The Three Revolutions of Higher Education

There are currently three great revolutions of extraordinary consequence for American higher education: The information technology revolution; the global recasting of everything we do; and the revolution in biology. Each of these revolutions has created new frontiers for achievement in teaching, research and service; each has raised the bar for achievement for higher education of the highest quality.

• Information Technology and the New Learning Environment

The revolution in learning, teaching, research, service and communications created by information technology has already begun to transform both the practice of and planning for higher education. It is anticipated that higher education will change more over the next decade than it has over the past millennia. The paradoxical result of the new capabilities of "distance education" is that distance is no longer an issue: Both traditional higher education and the "lifelong" learning required by the rapidly changing world of contemporary professional life are being reshaped and transformed by the new communications technologies and the Internet.

With the accelerated move to high-tech interactivity comes the accelerated requirements for a more personal, "high-touch," strongly residential, educational environment. Great universities are finding myriad new ways to develop and combine the human and technological resources now available to create an entirely new environment for learning, an environment that is richer, more effective, more stimulating and more continuous than ever before. This environment must be both personally customized and globally relevant, both technologically sophisticated and intellectually contemplative.

The learning environment must, in class and out, foster engagement with both the traditional disciplines of liberal education and the key issues of the day and the future, including those related to the environment, the global economy and culture, and the responsibilities of the educated person in the community.

• The Globalization of Everything

In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman has illustrated effectively that every organization is linked and anchored inextricably to global interactions. The abstract concept of international understanding has been, and will continue to be, a traditional value of education: Socrates said "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world." The practical effect of "globalization" is that it affects nearly every aspect of life. Educational programs, regardless of level, must provide tangible recognition of this evolving perspective.

The study of the art, history, literature, language, business, politics, religion and culture of other countries, coupled with a working understanding of international dynamics, is now a fundamental part of the education necessary for success in any profession. International education is no longer an ancillary concept: Study abroad programs and related academic initiatives are no longer auxiliary add-ons to college and university experiences. International education programs and activities must be considered as core elements of any academic program.

Mark Twain observed, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.... Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the earth all one's lifetime." Involvement in international education programs has a similar impact on students and is becoming increasingly a part of any thoughtful undergraduate and graduate educational program.

• The New World of Biology

The revolutions going on in biology are frontpage news: The combination of information technology, robotics and the advancement of the life sciences has made possible a whole new age of discovery. This revolution was initiated in a university laboratory with the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. The mapping and sequencing of the human genome, and of every other living thing on earth, that is going on now in laboratories, particularly university laboratories, all over the world is an extraordinary moment in human history, but is in many ways only the beginning: These discoveries will provide the tools for advances in our understanding of life beyond our wildest imagination even two decades ago.

STRATEGIC VISION FOR UGA IN 2010

Fully aware of the challenges and opportunities presented by Georgia's needs and by these three intellectual and cultural revolutions, the students, faculty and staff of the University have developed a vision for the University of Georgia for the next decade which will create the kind of public, land-grant, research university that will serve Georgia and Georgians in new, exciting and vitally important ways - while maintaining the traditional strengths and strong student-centered values of the University.

That vision for UGA includes the following:

• Endowment support for faculty will have the highest priority, both to provide new positions in support of teaching and research at the highest level, and to provide "start-up" support for new faculty. The first and foremost requirement of a great university is great faculty - inspiring teachers and scholars and researchers of the first rank.
• Investment in research in the sciences will intensify, particularly in the areas of the environment, genomics, bioinformatics and the biomedical sciences. Research facilities across campus will be a high priority for public and private support. Support for public-private partnerships, technology-transfer and other research-based business development activities will be dramatically increased.
• Recognizing the indispensable role they play in building a fine quality of life, we will continue to strengthen our programs in the humanities and the fine and applied arts, which already include some of our strongest departments, programs and facilities. The best people and firms will not come to or stay in Georgia without a fine quality of life.
• Information technology and support will be upgraded in every aspect of institutional activity. It is anticipated that within five years UGA must develop a learning environment in which all students will benefit from a rich combination of classroom-based and distance learning opportunities. Programs of study teaching students to "think with computers" will become central elements of the standard undergraduate education.
• The University will grow only slightly, perhaps to 32,500 from the current 31,000, primarily at the graduate level. This goal will itself stretch our institutional and community infrastructure to its uppermost capacity.
• Accordingly, as the number of students graduating from high school increases by roughly one third over the next decade, the quality of entering students will rise as well; by 2010, the average SAT score could surpass 1250 (compared to 1200 today).
• Undergraduate education will become much more a residential experience, and out-of-class activity much more closely tied to in-class activity. Dorms, cafeterias, classrooms, libraries, advising centers and computer labs will be increasingly under the same roof.
• Nothing is more important to the development of UGA as a research university of the first rank, and to its ability to contribute to the state's economic development, than the growth of the quality and number of graduate students. Sustained effort to secure the resources to raise the graduate student population by 1255 students, which would result in 25% of UGA's student body being graduate and professional students, and to continue to raise the overall quality of graduate students, will be made.
• Recruiting, hiring and retaining faculty and staff of the highest quality in an internationally competitive marketplace will be a major priority. The knowledge age, as many are calling our present circumstance, depends as never before on the knowledge worker. Success in being an employer of choice will require the highest level of commitment to competitive salaries and benefits; to amenities that enrich the culture of the institution, such as childcare and retirement facilities; and to a continued involvement in institutional decision-making: Knowledge institutions thrive where knowledge workers believe they are responsible for both policy and product.
• Various intensified institutional efforts to "diversify" faculty, staff and students to better reflect Georgia's population will be greatly assisted by the development of the Athens-Atlanta railroad line; by new and imaginative activities to ensure that the student population of UGA represents all areas of the state, and by the institutional coordination and synergy generated from a new office of associate provost for institutional diversity.
• International programs will be expanded and new ones developed. Study abroad activity will increase dramatically. Language programs will be broadened and increased.
• Lifelong learning is ever more necessary for the continued success of our businesses and communities. Professional schools such as business, journalism and mass communication, veterinary medicine, forest resources, pharmacy and public administration will spearhead the University's efforts to provide leading-edge continuing education to our business, political, and community leaders.
• It is anticipated that the various mechanisms of distance learning will enable UGA to serve the powerful "growth market" appetite for continuing education, including the increasing array of certifications required by nearly every professional field. Online courses will serve, primarily and supplementally, all UGA student markets.
• The campus will become much more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, with parking moved to perimeter decks and traffic moved to campus perimeter loops.
• Increasing attention will be paid to architectural style and tradition in the construction of new and renovated buildings, in accordance with the recently completed physical master plan.
• UGA will accelerate its work on cooperative projects with the Athens/Clarke community, and will develop new programs to bridge the University and its neighbors.
• The Division of Public Service and Outreach will launch a new era of highly focused, technologically sophisticated and globally aware programs and services to support the needs and opportunities (e.g., "One Georgia") of Georgians in general and rural Georgians in particular.
• The several colleges and schools of the University will become increasingly more responsible for raising the research and private dollars on which growth much beyond current levels will depend.
• The University of Georgia Foundation and the UGA Real Estate Foundation will play increasingly important roles in the improvement and development of the University. Fundraising and campaign priorities will reflect the priorities of the strategic plan: Endowment to attract and retain superior faculty; support for expanded student programs and services, including need-based scholarships; and resources to assist in the considerable facility needs of a national research university.

Updated 12/09/2000