McPherson issues challenges for the new revolution in MSU education

Contact: Terry Denbow, University Relations, (517) 355-2262

9/28/2004

EAST LANSING, Mich. � In his final State of the University address as president of Michigan State University, Peter McPherson issued 10 challenges to prepare MSU and other land-grant colleges for the future.

�At its sesquicentennial, MSU, as the nation�s pioneer land-grant college, stands among the most prestigious in the land,� McPherson said Tuesday, Sept. 28, at the MSU Kellogg Center. �The land-grant university stands today � as it did 150 years ago � as a symbol of a uniquely American commitment to access. Access is not an end, but a beginning. Our commitment to access is matched by our commitment to quality.�

Commitments and visions for the university are reflected in 10 challenges he posed to the MSU community for strengthening its connections with citizens at home and throughout the world. These challenges are:

• The challenge of success

Throughout its history, MSU has maintained its commitment to access. While students come to MSU with increasingly higher grade point averages and test scores, the university must remain committed to admitting a broad range of students with potential.

�We have dramatically expanded the concept of access and opportunity in truly remarkable ways,� McPherson said. �Our instruction, research and outreach all are accessible globally.�

• The challenge to listen

MSU must continue to honor and respect the wishes, aspirations, values and expectations of the people it serves.

�We must never separate ourselves from the people who have entrusted MSU to us,� McPherson said. �The voice of the people must be heard and learned from on issues from affordability to program requirements, from student behavior to technology transfer and from praise to criticism.�

• The challenge to truly educate the citizens of the 21^st century

The university must recommit itself to the education of students beyond professional preparation. As leaders in the endeavor, MSU must keep to the values of preparing young people to be good citizens.

• The challenge of MSU�s global imperative

MSU must continue to be a leader in addressing problems and needs of people around the world. The university�s research expertise can be found from Africa to the Amazon rain forest, from the soils of Michigan farms, to galaxies throughout the universe.

�Coupled with our dedication to sharing of research is our passion for public service,� said the president. �Our intellectual capital is our most prized export and our greatest contribution to the world.�

• The challenge to plan creatively, even with risk

Universities do not maintain prominence by avoiding risks or always taking the cautious path, and as leaders, must dare to dream the big dreams.

��MSU has dared to change, to dream big and to be distinctive. We seek to bring a Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) to MSU. RIA presents a new paradigm, based upon intellectual capital,� he said. �And, with due diligence, we are looking at medical education and health-care delivery for the entire state in bold new ways. Our commitment is here, our vision is here, and the track record is here.�

• The challenge to integrate our learning

MSU�s unique and distinct commitment to interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches to education will help elevate the university in the next 50 years.

�I predict that one of the most dramatic changes in American higher education over the next half-century will be a realignment of disciplines and a move toward integrating disciplines. Again, all eyes will turn toward the pioneer � in East Lansing, Michigan,� he said.

• The challenge to excel

The nation�s public universities should never lose sight of the challenges to excel, and should continue to nurture and support excellence.

�The record is clear,� he said, �that public support for higher education has been this country�s best investment in the future.�

• The challenge of engagement

It is important to maintain a reputation of excellence, but not at the expense of engagement with people, problems and opportunities.

�At MSU we are connected to society in very real and pragmatic ways. We are engaged in real-world problems, problems that demand our most sophisticated and technology-advanced approaches,� McPherson said.

• The challenge of effective management

The reputation and success of a university depends on its financial stewardship, and MSU must continue to operate efficiently, fairly, and in a technologically sound and demanding manner, particularly during hard economic times, and enhance our quality and mission, McPherson said.

The final challenge, resources, is related to all others, said McPherson, because it impacts access, quality, engagement and every other issue before universities and colleges today.

�I do not want this challenge to excellence to become a threat to excellence. Fifty years from now, at MSU�s bicentennial, I hope the community looks back on 2005-2055 as years when MSU enhanced its excellence, its global outreach; continued to lead the way in assuring access and opportunity; and when we continued to lead the revolution in advancing knowledge and transforming lives.�

To view McPherson�s speech on the Web, visit www.wmsu.org