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Office of the President
Dear Alumni, Faculty, Staff, Parents and Friends: By the time you read these words, I will have received quite a few more stamps on my passport as I have traveled to two different continents to meet with alumni groups and colleagues. I just returned from Taiwan, where in addition to meeting with Tulane's growing group of alumni and colleagues, I had the honor of meeting with ROC President Chen Shui-Bian and other government and industry leaders. Earlier this summer, I ventured to Costa Rica and Panama to address a conference on globalization that Tulane helped to sponsor and to explore partnership opportunities with educational and governmental organizations to enhance Tulane's presence in Central America. In Costa Rica, I had an opportunity to meet with President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría to discuss areas of mutual interest. As part of our planning process, we have identified Latin America--especially Central America--and Taiwan as important areas to further build on our already existing strengths. We are a real presence in these parts of the world and I want to deepen our ties to these regions in the years ahead. I began my summer travels pleased with what we have achieved at Tulane in the six months since my last letter. We have made real progress toward the goals and visions outlined in our strategic plan, even as the planning process continues at a much more detailed level. Our faculty, staff and students continue to excel and be recognized with an impressive number of research grants, scholarships, fellowships and published works. In May, we graduated a simply outstanding group of young scholars ready to pursue their own goals and dreams armed with the security of a well-rounded Tulane University education. With that introduction, join me on a quick review of some of the more exciting things that have happened at Tulane in the first half of the year 2000.
I'm sure you've all heard and read about our strategic planning efforts by now, and that we're building those plans around the focal points of people, education and research, community, and resources and leadership. It is exciting to look back over the past year and realize the strides we've taken in each of those areas even as we continue to refine and specify points of the plan. In terms of people--quite arguably Tulane University's most precious resource--we have been able to develop a compensation program to ensure that we attract and retain outstanding faculty. We also have completed a Faculty Evaluation and Reward System (FEARS) report on reward systems, promotion and tenure, faculty performance and evaluation, and have developed plans for a Center for Workforce Effectiveness to address staff training and development needs. In terms of education and research--the heart and soul of any university--we have created an exciting new residential initiative with the Urban Village. Students with interests in urban issues live together in a residential community and enjoy special programs and courses as well as increased interaction with faculty members. The Global Village will begin this fall, and the Mississippi River Village will begin in fall 2001. This all is a part of our efforts to truly make the Tulane undergraduate experience one that attracts and engages the very best and brightest students and dovetails nicely with our First-Year Experience initiatives begun last year. In terms of research, we have begun the strategic planning process for increasing competitively awarded, federally funded research, and have created an Ad Hoc Committee on Research Support and Infrastructure to recommend improvements in how we support and encourage research efforts among our faculty. Our accomplishments in terms of community are quite tangible. The new Tulane University Web site (http://www.tulane.edu) has been well received, and we are currently assessing our public relations, marketing and communications strategies universitywide. In terms of our surrounding community, implementation of our Louisiana Focus program in its first year resulted in an increase in the number of Louisiana students enrolled at Tulane. This is the first time in quite a few years that the number of entering Louisiana students has increased. And in terms of our physical community, we are working to identify campus needs as we develop a master plan. Finally, in terms of resources and leadership, we have begun strategic planning and the creation of a master plan for Howard-Tilton Library and the University Center, and have continued our expansion of the Board of Tulane University with the addition of seven new members during the past year. Our review of University Senate governance has been completed, with recommendations to be presented this fall. Financial resources are needed to fund all these plans and programs, and toward that end we have developed a preliminary capital campaign table of needs and funding requirements. Those, plus our preliminary five-year financial projections, will continue to be refined in the coming year. Fortunately, we had another record-breaking year in terms of fund-raising, and for the first time in a number of years saw a substantial increase in the number of donors to the university.
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