State of the University Addresses

1999 State of the University Address

Chairman Junker, members of the Board of Trustees, students, colleagues, alumni, and friends here at University Park and throughout Pennsylvania, thank you for joining me for my annual State-of-the-University Address.

The health, vitality, and future prospects for Penn State have never been better, and I want to express my gratitude to all of you who are a part of our progress, who bring your dedication and optimism to our campuses each day, and who are turning into reality what for our predecessors was only a dream.

The state of our University is a reflection of the people who are Penn State. So today I wish to focus my remarks on the Penn State community. Our 20,000 faculty and staff, our 13,000 additional staff partners who are part of the Penn State Geisinger Health System, and our more than 80,000 students at 24 campus locations and dozens of other sites across the state constitute an impressive legion of talent and accomplishment. Our 427,000 alumni and nearly 120,000 donors around the world create a global circle of goodwill and support that opens doors of many kinds for the University. Our many partners in business and industry and in the local communities of the Commonwealth also play an essential role in the life of this institution. I am grateful to all who make Penn State the vibrant university that it is.

The Penn State Community

Yet certain aspects of Penn State's greatness can't always be measured, quantified, and reported. So much of what is important to me lies outside the boundaries of spreadsheets or beneath the surface of that which can be easily observed. So today I wish to return to a theme of my first annual address, given just days after I became President. I spoke that day of the overarching goal of humanizing the university. There is more to be said about this, and today I want to begin a new dialogue about how we can work together to further humanize Penn State.

Let me start with a story. It's about a banker who calls in an oilman to review his loans. "We loaned you a million dollars and your wells went dry," says the banker. "Coulda been worse," replies the oilman. "Then we loaned you a million to drill new wells, and they were all dry holes," the banker says. "Coulda been worse," answers the oilman. "Then we loaned you another million for new drilling equipment and it broke down." "Coulda been worse," says the oilman yet again. "I'm tired of hearing that," snaps the banker. "How could it have been worse?" The oilman replies, "Coulda been my money."

I want to focus on the investments we all must make together in Penn State's future. I wish not only to celebrate the achievements of this vast and vital university community but also to speak to the responsibilities that membership in such a learning community entails. The two go hand-in-hand. I believe one of the most important factors in the continuing progress of Penn State will be the clarity, the coherence, and the functionality of our institutional culture. But I am also talking about our spirit–our soul, if you wish. To the extent that all who are associated with the University care deeply about Penn State, take ownership of a shared agenda, and take an interest in the life of our Penn State family, the sum of what is accomplished together will far surpass any individual expectations.

As I begin the fifth year of my presidency at Penn State, I suspect that by now it has escaped almost no one that I tend to feel passionately about most things–certainly about the big issues facing higher education and Penn State, certainly about many of the most troubling issues of our time, and even, some might chide, about some more trivial issues. But I hope there is no doubt about my love for Penn State and about my tremendous respect for and admiration of our faculty and staff.

With that said, I want to talk with you today about something that has been troubling me about higher education ever since I joined the faculty at Penn State in 1973. It is about a cultural phenomenon that exists in every major university. There is much to say about the greatness I see daily at Penn State, but I wish to begin with a more gnawing thought about which I have been deeply concerned.

Faculty Culture and Students

An experience I had early in my presidency at Penn State illustrates my frustration. One of our deans called me, concerned that one of the college's best young faculty members, a rising star, was about to leave for another institution. "Please call and convince this person to stay," the dean asked. I get such requests occasionally, and I always do as the dean asks. I invited the faculty member to meet with me. I can be persuasive, and I certainly tried to be here.

I learned that this recently tenured associate professor had an offer from a top-ten department, whereas our department at Penn State was currently ranked in the second ten. The salary was going to be the same, so that wasn't an issue. We had given a huge amount of support during the faculty member's tenure here, favorable teaching assignments, release time to get a research program going, and lots of nurturance and encouragement. No complaints. I then proceeded to hear an analysis of the comings and goings of the people in the field, an analysis of likely future ranking shifts due to retirements and hires, and other variables that reflected an undebatable, yet cold-blooded logic about academic hierarchies. The move was viewed as important to the faculty member's career, but the analysis gave me the chills.

By the end of our conversation, I was almost glad this person was leaving. Why? Because I found, in listening, no attachment to Penn State after eight years, no feeling of gratitude for all that departmental colleagues had done, no expression of emotional attachments to Penn State students, in short no compelling reason to stay. The faculty member was, for all intents and purposes, unconnected to Penn State. The individual's psyche was attached only to the discipline, to a personal research agenda, to a national network of similarly situated colleagues.

I contrast this to a Saturday in June of 1982, when I sat in my office in the Henderson Human Development Building, experiencing a wave of intense sadness about leaving Penn State after nine years, thoroughly attached, and wondering if I would ever get over it. Fortunately, I did get over it, thirteen years later when I was invited back.

So here I stand before you, wanting to say it like it is, but without wanting to offend anyone. It reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi's words: "A 'no' uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'yes' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble."

So how can we build the kind of university I have spoken about in my previous State-of-the-University addresses if some of our faculty and staff are not inclined to put Penn State first? Can we realize our dreams as an institution if we have more takers than givers? The solution must be seen as a two way street, of course. We must do a better job of assessing potential faculty and staff for their proclivity to become part of the larger Penn State community, and in turn we must do more to make faculty and staff feel better connected.

In a few days, at the Academic Leadership Forum for Penn State department and division heads, school directors, and deans, we will be discussing what those at various levels of administrative responsibility can do to enable faculty to flourish in the kind of community we wish to create. All ideas from faculty and staff will be welcome as we advance this discussion more broadly.

We've already put dozens of programs in place to foster such ties. This, for example, is the whole idea behind the Road Scholars Tour that I lead each year. We've instituted an orientation program for new faculty, including a picnic for them and their families at Schreyer House, the President's residence. We have one of the nation's most extensive human resource development programs. Our continuous quality improvement activities are among the most developed in America, involving hundreds of our employees. The Faculty/Staff Club and the Penn State Forum are going strong, bringing people together, fostering intellectual and social connections. And we have improved our employee benefits programs. But I'm interested in something more than policies and programs.

Nationwide, there is a conversation occurring about how to get faculty to be more actively involved with their universities. Many faculty members are really independent operators who are only marginally tied into the life of the university. Their allegiance is not to the institution for which they work, but to their discipline nationally and internationally, an orientation that tends to be reinforced by the academic reward structure. Hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions are based in the department, or college, and the department's strongest frame of reference is its academic discipline viewed globally. This phenomenon, of course, can also be an impediment to fostering multidisciplinary and collaborative teaching and research.

Must this be viewed as an "either/or" struggle? I believe an allegiance to one's university, pride in our shared mission and stature, commitment to our students, and loyalty to our colleagues can be entirely compatible with standards of academic excellence, prominence as a scholar, and national recognition as a department. I'm grateful that so many of our faculty exemplify such a profile each and every day. This is amply documented in the incredible stories found in the nomination letters for University awards, in student and alumni testimonials about those who truly made a difference in their lives, and in letters and E-mail I get praising faculty and staff who went the extra mile.

But today, I wish to challenge our faculty in particular to get more involved in the lives of our students. Our nation's research universities have spawned two faculties: those who do and those who don't–those who believe it is their responsibility to engage fully with each cohort of students and those who do not see this as their primary responsibility. To be honest, every experienced department head can point to casualties–cases of junior faculty members ultimately denied tenure because they became so immersed with student advising and programming that they neglected their scholarship. So let's admit up front that we indeed expect an exceptional level of scholarship from our faculty. Balance is the key. Balance.

Many of our students say they do not interact with instructors outside of class. I know some faculty who were once inclined to connect with their students in a meaningful way but have backed off for a variety of reasons ranging from time pressures to a negative reaction to the growing consumer orientation of their students to fears that taking a student to the Creamery for an ice cream cone might be seen as an inappropriate contact. All legitimate concerns, of course, but what a shame that we can't transcend these obstacles.

What a shame that only a tiny portion of our faculty attend a commencement ceremony in any given year. What a shame that so few faculty can be found at undergraduate student awards banquets, having lunch with students in the dining halls, or even attending their own college's welcome reception that some deans hold for new students. What a shame that I see so few faculty at HUB late night events, the President's Convocation for new students, or any of our University awards ceremonies each spring. I prefer not to fault individuals, since this situation exists at all leading universities. It is a situation of our own collective making. And despite all protestations to the contrary, we continue to orient the reward structure so that interaction outside the classroom with undergraduates counts for very little.

Consider academic advising. We've chosen to hire a cadre of staff members who specialize in academic advising to perform that important function. Penn State's advising professionals are among the best anywhere, thank goodness. But the consequence is that few faculty do much undergraduate advising and thus miss a golden opportunity to get to know their students.

Moreover, more of our freshman courses than we would like are taught by graduate student instructors or teaching assistants, thus distancing many first-year students from our faculty at the time when such connections are critically important. This is, in part, a funding issue; we have argued forcefully for funds to hire additional faculty. We are making progress, having added more than 300 new faculty positions during the last three years. But it is also a matter of philosophy and preference; in some departments few faculty are eager to teach lower-division courses. I am hopeful that our new approach to first-year seminars will help here.

Fortunately, we are blessed with countless examples of faculty who exemplify the very best models of commitment to our students. They participate actively in campus life while shining as scholars and researchers. They accept invitations to student events. They attend an occasional Penn State Forum that brings us nationally recognized speakers of broad interest to higher education. They attend undergraduate commencement. They spend that extra time with students. I am deeply appreciative of their contributions to the rich intellectual, cultural, and social life to be had at every one of Penn State's locations. More of us must join in this effort.

Demography, Diversity, and Campus Climate

A transformation of the role of the faculty as teachers is in keeping with nationwide calls to rededicate higher learning to students. Among them, the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities urges institutions to put students first, in part by "meeting the legitimate needs of learners, wherever they are, whatever they need, wherever they need it."

Penn State has been one of the nation's great success stories of the 1990s with the progress made in enhancing the diversity of our campuses, improving campus climates for historically underrepresented students, and expanding student programming. While we can be proud of this progress, we must renew our commitment for the next decade.

Minority enrollments nationwide totaled 26 percent in 1996, compared to 16 percent two decades before. Greater racial and ethnic diversity can be anticipated for the future as a result of the growth rates for minority populations in the United States. Penn State must be prepared to be responsive. To me, this is an exceptionally important component of our efforts to humanize the university.

And the fastest-growing segment of enrollments in recent years has been adult and part-time students, something amply reflected especially at Penn State's Commonwealth campuses, in our World Campus, and in our continuing education enrollments. These trends suggest that more and more students are bringing extensive life experiences that filter higher learning.

Retention is a special concern for students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education. Many of these students are the first generation in their families to attend college and are in need of a strong network of encouragement and support across the campus community. As the primary point of educational contact with students, faculty have a particularly important role to play in such efforts, and more generally, in creating an environment in which all members of a diverse academic community can learn from one another.

The Contributions of Staff

The professional staff and technical service employees have parallel responsibilities. Those of us who are not faculty do almost every imaginable job on campus, from the technical to the mundane. Yet each and every job at Penn State has great value in my eyes. I am reminded that Martin Luther King, Jr., said "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." I like that sentiment.

I want our staff to wake up each morning wanting to go to work and leaving satisfied at the end of the day, knowing how much they mean to Penn State. Our budget is too tight and our level of staffing sufficiently thin to allow us to carry even a single colleague who really doesn't want to be here. My philosophy is to value every employee. At the same time, we need 100 percent from everyone. If you have constructive comments, let someone know. If something is broken, we want to fix it. We'll make every effort to do what we can to help you do your job better. On the other hand, if Penn State isn't for you, let us help you find another option.

Last year I suggested to our human resources staff that new hires should be screened on some new variables–compassion, interpersonal skills, and the sheer desire to help make Penn State a better university. These things don't necessarily show up in the standard application process, so they are still probably scratching their heads about how to put into practice this latest presidential directive. But I think–and hope–that all of us understand and agree with the point. Every job at Penn State is important and every employee should feel very much a part of our University community. Let me cite just a few of our greatest recent success stories.

Many of our staff assistants and other office professionals have become information technology specialists who manage the millions of details that go with a complex institution such as ours. Consequently we are launching a unique training program for employees with exceptional potential to advance into more senior information technology positions within the University.

Our staff in Housing and Food Services has developed and now sustains one of the nation's largest, most efficient, and highest-quality residence hall systems; if you haven't tried the food lately, you're in for a surprise. Moreover, if you haven't seen some of the newest residence halls at Erie, Altoona, or Berks, for example, I can tell you that they almost make you wish you could be back in school.

Our outreach staff is our lifeline to literally millions of constituents. In the last two years we've seen Penn State emerge as the nation's largest unified outreach program, with strong connections and innovative programming across units as diverse as Cooperative Extension, the Industrial Research Office, the Penn State Research Park, Continuing Education, the World Campus, Public Broadcasting, and Conferences and Institutes. There should be no doubt that Penn State is both the Commonwealth's principal engine of research and development and its most expansive and connected educational resource. Our service to the people of Pennsylvania is a mission we take most seriously and discharge with immense pride.

Leadership Through Administration

The University community should have expectations for its administrators equally as high as those University leaders have for other employees. We have made a five-year commitment to involve supervisors in an intensive course provided by the Office of Human Resources designed to help them think through the technical and personal skills they need to be good leaders and managers in concert with Penn State's mission, goals, and values. At the same time, we initiated a program to help all of our employees think about how they can provide leadership to the institution in their everyday work. On the academic side, the Provost and the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs continue to sponsor an effective leadership forum for department heads.

We in the administration must continue to provide our faculty and staff with the resources they need to allow teaching and research to flourish. I am very concerned, for example, about the competitiveness of salaries at Penn State, and have made this one of the highest priorities in our budget planning. Moreover, our funding situation requires that we make the case for Penn State at every opportunity, a responsibility I and others in the administration take very seriously. I am pleased to say that the results of our efforts in Harrisburg have resulted this year the largest increase in state appropriations in a decade. This is a great help as we strive to address the University's needs and we are deeply grateful for this important support.

Speaking of leadership, let me take this opportunity to welcome outstanding new leadership to the central administration and to several of the colleges: Executive Vice President and Provost Rod Erickson, Vice President for Administration Jan Jacobs, College of Communications Dean Doug Anderson, College of Education Dean David Monk, and Dean Jim Thomas of the School of Information Sciences and Technology.

This is an appropriate time to say a word or two in celebration of the official opening of the new School of Information Sciences and Technology. The school is an excellent example of what can be accomplished through commitment and collaboration. The school just welcomed its first incoming students a few days ago. Scores of you have assisted us in moving with near lightning speed to be able to accomplish this fall launch: faculty from related disciplines, administrators at virtually every Penn State location, the University Faculty Senate, and our partners in industry.

The result is a totally new, interdisciplinary model for teaching, research, and service in this area of substantial significance to the future. Our school will prepare thousands of the future leaders in information technology that companies and organizations urgently need, offer continuing and distance education in an area of constant change, and engage in research to more fully reap the benefits of these important technologies for society. The response to this statewide effort is overwhelming. I have been told by several industry executives that they would each hire 100 percent of the school's graduates. I've had to say, "Sorry, you can't have them all!"

Humanizing Penn State through the Campus Environment

I am a firm believer that students feel better, study better, and socialize better, not to mention being more inclined to apply for admission in the first place, in an environment that is attractive, inviting, well maintained, and technologically advanced. I believe the same is true for the productivity and attitude of employees and the pride and satisfaction of alumni and citizens. Thus, I have placed a high priority on improving the condition of all of our campuses, adding $1 million in permanent new funding for deferred maintenance each year since I became President. In addition, we have an ambitious program of capital construction and beautification of our landscape under way.

Take a look around your campus this fall. I want to express my gratitude to our employees in the Office of the Physical Plant, who have turned Penn State into a national model of customer service while improving the environment of our campuses. I'm very proud of what you have accomplished.

Having adequate facilities to support the activities of our University community is an obvious necessity. Here, there is much good news to report. Over the next five years, we plan to spend more than $700 million on capital construction projects. This includes an investment of more than $525 million at several Penn State locations for construction of academic and infrastructure projects. We also will be investing more than $80 million in student housing and parking facilities, and nearly $100 million in athletic and recreational projects.

At University Park this year we will see the completion of the Paterno Library, the HUB/Robeson expansion, two engineering and research buildings on the West Campus, a multi-sports facility, the new football building, a new entrance to the Shields Building, and a general purpose classroom building. Among projects at other locations, Penn State Harrisburg will have a new library and classroom building, the College of Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will have a new academic support building, Penn State Abington will complete an addition to the Lares Building, Penn State Fayette has a new biomedical technology facility, and Penn State Berks will welcome an information commons addition to its library. Penn State Erie and Penn State Berks are adding residence halls.

Recognizing the strong connection between the use of space and the quality of life on campus, a new master plan for University Park provides for long-range growth to accommodate advances in technology and research while at the same time enhancing open space and improving pedestrian and traffic flow. A new transportation plan is tied to this effort. It is designed to reduce vehicular congestion and improve pedestrian safety on the core campus and help the traffic flow to and from the University. A key component in the plan's implementation is no-fare bus service on the Campus and Town Loops, which began with this semester.

Students as Members of the University Community

Let me now say a word to our students about humanizing the university. Most of our students don't come to Penn State just to get a degree, although the value of a college degree is well understood in contemporary society and undisputed in today's marketplace. Our students are part of a larger experience involving the University's history and traditions. They are part of a community and an extended family.

To me, the essence of the Penn State tradition is taking responsibility. It means taking responsibility for yourself and for what happens around you, academically, socially, and communally. It means taking one's studies seriously, and as we move to more collaborative learning experiences, doing your part for the team. It means refraining from uncivil or unsafe behaviors and helping friends to do the same. It means respecting the shared environment, participating actively in the community, and improving the collective quality of life.

Academically, the engagement of Penn State students is evident in many ways. We are becoming an increasingly selective institution, while at the same time striving to keep the doors of opportunity wide open to the tens of thousands of students who want to be Penn Staters. This year's cohort of new students is the distillation of more than 70,000 applications for admission to our undergraduate, graduate, and professional school curricula.

Penn State's undergraduate students are increasingly involved in learning a foreign language, studying abroad, doing research with faculty, and winning national awards. They have one of the highest graduation rates in the nation; I am especially proud of the graduation rate of our student athletes, which far exceeds the national average. Virtually all of our students find employment in their fields soon after graduation, a telling sign of their educational success.

I sincerely encourage our students to squeeze every ounce of opportunity, enlightenment, and enrichment from their Penn State education. Just as I have encouraged faculty to engage their students, I similarly want to encourage students to engage their professors outside of the classroom. Make use of office hours. Think about how we can improve the intellectual climate at Penn State.

Penn State students give much of themselves. In 1998, more than 6,000 students representing all University campuses performed about 170,000 hours of community service. These volunteers saved local communities nearly $1 million that would have been paid for similar work. The Penn State Dance Marathon last year raised $2.5 million for children with cancer, a 26 percent increase over the previous year. Students also are involved in their campus communities through many positions of organizational leadership, and as Lion Ambassadors, student athletes, peer counselors, and in a host of other capacities.

Alumni and Donor Commitment

The Penn State tradition continues long after students leave. The alumni and friends of this institution are second to none in their loyalty and dedication. They cheer our athletes at home and on the road. They volunteer to help the admissions staff. They serve as mentors to students. They give important visibility to Penn State worldwide. And they generously support the University.

Penn State ranks first in the nation in the number of alumni donors. This is a wonderful measure of the responsibility alumni feel to support the next generations of Penn Staters. In an institution where tuition covers only a half of the cost of education, those who have benefitted from that education have a very meaningful role to play in extending the same opportunities to others through their philanthropy.

Private support will play an increasingly important role in Penn State's future. As most of you know, we formally launched a $1 billion capital campaign last spring. I'm ecstatic that more than half of the goal already has been raised. But we have a long way to go. Our Grand Destiny campaign, which will end in 2003, has four featured objectives: undergraduate student support, primarily in the form of endowed scholarships; endowed graduate fellowships; faculty support in the form of endowed chairs and professorships; and support for teaching, research, and service initiatives. The alumni, faculty, staff, and friends who contribute to this effort take a very special form of ownership in the University's future that is most deeply appreciated.

Humanities, the Arts, and the University

I want to conclude by touching on one additional and sometimes forgotten aspect central to humanizing the university, namely the role of the humanities and the fine and performing arts. There can be no doubt about the profound role that Penn State plays in the economy of the Commonwealth. Our role in economic development is unparalleled. Our research expenditures of nearly $400 million per year provide a foundation for scientific discovery and for engagement with business and industry. Our industrial outreach, technology transfer, and continuing education programs are admired nationally. We are rightly proud of our heritage in the sciences, engineering, medicine, agriculture, and technology and these endeavors will always be at or near the heart of Penn State.

But at a time when political winds tend to reflect societal storms that emphasize economic development, let us never forget that Penn State also sees in its mission a strong commitment to fostering social and cultural development of our society. The role of the humanities, education, the social sciences, the fine and performing arts, and allied fields warrant the same level of institutional and societal commitment that we have so dutifully and proudly focused on science and technology.

Imagine a world–or a university–without concerts, theatre, museums, cinema, galleries, or discourse about literature and the human condition. We can't and shouldn't. We must instill in our students a fuller appreciation for such experiences; we must support our students and colleagues who labor in these fields. We must appeal to our elected officials to support human and cultural development as enthusiastically as they do economic development; I plan to make such an appeal this year. And we will continue to ask alumni and friends for the support that such endeavors deserve. We will all be richer for it.

In all the domains on which I have touched in these comments, there is much to acknowledge in legacy and traditions of Penn State; there is much to praise in our current canvas; but humanizing the university further is a worthy goal for the future. Please join me in this ongoing effort.