circulated among personnel in affected in the
summer. The next step will be for the chancellor - with input
from the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, the
Campus Planning Committee and the Council of Deans - to issue a
final report to the campus. Aiken said that report should be
released next spring.

During the remaining part of his talk, the chancellor gave a
brief preview of some of the ideas and recommendations that have
surfaced in the preliminary group reports.

In the area of research, Aiken said he is excited about the
prospect of launching "a collaborative research initiative" that
would be "creative and innovative" in approach and could evolve
as "the next Beckman Institute." While communicating his
enthusiasm for such a project, he added that it is too early in
the planning process to present a clearer vision of what it would
entail.

Another idea emerging from the planning process addresses the
issue of technology transfer. In fulfilling its mission to
translate research into applications that benefit the public, "we
need to provide some kind of support to faculty so they can
communicate the culture inside our community to the outside," the
chancellor said.

Aiken also focused on the efforts of the work group looking into
concerns related to undergraduate instruction.

"We need to think about the four-year, undergraduate experience
as a holistic experience," Aiken said, adding that it is
essential that students develop a strong sense of belonging, as
well as an understanding of university culture and their role and
responsibilities in that culture. "The Discovery Program grew out
of that," he said. Other ideas Aiken would like to see
implemented by next fall include a freshman convocation; a new,
improved orientation program; and more faculty and peer advising.

Aiken also shared concerns raised by the group examining the
university's offering of international education. In order to
prepare students for an increasingly global world and work force,
Aiken said, the university should provide every opportunity to
familiarize them with other cultures. That would include ensuring
that every UI student graduated with fluency in a second
language. The resources aren't there yet, he added, but it should
remain a goal.

In addition, Aiken said, "we should find a way to get 30 percent
of our graduate students to share the richness of the cultures
they come from" with the greater campus population.

In the end, the chancellor said, "a planning process like this
will be effective to the extent that we get support and feedback"
from all concerned. "We want this to be an open process; we want
the larger community to give feedback."