Dear Members of the UConn Community,
In February of 2013, UConn launched a comprehensive process to develop a new academic vision to guide future goals and strategic initiatives, and achieve our aspiration to become one of the best universities in the world – recognized for excellence in breakthrough research, innovative education, and engaged collaboration with our state, country, and the world. The draft vision will be voted on at the next Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, April 23rd.
Highly respected faculty members from each College and School, many of whom will attend our April board meeting, served on the University Academic Vision Committee. Led by Professor Richard Schwab, these faculty contributed their diverse, relevant and institutional perspectives in composing a plan that will enable us to achieve excellence in academic, research, and engagement initiatives. This faculty committee sought input from more than 300 members of the university, including faculty at large, deans and administrators, individual College and School vision committees, and interdisciplinary committees across multiple venues, including several faculty forums.
UConn has a strong track record of exceeding established goals from previous plans in recent decades, but this is the most comprehensive vision ever developed, presenting an opportunity to chart a new course for our institution. The resulting document places a strong emphasis on steps to achieve excellence in all aspects of our work including research productivity, scholarship and creative works, faculty recruitment, promotion and tenure, teaching effectiveness, undergraduate and graduate education, and engagement.
We believe that our new academic vision represents a departure from previous efforts for its singular focus on excellence, as well as specifying interdisciplinary research and educational initiatives that will be enhanced and supported by significant investments from Next Generation Connecticut.
We look forward to working with the Board of Trustees and entire UConn Community to implement this vision and look forward to a discussion of this plan at our next BOT meeting. To access a copy of the draft plan, please visit this link.
Thank you,
Susan Herbst
President
Mun Choi
Provost
For more information, contact: Office of the Provost at provost@uconn.edu