AU
Continues to Make Significant Progress
By
William V. Muse, President, Auburn University
Despite reductions in state funds that may never be restored,
Auburn University continues to make significant progress on many
fronts and is achieving unprecedented national recognition. But
the long-term success of Auburn and education in general in Alabama
is in jeopardy because the state is not positioned to deal with
adequate support for all levels of education as we approach the
next century.
Alabama has expanded its system of higher education beyond its
ability or willingness to adequately fund. With an outdated and
inadequate tax structure and with a K-12 educational system that
is in dire need of massive increases in funding, there are unlikely
to be sufficient funds to permit Alabama colleges and universities
to remain competitive with their peer institutions in other states.
Clearly, we have some real problems in Alabama and at Auburn
that are not going to disappear in the foreseeable future. There
are no easy solutions, but we cannot give up because this issue
is too important to this state and to its young people who want
a quality education. And it is too important to the economic well-being
of Alabama.
We must preserve those qualities that have made Auburn the university
that it is and take those steps that are needed to enhance its
reputation and capabilities.
We need to understand and accept the political and economic
realities we cannot change, but be determined to take more firm
control over our own destiny. We need to play to our strengths
and use the resources we have to make use more efficient and effective.
On the plus side, Auburn has an excellent reputation, especially
for the strength and quality of our undergraduate programs. We
attract very good students. There are few public institutions
in this country that can match the average ACT and SAT scores
of our students. This is particularly noteworthy, given the relatively
modest admission standards that we impose.
Auburn's reputation is shaped not by what we say about ourselves
but what others say about us. Publications like U.S. News and
World Report, Money magazine, and 101 Best Values
in Colleges and Universities, represent independent assessments
of our relative standing compared to other institutions. The U.S.
News and World Report last year ranked only two Southeastern Conference-member
schools - Vanderbilt and Florida - ahead of Auburn in terms of
academic quality.
I am impressed with our faculty's dedication and its devotion
to our students. The quality of students that we produce in each
major is a reflection of the care and quality teaching provided
by our faculty.
We have a distinguished and devoted alumni. Few universities
the size of Auburn have produced so many outstanding leaders in
so many fields. There is no alumni group anywhere that is more
interested in or supportive of a university. The success of Campaign
Auburn is a good example of that.
Lastly, we have an intangible factor that few other universities
possess. We call it the Auburn Spirit. It is real. It infects
students who attend this institution and influences the kind of
students we attract. It has a major impact on our alumni and their
interest in and support of the institution. It infects anyone
who is a part of the Auburn Family. This spirit produces in anyone
who is touched by it a desire to preserve those values that make
Auburn unique; fosters an attitude that says in spite of any obstacles
we face, we will survive and succeed; and creates a bond that
holds us together. It creates in each of us a feeling that we
are a part of something that is bigger than ourselves and that
is worth preserving and passing on to future generations. Few
other universities possess such an intangible asset.
How can we use our assets to insure a brighter future for Auburn?
Here is the sort of strategy that I would propose.
First, the Auburn that I envision in the future is one that
builds upon an already strong undergraduate program to position
it as one of the very best at a major public university. It is
one that produces graduates who are well trained in their chosen
disciplines and are in strong demand by employers, but who have
also been broadly educated in those areas that distinguish an
educated person. It is a program that graduates a high percentage
of the students who are admitted. We should strive for a six-year
graduation rate of 75 percent. If we can achieve this goal, this
would place Auburn behind only two other public universities in
the South - the University of Virginia and the University of North
Carolina.
To achieve our goals, it is important that we manage our undergraduate
enrollment more carefully, increase our admission standards at
the undergraduate level, maintain an honors program that challenges
the most highly academically qualified and motivated students
and provide student development programs and leadership opportunities.
I envision a university that has a few programs of national
or international stature. When one studies the history of universities,
it is apparent that most institutions that achieve national stature
do so in a few areas where they become clearly recognized as leaders.
That sort of strategy has tended to be successful even during
times when resources were growing rapidly.
Auburn can be all of those things, but it wonÍt be easy. But
it will only happen when we work together and when we are willing
to make the hard choices that will provide the resources needed
to support those efforts. Auburn may become a smaller but more
significant university with fewer students, faculty, staff and
administrators.
But those hard choices may also give us the ability to have
a more effective and lasting impact on those individuals who are
educated and those clients who are served by Auburn University.
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