Remarks before the Public Higher Education Study Committee
Remarks - Ann Weaver Hart
Concord, N.H.,
August 6, 2002
Good morning. I am tremendously pleased to be with you today to share with you my reflections about the University of New Hampshire and convey my hopes for the University of New Hampshire in the coming year. I am grateful for this chance to begin to get acquainted with members of the General Court. This is my first opportunity to visit the State House and the legislative office building. I am excited about the prospects for the future at UNH, and I look forward to working closely with you to advance public higher education in this wonderful state.
Before becoming President, I knew that UNH and the colleges that are a part of the University System drive the economic engine of the state and are the keys to future economic development and research. I remain convinced that this is the case, and I know that, working together, we will advance to new levels of achievement and prosperity. I also knew that UNH is a tremendous resource for the creation of new knowledge, a setting for personal discovery by our students, and an important center for applying knowledge to the improvement of people’s lives.
Nevertheless, we have some real challenges, as well as
opportunities, and I would like to share some of these with you this morning.
The challenges the University of New Hampshire faces include:
• Achieving competitive salaries, especially faculty salaries, to
assure that the tradition of superb faculty intellectual leadership continues
at UNH;
• Assuring that the maintenance and quality of our physical facilities,
especially our laboratory facilities in the sciences and engineering,
are preserved;
• Providing state-of-the-art instructional facilities, equipment,
computers, instruments, and laboratories in the sciences and engineering;
• Securing financial aid support so that the very best higher education
for all qualified students in New Hampshire is assured.
These challenges are real. We will work with you to meet them. Our
immediate priorities and goals include:
• Increasing the coherence and quality of the undergraduate experience
with special attention to the freshman experience and the proposed new
general education requirements, the Discovery Program, currently making
its way through the University’s Shared Governance processes;
• Achieving better integration between academic and student affairs
to assure a rigorous and supportive experience for UNH’s undergraduate
students and a fulfillment of our promise of a unique and supportive
undergraduate education truly integrated into a research, discovery-based,
environment;
• Creating a more effective structure and greater focus around our
outreach and engagement missions within the state and the across the
nation;
• Recruiting a more diverse faculty, student body, and staff to assure
a world class educational environment and a globally authentic education
for New Hampshire’s students;
• Completing the implementation of the new administrative enterprise
data base system (SCT Banner), as well as other important initiatives
in information technology that cut across research administration, security,
e-commerce, e-learning, and other information technology initiatives;
• Successful planning and realization of Project KEEP New Hampshire
and success in obtaining the funding needed for the renovation and renewal
of our outdated science and engineering buildings, protecting the citizens’ past
investments in higher education;
• Continuing to work on the University System of New Hampshire fringe
benefit cost containment effort crucial to our future financial health;
• Continuing the work on the quality of student life experience at
UNH, including student-landlord relations, Greek Life experience, and
relations with our friends and neighbors in Durham;
• With the support and leadership of the UNH Foundation, setting
priorities for future friend-making and fundraising activities and the
timing and scope of the next capital campaign for the University of New Hampshire.
These priorities are ambitious, but I am convinced they are achievable with hard work and collective effort. The faculty and staff at UNH are committed to work with all of you to achieve these goals. The students at UNH are poised to help us. They work very hard and help us imagine goals we never dreamed.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
