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Message to Faculty and Staff: End of school year thanks and thoughts for the future

May 6, 2004

To: University Employees - Twin Cities Campus
From: President Robert H. Bruininks
Subject: End of school year thanks and thoughts for the future

Dear University faculty and staff,

As the end of the school year approaches, I am writing to thank you for your leadership and work in this difficult year, and to share some thoughts on the University's future.

Remarkable Progress, Difficult Times

We can all be proud of the new highs we've achieved while working through complex financial challenges. The important work of the University—teaching and learning, research and outreach—continued forward. I am reminded of how remarkable a place the University of Minnesota is when one day a student wins the prestigious Truman Scholarship and another day a team of researchers announces that they have extracted hydrogen from ethanol with great promise for renewable energy. You have my thanks for your part in making the University such a vibrant and excellent place.

On the other hand, we have had unprecedented challenges due to the largest state budget cut in the University's history. Unfortunately, we will continue to feel the effects of the state's budget cut over the next year through further cutbacks and tuition increases. We have done our best to take a balanced approach to this challenge, spreading the pain across our students, employees and our units with the goal of maintaining the University's strength and vitality through this difficult period.

Legislative Update

Never before have we faced this scope of financial challenge, but we must continue our push for funding of the University, starting with our capital request now before the legislature. Much of this modest request is for the maintenance and upkeep of our existing facilities. These requested funds can be used for capital purposes only, but they help us avoid drawing on our general fund for major maintenance projects. We have made significant progress in the Legislature; the capital investment bill making its way through the Minnesota Senate contains substantially more funds for University projects than the proposal that has passed the House. If you are interested in helping the University during this critical time at the Legislature, please go to www.supporttheu.umn.edu to learn more about how you can best support the Senate's funding levels.

Service Improvement

Maintaining public confidence in the way we steward and use public resources is essential to our ability to generate public support. I would like the University of Minnesota to be known as much for how it manages its resources as it already is for the quality of its education and research. To that end, we have launched a service improvement initiative that is already yielding results. Among our many recent successes are One Stop, which facilitates the registration and processing of student transactions, and recent changes in our Capital Planning and Project Management, where our planners have saved more than $5 million through improved business processes. These creative actions by our faculty and staff will save important resources the University can use to advance its mission. We will continue to enhance our efforts in service and productivity across the University, and we will need your commitment to continuous improvement to succeed.

Gopher Football Stadium

Some of you may be concerned that too much emphasis is being placed on a stadium. Make no mistake, the academic priorities of the University are my first priority--and always will be--but the debate over the future of the Metrodome means that we must plan for the future of our football program and thereby protect the University's long-term interests. A Gopher stadium on campus would not only provide a home for our football team and marching band, but could be a place to bring the University community together. This year we've seen some great examples of how intercollegiate athletics can provide excitement and cohesiveness. More information on our stadium proposal is available at: www.umn.edu/stadium.

A Vision for the University of Minnesota

Finally, I am often asked about my vision and aspirations for the University of Minnesota. Although we will continue to face budget challenges, I can't hide my excitement over our future. We must preserve our legacy as one of the nation's strongest public research and land grant systems of higher education. In my view, our breadth is our strength—it provides us with our comparative advantage and we should leverage it in all that we do. Not only is our Twin Cities campus among the most comprehensive in the nation, with high quality programs in everything from medicine to human health to engineering to economics, but we offer a rich range of higher education choices at our coordinate campuses and important community building outreach and education through our Extension Service and Research and Outreach Centers.

We will continue to invest in the University's strongest programs and disciplines, but we will also encourage and foster interdisciplinary work in many promising fields of research and education, including brain development and vitality over the lifespan, translation of basic science to improve health, arts and humanities, foods and human health, and the environment and renewable energy. We also remain committed to providing a world-class experience for our students and to keeping higher education affordable by raising more funds for student scholarships.

Again, my thanks for a great year despite our challenging circumstances. I am honored to serve as your president.

Sincerely,

Robert H. Bruininks
President
University of Minnesota