|
To:
University Students
From: President Bob Bruininks
Subject: End of school year thanks and thoughts for the future
Dear University student,
As the end of the school year approaches, I am writing to thank you for your commitment to the University and to share some thoughts on the University's future. Although we absorbed the largest state budget cut in our history, I remain excited over our future as a premiere public research university.
Maintaining access to the University and affordability for our students is among my administration's top priorities. In a time of state cutbacks and lagging student aid increases, keeping tuition hikes under double- digits has been a challenge for colleges and universities across the country. Unfortunately, we will continue to feel the effects of our state's budget cut over the next year.
At the University of Minnesota, we are doing our best to improve efficiency and productivity in order to help avoid placing further burdens on our students. We are also continuing to raise significant private funds for scholarships and fellowships, including the largest scholarship gift in our history given last year. Still, these efforts are little comfort against the hard reality of rising costs to students today, and I am sorry that we are not able to do more to protect our students from these increases.
The state's budget cut poses significant challenges but I remain committed to deepening improvements we've made in the student experience over the past decade by enhancing teaching and learning, promoting better progress and improved graduation rates, and maintaining and improving student satisfaction levels.
In the student experience and in the quality of our research, I believe that our breadth--the wide range of opportunities available across our campuses--is our strength. 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.
For more information, please see the initiatives section of the president's website, http://www.umn.edu/pres.
You have 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
upres@umn.edu
http://www.umn.edu/pres
612-626-1616
|
