Comments/Forum
Your feedback and suggestions are very important to your colleagues in the working groups, and we hope you will participate in this electronic forum. Throughout the planning process we will be receiving comments and posting them on this Web site. As the working groups will begin meeting on February 1, please offer suggestions close to that date so that the groups can explore them thoroughly. We will be posting all comments with the name of the person submitting. We regret that we cannot answer every email, but we appreciate all contributions. Comments are listed below the form.
Comments
Comments are for "Strategic Planning (General Comments)" unless otherwise specified.
Comment is for: Research
Comments: 1. I am disappointed that UNH will have an internal search and
secondly that the search is for a Vice Provost for Research and not a VP
for Research. I was on the Research Commission in the early 90s when it
was agreed by the faculty and open forum that the senior administrator
for one of the three missions (research) of the university should be at
the VP level. I would like to know what the rationale is for the change?
2. Several shared resources to assist and provide the infrastructure for
state of the art research and clinical studies are needed at UNH. The model
of shared resources serves as an excellent model for UNH to pursue and
develop—the high pace of development of technology, instrumentation and
high through-put instrumentation is beyond the abilities of most individual
laboratories. Our University Instrumentation Center is excellent but it
needs to be expanded. The following is directly cited from Norris Cotton
Cancer Center
webpage (http://www.cancer.dartmouth.edu/shared/index.shtml) “Shared resources
of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth have been developed where
a perceived need exists for specialized equipment, services or centralized
consultation. Shared Resources with specialized instrumentation, and the
expertise to apply these resources to research, have become increasingly
important in recent years.
There are many advantages to housing instrumentation in a Shared Resource
and offering associated services through a professional staff. First, the
cost of such instruments and services is usually prohibitive for individual
laboratories or even for most individual departments. Thus, there is an
economy of scale and justification for purchasing an expensive high-end
or high-throughput instrument for shared use by a research
community.
Second, a professional staff can usually offer services on an instrument at a cost that is far less than that for an individual laboratory performing a similar analysis, even with access to the same instrument. The staff can be expertly trained to perform a particular service in the most efficient and cost-effective way, and can also analyze samples in batches in a well-ordered queue.
Third, due to the amount of time involved in the development of many of the associated techniques, it is not always practical for researchers who are presented with a new analytical challenge to develop the necessary expertise unless it becomes an ongoing part of their research. This can be circumvented by having the instrumentation and the necessary techniques that are required to use it readily available from a centralized source, allowing the researchers to gain their information in a timely manner and move on to the next research question.
Fourth, having a professional staff oversee instrumentation will allow
routine maintenance and avoid potential problems with misuse or neglect
by untrained personnel. Finally, one of the most important services a Shared
Resource can offer is to provide the intellectual and technical resources
that can assist the investigator in designing and conducting the proper
experiment, preparing the appropriate samples for analysis, analyzing them
in the most appropriate way, and assisting in correctly interpreting the
results. This latter function is of even greater importance where consultation
is the primary product of the resource. Hence, the goal of the Cancer Center
has been to develop a portfolio of Shared Resources that:
*Provide easy and affordable access to technology that cannot be supported
by individual labs
*Provide the essential technical support for the operation and maintenance
of specialized equipment
*Provide centralized expert consultation
*Provide personnel essential to fulfill legal and regulatory compliance
*Provide the administrative coordination for successful operation of resources"
Stacia Sower
Transportation Savings:
A big loss of wealth, a bleeding of both cash and energy, in the university community, is associated with the great wealth tied up in cars on campus, cars of students, faculty and staff. While these cars and their constant use of fuel is private property, it is governed by university policy. Car dependency can be significantly reduced by greatly expanding public transportation here, and doing that by the revenue to be transferred through both proper charging for on-campus parking, charges related to its true cost, and by carrying out the Transportation Policy Committee’s plan to change all campus users a campus user or access fee (perhaps $100 per employee and per student, but pro-rated to income) so as to insure revenue for sound public transportation in the community region surrounding the university -- meaning more routes, more frequency of service, and heated bus shelters.
UNH also needs to take leadership with the cities of Concord, Manchester,
Portsmouth, towns, and institutions like Coe-Brown Academy and state agencies
to collaborate in bringing about regional east-west bus service which would
benefit UNH enormously.
All of this means reduction of dependency on second cars or multiple cars
in families, a great savings in economically difficult times. And our students
could greatly reduce economic pressure on themselves and on their families
by coming to UNH without vehicles.
UNH would gain greatly economically (i.e., more money available for education rather than cars and fuel, more money in the pockets of faculty and staff), and would certainly benefit in its mission of education.
John E. Carroll -- Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Food Savings
COLSA and Cooperative Extension need to focus directly on food production in the region and the state. Greater food production here, both on campus using university land and in the region, would reduce the bleeding of wealth we are now experiencing as our money and that of our students pours out of the region to purchase food. Serious efforts on our part to encourage, promote, and enable big increases in community gardens, private gardens, re-development and expansion of our small farms, development of year-round farmers markets all will mean more money staying here internally on campus and in the area in support of the food needs of our students and our employees.
Kingman, Burley-Demerritt, Barlett-Dudley, Woodman, Highland, and other
university farms in Durham, Lee, and Madbury need to be put into full service
in the area of local food production, vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy, even
grains. Our 1,100 acres (aside from the campus) can be much more fully
utilized. The Thompson School (TSAS) could also play a major role in this
effort.
The two big bleeders of local wealth are food and energy. Anything we
can do to keep that wealth here and reduce dependency on distant resources
will save the university and its community a great deal of money.
John E. Carroll -- Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Comment is for: Sustainability
I suggest UNH close for Spring Break to save energy and operational costs when students are off campus.
Bonnie Thompson
Comment is for: Breaking Silos, Scrambling Categories
We may consider learning/living communities, perhaps with a research or academic focus, to bring together undergraduate students, graduate researchers and faculty. Such communities could generate cross disciplinary learning as well as build community and offer learning opportunities well beyond the classroom. Such living/learning communities (residential colleges?) could also be placed in towns surrounding Durham to alleviate some of the pressures of university life on the town of Durham,, to reach out in concrete ways to surrounding towns and facilitate more efficient transit operations.
Sonke Dornblut
Comment is for: Teaching and Learning
Please consider living/learning communities or residential colleges as a way to offer cross disciplinary research and learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. Examples: A community with a focus on marine biology, fisheries, etc in Portsmouth. A community with a focus on sustainable agriculture, product development and marketing, etc in Lee. A community with a focus on urban transport and development in Dover.
Sonke Dornblut
Comment is for: Breaking Silos, Scrambling Categories
UNH could leverage its excellence in seemingly unrelated academic disciplines by promoting a "holistic" approach to researching solutions to contemporary problems. For example, a project for the development and implementation of sustainable new energy sources could involve (let's use Hydrogen-based transportation, whether Hydrogen-combustion or fuel cell) Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering -- these are obvious choice. However, this problem also has other potential solutions which could involve Biology/Microbiology (microbial generation of Hydrogen), as well as socio-political implications (convincing the public to switch fuel sources) and/or building infrastructure -- these might involve History, Sociology, Political Science, Civil Engineering. Finally, the economic barriers and opportunities would involve nearly all of the disciplines of the Whittemore School.
A comprehensive set of Creative Problem Solving/Brainstorming sessions
in a one or two day convocation at the New England Center would be a great
start. Silos tend to drive attacks on problems from a vertical approach
-- how to solve the technical issues or the production issues or the political
issues without considering the problem as a system and a process.
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: Research
UNH should strive to maximize its research in a number of ways. Alignment with the economic development not only of New Hampshire, but of the entire New England area would lead to both increased public awareness of the University and its areas of excellence, but could increase sources of funding research projects. Also, leveraging our study abroad liaisons to develop links to overseas funding of research would be a possibility.
Again, the use of Creative Problem Solving session across disciplines could result in an increase Intellectual Property portfolio which could be licensed or sold to generate additional research projects and revenue.
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: Teaching and Learning
Comments: I would suggest that UNH move rapidly into the distance learning
environment. In today's economy, the University could add tuition revenue
and provide more opportunity especially to New
Hampshire residents without adding the need for on-campus housing, dining,
or physical plant.
A distance-learning approach to advanced degrees and even to TSAS opportunities could reach more potential students.
The merger with Franklin Pierce Law school offers an additional opportunity for this type of development.
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: Affordability and Access
Creating an increased portfolio of Intellectual Property would be a relatively straightforward means of generating revenue independent of state funding or tuition. Creative Problem Solving sessions across unconventional disciplines (e.g. Anthropology and Engineering -- can a hand-held device to scan and decipher ideographs be built efficiently?) to add value to each and to provide potential patents for licensing revenue. The University also needs to examine itself from a more business-like point of view. While a University is clearly not a business in the traditional sense, some techniques like SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis and/or Total Quality Management techniques would certainly apply. Is UNH efficient in its academic offerings? Is there a possibility that some disciplines would be better offered at KSC or PSC? Should KSC and/or PSC be more fully integrated into UNH (UNH at Keene?)? The integration of Franklin Pierce Law School is a great fit, especially in Patent and Environmental Law.
Are we leveraging the Alumni correctly -- is there an opportunity for more Adjunct Faculty on a semester-by-semester basis from Alumni who have had successful careers in their fields? Are we reaching out in non-traditional ways to Alumni and Business for financial support?
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: New Markets
Possible opportunities that I can see for new markets/new academic opportunities/offerings: Doctorate in Business Administration Veterinary Medicine (only about 26 Vet schools in US, higher demand than Med school) -- only New England Vet School is Tufts.Concentration in Battery Technology within ECE
BS in Materials Science -- look into partnership with ASM International Reach out more pro-actively to women and minorities for Science, Math, and Engineering candidates. Increase the opportunities for Nursing students as quickly as possible. Add an LPN offering to TSAS
Richard J. Ross UNH'66
Comment is for: Student Experience
My experience at UNH is among my most treasured memories and it has been the cornerstone of my success in my business and technical career. The personal growth I achieved while at UNH is every bit as important as the academic experience. I was blessed to have Professors like Alden Winn, Bill Nulsen, Don Melvin, Ron Clark, and others, as well as to have had the opportunity to participate in Student Government, WUNH-FM, and other extra-curricular activities. UNH needs to maintain its focus on the student -- having faculty advisors for every undergraduate student; offering a rich extra-curricular mosaic; and, while research is important, remembering that the main purpose of the University is to promote an atmosphere of undergraduate academic excellence. The personal relationship between undergraduate student and faculty was a key element of my UNH experience and it needs to continue to be a focal point.
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: UNH and the World
I would suggest that UNH might look to the Americas as an opportunity for more internationalization. Mexico, Central and South America are among the fastest-growing countries and countries like Brazil are among the fastest-developing. Partnerships with Brazilian Universities and government or business entities, which are actively involved in alternative energy options, could prove fruitful in attracting students and also in attracting research funds.
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: Communities and Alliances
Comments: Dare I ask -- has anyone considered taking UNH private like
U of Penn?
Richard J. Ross UNH '66
Comment is for: New Markets
One thing the University currently lacks is a central mechanism to cultivate and coordinate semester or year-long programs for students from abroad, which would contribute both to the internationalization of the campus and to the revenue stream. Last year I had to schedule meetings with five different organizations on campus just to get basic information for visitors from a foreign university who were interested in exploring the creation of a study-abroad program for their students at UNH. The pricing structure for such a program at present is fairly complex and I believe UNH would become an attractive destination for such programs if we offered a one-stop solution with clear pricing information and guaranteed institutional oversight to foreign institutions looking to create semester, year-long or summer programs for their students.
Pam Ikegami
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures