On campus, the Chair of the UWM State Employees Combined Campaign, Joan Prince, informs me that UWM faculty and staff contributed more than $166,000 in this year’s SECC, a 12% increase over last year – the largest increase of any State agency.

In a tight economic climate, I think that’s a wonderful testimony to your generosity and commitment to the Milwaukee community. My personal thanks to all of you for your support of the SECC.

Actually it should be no surprise the campaign was so successful, considering it was led by one of Milwaukee’s most powerful women!

Other good news is that the year 2006 will inaugurate a milestone anniversary for UWM. Next fall, this institution will begin a celebration of its first 50 years.

As we approach this anniversary, it is an appropriate time for us to reflect on the reasons this university was created and on its continuing mission.

A time to acknowledge our gratitude to UWM’s founding generation – the teachers, scholars, and administrators who had the vision and grit to forge a new institution in the economic and demographic center of Wisconsin.

A time to take pride in what we and our predecessors have accomplished since 1956;

And, finally, a time to renew our commitment to UWM fully realizing its potential as a major research university serving the crucial needs and aspirations of greater Milwaukee.

We will have many other opportunities during 2006 -2007 to reflect on and celebrate our first 50 years. But this anniversary is some of the good news we have to share at the beginning of what will be a crossroads year for UWM. This university remains singularly focused on its historical twin objectives of ensuring access and opportunity and of expanding its research capacity.

We have persevered, steadily progressed, and matured. And now we are positioned for greater things.

At this milestone in UWM’s history, our biggest challenge is to align our resources with our mission. I often am asked what sort of investment is necessary for UWM to remain an institution of access and opportunity and for it to serve as the major catalyst of this region’s economy through its research.

My answer today is that it will require an investment of approximately $300 million over the next 6-8 years.

I would like to take a moment here to talk about the idea of “investment” because it applies not only to UWM’s research mission but also to UWM’s student access mission.

Investment is a word that I have used frequently in reference to financial matters, but it is a term that applies equally well to our students. Investment is a fairly new idea in public higher education and it has the connotation for many in the academy of corporate business, high-risks, high-rollers, and Darwinian competition for survival.

These connotations may apply in some settings, but in talking about investment at UWM, I mean something different. I think of “investment” as putting resources – which can be one’s financial resources, intellect, commitment, or effort – into an activity that creates a larger good, a greater return to those making the investment.

This is different from what I think of as “subsidy” – which is underwriting the cost of an already fixed outcome, of something that already has been created and does not lead to a new and larger good.

Investment in this sense is the future model for success at UWM, in Wisconsin, and in the world. We should think about UWM’s commitment to student access and success as an investment – as creating not only a private benefit to those who study here but also a larger public good: creating the skilled workforce and thoughtful citizenry necessary for Milwaukee and Wisconsin to thrive.

In this context of investing in our students, I would like to talk about Access to Success. As you all know, this is the name of UWM’s multiple, coordinated activities that are yielding tangible results — more of the good news we have today ― for student access, opportunity, and success.

As you are all very aware, Access to Success was launched through the Council for Inclusion in Fall 2005 with the primary goals of enhancing access to higher education for students from groups that are under-represented, and improving on all of our students’ success in learning and attaining degrees.

We are employing strategies to attract an increasingly diverse and talented pool of new freshmen. To that end, we will be opening two student recruitment and outreach offices in the Milwaukee community.

We are carefully reviewing our freshman applicants for admission and placing admitted students who need focused retention assistance in programs that will assist them while also increasing opportunities for freshmen to participate in honors programs.

And, we have initiated several strategies to improve freshman retention and satisfaction including the redesign of math and English basic and remedial courses, mentoring and tutoring services, first year transition courses, the creation of a multicultural student center, and the employment of the early warning system.

We currently are engaged in a rigorous assessment of these and other strategies. Let me publicly acknowledge our appreciation to all of the faculty and staff who are implementing our Access to Success initiatives.

What is especially encouraging about our work in the area of access is that we are well-aligned with other, state-wide initiatives to keep our public universities accessible. Just last week, Governor Jim Doyle unveiled his “Affordability Agenda,” which includes a promise to make college more affordable for Wisconsin families. It will take a concerted effort in many areas to make sure college doors stay open for all people. Access to Success is one more way that this is possible.

With respect to our research goals, I should highlight that at the last Milwaukee Seven Regional Economic Development Committee meeting a very interesting chart was presented that showed how the Metro Area Milwaukee trailed other areas in terms of research and development.

Moreover, a January 13, 2006 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ranked Milwaukee 48th among the 50 metro areas in the Innovation Commercialization Index.

All of this demonstrates that metro Milwaukee’s research and development infrastructure is insufficient to serve as the catalyst for economic development—something that this region desperately needs in the era of the knowledge-based economy.

I often am asked what it will take to turn these R&D ratios to levels that are commensurate with the population size and economic importance of southeastern Wisconsin. Speaking for UWM alone, again my estimate is that it will take an investment of approximately 300 million dollars in three 100-million-dollar components over the next six to eight years to bring about the kind of transformational change that this city and region require if the standard of living of all of our citizens is to rise. UWM has already embarked on two of the $100 million components of this ambitious but necessary investment plan.

The first component of this investment strategy is UWM’s $100 million Comprehensive Campaign. The public phase of the campaign was announced on January 6 and has been the subject of a very favorable lead article and a supportive editorial in The Milwaukee Business Journal. This comprehensive campaign is one of two initiatives that will strengthen our financial and programmatic base to allow us to better fulfill our potential as a major research university without compromising access.

The Comprehensive Campaign is Milwaukee’s commitment to UWM’s future. The co-chairs of the campaign were selected precisely because their undergraduate education took place at UWM; they are Chief Executive Officers of major national companies based in Milwaukee; and they are long-standing civic and community leaders.

I want to acknowledge and thank

• Gale Klappa of Wisconsin Energies
• Dennis Kuester of M&I Bank
• Jim Ziemer of Harley Davidson
• Ed Zore of Northwestern Mutual

I also want to thank Sheldon Lubar for serving as the Honorary Chair of the campaign. These are exceptionally busy people who are committed to the success of the comprehensive campaign. How have we managed to recruit such a superb group of civic leaders? It really was not that difficult. The campaign leadership team fundamentally believes in the transformational nature of higher education and they believe in this institution and its future. They have seen it in their own lives and in the lives of others. Their leadership will ensure the success of our comprehensive campaign, and I am grateful for their commitment.

With this group at the helm, do not be surprised if we have a major gift announcement in the coming weeks.

The contributions to the campaign are gifts to the university from individuals, organizations, foundations, alumni and businesses to fund endowed professorships; student scholarships; research facilities, equipment, and staff; capital projects; instructional innovation; and artistic endeavors.

The quiet phase of the campaign, guided by the UWM Foundation’s Board of Directors, has been underway for the past two years, and as of today this institution has raised $45 million toward our $100 million goal. We are on track to achieve our goal on or before 2009.

In addition to the external community’s support of UWM through the Comprehensive Campaign, the Research Growth Initiative is intended to grow our extramurally funded research from its current level of $25 million to $100 million over the next decade. The RGI, the UWM community’s investment in UWM’s future, is the second component of our $300 million investment plan.

The RGI has generated an unprecedented burst of entrepreneurial creativity on campus. Nearly 300 proposals have been developed since November, involving about half our faculty and staff. Many of these proposals cross disciplinary boundaries in ways we have never seen before.

I expect that by strategically investing our $14 million in base budget that is designated for research and the associated indirect cost recovery dollar over the next three or four biennial budget cycles, we will have committed $100 million of our budget to stimulating extramurally funded research at UWM.

These two components – the Comprehensive Campaign and the Research Growth Initiative – ultimately will lead to approximately a $200 million investment in UWM over the next six to eight years. But these investments are not sufficient to fulfill our mission to provide full student access and to be the research university that this city, region, and State require to thrive in the 21st Century economy. UWM stills needs a major infusion of new resources if it is to fulfill its mission. In our environment of scarce State resources, this undoubtedly is a difficult task.

The fundamental contradiction we face is that while our mission, as ratified by the Board of Regents, is that of a doctoral research campus, our funding over our 50 year history has been commensurate with that of a comprehensive four-year teaching institution. Our most basic challenge is to realign our resources with our mission as we become a fully mature institution.

On a global stage, we have learned from countries like Ireland and China, both of which I have visited recently as part of the Governor’s and Mayor’s trade missions.

The lesson learned here is that large scale investment in university education and in scientific research and development pays enormous economic dividends. Both countries are investing significantly in science and engineering education. They are singularly focused on harnessing their human resource potential and using it to improve the quality of life and standard of living of their people. Ireland, in particular, has moved from among the lowest levels of per capita income in the European Community to second highest in a relatively short twenty-five year time frame.

On a national level, during the 100 year span from the 1850s to the 1950s, technological innovation largely was developed in the industrial plant and under the apprenticeship system.

The second half of the 20th Century was a period of transition driven by the advent of universal higher education wherein manufacturing began to wane and new industries and services began to emerge. UWM and its expansive public mission were created in this transitional period. We are now in the midst of the knowledge-based and creativity-enhanced economy in which technological change and innovation are being produced in research universities.

This paradigm shift is compellingly presented in the October 2005 report of The National Academies, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.” The congressionally appointed panel that prepared this report argues for a dramatic increase in research investment nationally: “America must act now,” the Chair of the panel concludes, “to preserve its strategic and economic security by capitalizing on its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology and maintaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries that create well-paying jobs.”

In this set of interconnected economic trends and realities, what does UWM need this third $100 million investment component to accomplish?

First, as our funded research grows significantly, UWM will require facilities that are commensurate with 21st Century, rather than mid-20th Century, innovation. We need a new engineering building and an applied science research location and facility for business incubation.

Second, while our current faculty will advance our research funding through mechanisms like the RGI, we need to recruit and adequately support new faculty, staff, and graduate students to launch a major applied science and engineering initiative.

Third, if our student body and faculty continue to grow as we expect, UWM will need new on-campus student residence and academic program space. I estimate that at least $70 million in capital outlays will be required for new space and facilities and that approximately $30 million will be required to hire and support new faculty, staff, and graduate students.

This third $100 million investment component, spread over six to eight years, will require a combination of federal, state, and private resources. Through the RGI, UWM is doing its part to help transform this region; through the Comprehensive Campaign, the Milwaukee community is doing its part to create a greater public good; and working together with metropolitan Milwaukee business, civic, and political leaders, this University will find the ways to attract this last $100 million investment component.

If we make strategic choices, conduct our business in an efficient and flexible manner, and demonstrate that we are good stewards of public and private resources, I am confident that new investments will come.

I have spent most of my time this afternoon talking with you about UWM’s need to fundamentally align its resource base with its mission and the need to substantially grow our extramurally funded research. This is a theme I have sounded before, and I do so not because I think that funded research is the single pre-eminent part of our mission.

As I said in the September plenary, “I do not equate all research and scholarship with extramurally funded research.” And student access, opportunity, and success is an equally important part of UWM’s mission.

I am emphasizing our large-scale funding needs and the need to grow extramurally funded research at this time because that is our most pressing current challenge, the part of our mission for which we are most under-resourced. If we and our public and private partners fail to boldly address these needs now, we threaten the success not only of UWM’s institutional mission but also of the economic future of Milwaukee and the State.

With so much at stake, I know from my listening sessions this fall that many of you are asking, “What can I as an individual faculty or staff member do to help UWM fully realize its mission?” I believe that there are many ways to be a productive, participating university citizen—many ways to invest in UWM. You can, of course, pursue extramural funds to support your research either through the Research Growth Initiative or independent of that process; if you don’t receive RGI funds this year, you can apply again in succeeding years.

You also can do a myriad of activities that equally constitute this university’s reason for being:

• mentor and advise students
• direct graduate student theses
• advance scholarship in your academic field
• develop an on-line or a technology-assisted course
• participate in shared governance
• serve in professional societies
• contribute to student scholarships
• be an inspired and inspiring teacher
• be an effective administrator (this applies to me, too)

As we anticipate celebrating UWM’s golden anniversary, I cannot help but wonder what our university will look like 50 years from now. How will we be organized and what will be our physical campus or campuses in 2056? In 2006, we already have fully used the 90 acres on which we currently are located. Even if we stabilize the growth of our freshman classes, our improved retention rates indicate that UWM will exceed 30,000 students in a few years.

To best prepare for the future reality of a larger student body, faculty and staff, and physical infrastructure, it is essential that we collectively engage in a major strategic planning effort. In concert with all sectors of our campus and community, I am calling for this effort to begin in summer 2006.

More details on this effort will be forthcoming in the coming months as the faculty, academic staff, and student governance bodies along with the campus administration and community leaders develop the strategic planning process.

This process, in conjunction with our current campus planning exercise (which focuses primarily on facilities and space), will provide the guidance we need to move forward, to create what the organizational strategist Peter Senge [SENG-ee] calls “the futures we want” instead of having to live with “the futures we get.”

If we do this right, if we invest both boldly and wisely, then when the Chancellor of this major research university addresses his or her faculty, staff, and students 50 years from today, the work that we are doing together and the investments we are making together will be honored as we honor the work and investments of those who preceded us.

People, such as UWM’s first Chancellor, J. Martin Klotsche, and the Deans Joseph Baier [buyer] of the College of Letters and Science and George Denemark of the School of Education, the only college and school that existed in 1956.

As you can see behind me, we certainly have grown in this respect.

We honor these and others of UWM’s founding generation who crafted the mission that we now are charged with carrying to fruition.

Thank you.