Good Afternoon.
When recent graduate Quinton Couch, senior Jackson Gray, and Bowling Green student Tyler
Brezina lost their close high school friend to suicide, the young men felt stunned and
powerless.
As the months passed, they turned grief and sadness into action.
Quinton, Jackson, and Tyler took their passion for the open waters and turned it into a journey
of awareness, fundraising, and meaning.
They kayaked and canoed 981 miles down the Ohio River, raising much needed funding for
suicide prevention and shining a spotlight on an often-overlooked crisis.
On the river, arms tired and hands covered in blisters, the young men learned the powerful
lesson of community as friends and strangers encouraged them on; as they realized how they
needed one another to finish the trek; as they saw how love and honor can inspire others.
Jackson and Quinton connected families, communities, and the nation to Miami through a single selfless
act.
To consider the State of Miami University is to experience a deep gratitude for this
remarkable institution –its rich legacy, its dynamic culture, and, above all, its people.
Like every strong human community, we find our identity in our values and mission.
Miami has Love and Honor at our core.
Those ideals guide our thoughts, our decisions, and our actions across all of our campuses.
Love and Honor – it's what Jackson and Quinton displayed on their journey.
It is who we are.
Miami University enjoys an outstanding reputation across the country and around the world.
We are ranked among the best universities in the country in many categories.
I attribute that to our outstanding faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners.
This legacy provides us with a singular opportunity to become THE university of the future – by
connecting the world to Miami; building community at Miami; and changing that world through
Miami.
To accomplish these lofty goals, we must unite across our diverse experiences to fashion
Miami's future.
Today, I wish to highlight many accomplishments over the past year.
I also want to share with you some of the opportunities and challenges we will face
in our path forward.
Let me begin by thanking the people who make Miami University what it is.
At Miami, faculty conduct research and serve as mentors, as they welcome students to explore
the unknown.
We have extraordinary faculty here at Miami who put their heart and passion toward our
students every day – it is why our reputation as a student-centered institution is so strong.
Dr. Suzanne Kunkel, a Miami University Distinguished Professor of Gerontology, inspires students
to care about the elderly and forms a new generation of people who honor the age-ed.
She connects Miami to the world.
She exemplifies a community of scholars who believe in the potential of this generation
to enhance the lives of us all.
To Dr. Kunkel and all of her faculty colleagues, I say, "Thank you."
The bedrock of our university is our staff.
I see their kindness and genuine outreach to students every day.
Sue Sepela and Amy Stander from our Regional Campuses were instrumental in winning a federal
Upward Bound grant for Miami's Hamilton Campus.
With that grant, we partner and connect with Hamilton City Schools to help hundreds of
low-income students prepare for college and for a career.
Like Sue and Amy, our staff across all our campuses provides the indispensable support
that makes this education possible.
Together, they build connections in the community that advance our mission.
To Sue and Amy and the thousands of wonderful Miami staff, I say, "Thank you."
Our undergraduate students hail from every state and many foreign countries, enriching
our community with their diversity, their compassion, and their dedication to the lives
we lead.
Darsh Parthasarathy (PARTHA-SAR-ATHY) is a junior international student who exemplifies
the service, thoughtfulness, and professionalism that I want the world to know as Miami.
Darsh is a Student Intern in the Office of Diversity Affairs.
She works with a plethora of organizations, including Associated Student Government.
Another example: Kelsi White, a student-athlete who graduated this year, won just about every
award and accolade for her work on and off the field.
Kelsi was president of a student committee for the Mid-American Conference on student-athletes
this past year.
She maintains a leadership role in the conference, providing an important connection for Miami.
And, Josh Sweet is nothing if not persistent in his desire to get his diploma from Miami
University.
A triple major and actively involved in campus life – an employee for the Hamilton campus
Tutoring and Learning Center, Social Media Coordinator for Hamilton campus Pride, the
Web Coordinator for Hamilton campus Student Government Association.
To Darsh, Kelsi, and Josh, and their fellow students who teach us about our community
and the world, I say, "Thank you."
Our graduate students come to advance our knowledge of the world around us.
Thaiesha (TIE-e-Sha) Wright is a third-year biochemistry doctoral student from Tampa,
a first-generation college student who came to us from Spelman College.
She's already presented at two professional conferences, and her work on protein activity
and stability has been published in two academic journals.
Thaiesha is also engaged in many organizations that elevate our campus life.
Graduate students model the intellectual curiosity, courage, and determination required along
the journey of discovery to uncover unexpected insights.
They have a passion to connect the discoveries at Miami with others who will benefit.
To Thaiesha and our graduate and professional students, I say, "Thank you."
Brothers Andy and Jon Nielsen were Miami students over a decade ago.
They are now CEO and CBO of "Everything But the House," the premier online estate
sale marketplace, an entrepreneurial company that employs more than 1,000 people.
The brothers' courage to invest and their will to persevere took a simple idea and turned
it into something big and global.
We are grateful and humbled when they give back with generosity, service, and volunteerism
that empower us to carry this legacy into the future.
To Andy and Jon and our incredible alumni changing the world every day, I say, "Thank
you."
Our Board of Trustees at Miami stands strong and united with us as we advance the university
together.
They support us.
They steer us.
They connect us with our stakeholders.
They collaborate with us to chart our future.
Their loyalty to Miami is unfaltering and resolute.
To our Chairman of the Board, Mark Ridenour, and all those who are serving or have served,
I say, "Thank you."
As a strong public university, we must recognize our responsibility to support our society's
greatness and sense of community.
Leaders in the state of Ohio and our citizens understand the vital role of higher education
in building a better future.
We are here to advance Ohio.
We are connected to our state's success.
We have strengths to address Ohio's highest priorities and expertise to tackle some of
its broadest challenges.
We hold our public university status in Ohio with pride and with gratitude for Ohio's
support and connection to our campuses.
To our partner of 208 years, I say, "Thank you."
My first full year as president of Miami gave me so many rich opportunities to learn about
our community, simply by listening to those who know it best.
I visited nearly every unit in all of our campuses, including Luxembourg.
I also spent quality time with our alumni, our colleagues in other universities, our
partners in industry and philanthropy, our representatives in Columbus, and our neighbors
in Oxford, Hamilton, Middletown, and West Chester.
These members of the Miami family create a powerful synergy that propels us to live our
values and to achieve our purposes, both individually and as a whole.
Together, we face the unprecedented challenges in higher education and society in the 21st
century.
Together, we aspire to provide the solutions to many of our most pressing problems.
But to maximize our contributions, we must become even more connected – within our
university community, to our individual communities, among our disciplines, and to opportunities
yet unknown.
I'd like to read to you what one university founder wrote to attract students to his new
institution: "We will allow you to live in a place where everything is in abundance,
where the homes are sufficiently spacious, where the customs of everyone are affable
(AFF-able), and where one can easily transport by sea or land what is necessary to human
life.
To them we offer all useful things, good conditions, for them we will look for teachers, promise
goods and offer prizes to those who are worthy of it."
Sounds pretty inviting, doesn't it?
The university founder who wrote these words was Emperor Frederick II.
The school was the University of Naples.
The year was 1224.
But so much resonates across nearly 800 years – this abundant place called Miami, the
state-of-the-art residence halls, the commitment to Love and Honor in a diverse and supportive
community, the useful access to world-class faculty and scholarship, the great rewards
of the Miami Experience.
Today, we find ourselves in a world of fast change, accelerated dynamism, and intense
global competition.
We can live and thrive in this place in the 21st century, but we must embrace change to
advance.
If we are going to graduate scholars, inventors, teachers, artists, engineers, designers, architects,
business professionals, entrepreneurs, and change agents, we must be creative, and imaginative,
and courageous.
So what is the vision for our student-centered campuses in 2025 or 2030? – our student-centered
pedagogy, our residence life, our first-year experience, our experiential learning?
The answers come in the context of the challenges and opportunities of the modern world, including
the rapidly shifting demographics of a more diverse nation.
We must build a campus community that fully integrates and connects living, learning,
and preparation for future careers.
We must solve social problems that hinder individuals' and communities' paths to
success.
We must leverage the power of technology and Big Data in the context of our student-centric
mission, our teacher-scholar model, and our liberal arts tradition.
We must break down silos and work collaboratively in creative initiatives that never waver in
our commitment to innovate and integrate.
Within the lifetime of our current students, we will live in a nation so diverse there
will be no ethnic majority.
We are committed to reflect this change in our own campuses' diversity – overcoming
stereotypes, building community, finding synthesis in a multitude of ideas and perspectives.
Diversity is core to our mission and our educational pedagogy.
In addition to racial and ethnic diversity, our student-centered mission drives us to
expand our socioeconomic diversity with affordability and access.
Our impact will uplift both individuals and families, accelerate social mobility, and
empower students of all backgrounds to achieve the American dream.
We will also transform the way students live and study in a holistic experience of increased
intellectual integration in the residence halls.
Living-learning communities will be open, inclusive spaces where students study, create,
connect, and discover.
Our residence halls will form distinctive spaces for stimulating conversation and productive
collaboration.
They will become extensions of our learning environment, places of engagement with fellow
students, with faculty, with mentors, and with professionals who will help each student
find the best place to apply their education for impact.
Our Regional campuses will be places of access and affordability for students, including
those non-traditional students pivoting in a new career direction.
Some students may return to campus multiple times throughout their careers to re-tool
and re-train.
All of our campuses will be more interconnected to advance Miami as a whole.
We will strive to build the safest and healthiest environment of any university's campus.
Miami is not alone in facing ever-increasing challenges of alcohol, sexual and interpersonal
violence, and untreated mental health concerns.
We must do everything we can to create the safest and heathiest environment for our students
to live, study, learn, socialize, and connect.
These issues are at the heart of our student-centric mission – we must continuously advance our
support for the safety, health, and well-being of our students, to bond as a community, to
engage in lived self-awareness.
As technology advances, there will be more opportunities to discover and interact with
unprecedented volumes of information and data.
More data has been created in the past two years than in all of previous human history.
We must seize this opportunity and strategically leverage these innovative tools while keeping
our focus on the person-to-person education at the heart of our student-centered mission.
We must create programs that build the talent that the growing digital world demands, for
the new kinds of jobs that this dynamic economy will generate.
While this new phenomenon offers rich benefits for education, research, and society, it raises
important questions about how we will operate as an institution.
These tools can enhance but never replace the value of the lived community of scholarship,
service, learning, and face-to-face engagement with new ideas and new people.
As our mission declares, we believe that "a liberal education is grounded in qualities
of character and intellect."
Data will not develop your character, and information is necessary but not sufficient
for intellect.
The best way to learn is to live in a community of learners.
Society often looks to universities and scholars to solve highly complex problems, from climate
change, the human genome, global health, educational equity, sustainable housing, nuclear proliferation,
political participation, international trade, individual rights, and so forth.
In this interconnected and cross-disciplinary world, we must remain experts in our fields.
However, the complexity of the world problems will require convergence of our expertise
and collaboration among our disciplines.
Transdisciplinary education among disciplines is like diversity and inclusion among people
– it brings together different backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, cultures, and ideas.
Discipline-specific, transdisciplinary, transformative learning that begins on campus will reach
out into our partnerships and society.
All of these aspirations require resources – we must find them.
We cannot burden the state of Ohio beyond its means and we must not burden our students
beyond their means.
We must fulfill our responsibility to provide students with access to education without
incurring debt, hindering them from fully engaging the world when they graduate.
The future of our student-centered mission will depend on our financial stability and
sustainability.
To establish such a model and an affordable Miami Experience, we must think differently,
be more creative, and connect in more dynamic ways – with philanthropy, with partners,
with other institutions, with communities, with the region, nation and world.
These are just some of the opportunities and challenges we face moving forward.
Miami University will build on its legacy, elevate its strengths, and guarantee its future
in three concrete ways:
(1) We will connect the world to Miami; (2) We will build the community at Miami;
and (3) We will change the world through Miami.
These aspirations are intimately connected with our mission to educate and create value
for society and humanity through our life and learning.
This is the fundamental purpose of a university: to liberate each person's power for a meaningful
life and career.
Let me describe each in some detail.
FIRST, CONNECTING THE WORLD TO MIAMI.
We recognize that success in the 21st century requires meaningful connections that include
all voices willing to contribute to our common progress, adding creativity, imagination,
and innovation to the conversation.
Therefore, we commit ourselves to welcoming a diversity of people and ideas.
WE DRAW CONFIDENCE FROM OUR HISTORY OF SUCCESS at inclusion.
When I look through the lens of Miami's heritage as a public university, I see some
remarkable hallmarks.
Our founders set out to prepare young men on the frontier for economic and civic leadership
in the new republic.
Miami first welcomed women in 1887.
Miami graduated the first African American in 1905.
In the early 1970s, Miami established a relationship with the Miami Tribe, and in 2001, the precursor
to the Myaamia Center connected us to our namesake Tribe.
In 2004, we were among the first in the state to provide same-sex partner benefits.
Our Code of Love and Honor declares we will "welcome a diversity of people, ideas, and
experiences," and our alma mater affirms: "Of all races, from all nations."
Diversity is one way we connect the world to Miami.
We are making progress.
This year's freshman class is the most diverse ever – approximately one fourth of the first-year
class – nearly double the 2008 entering class.
We have more than 3,000 international students this year, 250 more than last year.
Our connection with the world is two-way – last year, nearly 2,000 Miami students studied
around the globe.
Almost half of our undergraduates study abroad sometime for academic credit, making us a
leader among undergraduate public doctoral universities.
Last May, we opened the Miami University-Sanya University American Cultural Center in the
Hainan (HI-NON) province.
Our Bridges program continues to attract a diverse group of students.
Our message is clear to our Bridges students – diversity and inclusion are top priorities
and core values, so "come join us!"
Join us because we offer a path to a bright future for you and your families.
Join us because at Miami, you will be known, welcomed, respected, and supported.
Join us because you enrich our discussion and reflection in our classrooms and on our
campuses.
I would like to recognize Professor Rodney Coates for creating opportunities for local
youth and connecting us to Cincinnati.
Rodney has collaborated with the Provost's Office and Enrollment Management and Student
Success, to establish a new program with the Cincinnati Public Schools that will create
a pipeline of diverse public school students to Miami University.
Our faculty diversity has increased, but we can – and will – do more.
I want to recognize the work of Carolyn Craig, one of our faculty members, who leads the
Association of Black Faculty and Staff.
Carolyn is building partnerships and inclusivity across organizations such as the Association
of Latino/Latina Faculty and Staff and Asian and Asian-American Faculty and Staff Association.
Thank you, Carolyn, and all members of our community who are committed to diversity and
inclusion.
Our work on accessibility is rapidly advancing.
Our staff is working hard to expand access, including online, for an equitable college
experience.
Professor Ashley Johnson has created a fully-accessible space in McGuffey, an innovation sparked in
her disabilities studies class.
Instructor and alum Dan Darkow (DARK-O) , with his service dog, Julep, teaches a class there.
Our transdisciplinary Center for Assistive Technology in Engineering collaborates broadly
across campus to engineer solutions that improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
This year, we had the opportunity to elevate Miami's commitment to diversity and inclusion
at a national level.
We signed on to the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, an initiative including more
than 300 businesses and five universities that pledge to share best practices and ideas.
One outcome of this effort is our Office of Institutional Diversity has been rolling out
unconscious bias training campus-wide this year.
Elevating our welcoming and inclusive environment is an ongoing evolution, not a race with a
finish line.
We are well into our first Climate Survey in 13 years, an opportunity for everyone who
serves at Miami to provide feedback and perspective on our climate.
Once the feedback is analyzed, we will act to improve our environment.
We are eager to connect your insights from across our campuses to strengthen our community.
In addition to reflecting diversity, as I described, we are committed to engaging diversity
and learning from diversity.
This involves too many groups and events to mention here.
A few examples are the Freedom Summer Dialogue Series, Provost Inclusion Series, Performing
Arts President Series on Inclusivity, and the Inclusion Symposium.
In terms of connecting to Oxford, Kate Rousmaniere, our Professor in Educational Leadership and
Mayor of Oxford, has boldly declared: "Not in our town."
Oxford invited Miami to connect in the national Not in Our Town initiative, and hundreds of
students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community residents have taken its pledge for inclusion.
Miami has embraced the legacy of Western College in diversity and social justice.
I witnessed the power of this heritage at Mount Zion Church in Philadelphia, Mississippi,
where we received the 2017 Civil Rights and Social Justice Award from the National Civil
Rights Conference with the Western College Alumnae Association.
Our own Ann Elizabeth Armstrong, Professor of Theater, received an award for her work
with the Freedom Summer Memorial.
WE HAVE BOLD ASPIRATIONS FOR OUR FUTURE.
One of our primary focuses in the future will be raising funds for scholarships and support
for programs and curriculum to attract the best students to our campuses – it will
be a significant focus of our efforts.
Take, for example, need-based scholarships and socioeconomic diversity.
We believe that a college education will lift individuals and families upward to achieve
their dreams and our nation's promise.
Students from all socioeconomic backgrounds enrich our living and learning environment
as we all prepare for the future.
Need-based scholarships will be one of our top priorities in our upcoming campaign in
order to empower those who do not have sufficient resources to attend Miami – and – to enrich
the Miami experience for everyone.
We will continue our aggressive support of our programs and events on diversity and inclusion,
organized by our faculty, staff, and students.
These enable us to assemble as a community, discuss our perspectives, learn from each
other, enrich our understandings, and practice more effective citizenship.
We will continue support for our distinctive faculty research and scholarship focused on
diversity, equity, equality, racism, sexuality, and social justice.
We already have more than 150 such projects underway on our campuses, including several
funded this year by Provost Callahan and Associate Provost Oris.
As we engage and learn from diversity across our campuses, I want to announce a most significant
event this weekend at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
Wil Haygood, Class of 1976, will present his new book, Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and
the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America, and Jeff Pegues, Class of 1992, CBS
News' Justice and Homeland Security Correspondent, will present his new book, Black and Blue:
Inside the Divide between the Police and Black America.
These Miamians are having a powerful impact on the nation, and we are proud they are part
of our family of Love and Honor.
We are also excited to announce that beginning this year, the Office of Institutional Diversity
will award an annual Freedom of '64 Award.
The award will reflect our Freedom Summer heritage, embracing Western College's commitment
to social justice and civil rights.
Our connections to the world, welcoming "a diversity of people, ideas, and experiences,"
empower us to build our community.
We must Connect the World to Miami.
SECOND, BUILDING THE COMMUNITY AT MIAMI.
We will build the community at Miami on our strong student-centric foundation of unparalleled
undergraduate teaching and innovative learning as well as on scholarship at the graduate
level.
Academic and residence life will be more fully integrated, with broader campus-wide engagement,
health and wellness services, alumni interaction, and career exploration.
Health and safety will be safeguarded and enhanced.
We will promote camaraderie, connection, and loyalty through special events, performances,
service projects, athletics, and inviting spaces for the Miami community to gather.
Our Oxford campus is a residential setting in a beautiful part of our state.
Students can choose from many types of universities – online, in urban settings, even first-year
international experiences.
We must ask: what value does the residential campus add to our students' education?
What will be our distinctive advantage on all our campuses?
How will we build inclusivity and connections among our campus communities?
We draw confidence from our history of success across our campuses.
Miami has been a pioneer in the establishment of residence halls as living-learning communities.
We have invested significantly in state-of-the-art residence halls in recent years.
On our regional campuses, we were one of the first in Ohio with open access for students
to share in our common mission.
Middletown just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Hamilton will soon.
Both campuses have deep connections to their communities.
Next fall, we will admit our first cohort of Oxford students to the Regionals' nursing
program.
Students will complete two years at Oxford and their last two years on the regional campuses.
We are making progress.
Just last month, thanks to the generosity of Mike and Anne Armstrong, we dedicated the
new East Wing of Armstrong Center, a testament to our student-centric focus.
The space is a big family room where we can gather informally for conversation, fun, and
socializing, or engage career services in applying for that internship or job.
This year we did a full review of our student health services.
Let me start with mental health.
Associated Student Government met with me and presented to the Board of Trustees on
Mental Health and their concerns for our students – particularly wait times for counseling.
As a result, we have added new counselors and mental health practitioners.
My admiration and gratitude go out to our Associated Student Government for calling
attention to this issue.
One of the gravest challenges to the health and safety of college students, including
here at Miami, is alcohol abuse, especially high-risk drinking.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports staggering statistics on
physical assaults, sexual violence, and deaths related to alcohol on college campuses nationwide.
One-fifth of college students meet the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder.
Especially alarming: many college students sometimes have 10 to 15 drinks in an evening
with the intent to black out.
High-risk drinking and blacking out are life-threatening.
It is important to note that these activities are the exception, not the norm, at Miami.
We attract and develop students of excellent character and intellect, and most Miami students
either don't drink or make legal, low-risk choices.
Over 4,000 students took the first annual Healthy Miami survey administered by faculty
in March, revealing that a relatively small percentage of students engage in these dangerous
and high-risk behaviors.
We must continue to do more.
High risk drinking and blacking out simply cannot continue.
It consumes the resources of our first responders.
It is a direct contradiction to our values and our identity as a community of ideas and
positive impact.
It reflects negatively on our academic reputation that generations have built.
It diminishes the Miami Experience for those who engage in it and for others, even those
not participating.
We are shifting the conversation to address the issue.
Rather than reacting to the costs of these behaviors, we must emphasize to everyone the
benefits of good health and help them make healthy choices.
Excellent health is necessary for gaining the greatest value from the Miami experience.
Together, we must become the model of a healthy and safe community.
We have instituted many initiatives.
For example, we have partnered with The Haven at College to provide support SO those struggling
with addiction can stay in school and achieve their goals.
We have highlighted the Good Samaritan policy to ensure that those who overdo it get medical
help.
I appreciate those who step up and make the call.
Now I am calling all of us to action as One Miami.
For students who need help – we care about you and want you to succeed.
For all the rest of us at Miami, I say: Be a good friend before you have to be a Good
Samaritan.
Care for your fellow Miamians by helping them avoid high-risk drinking – it is our responsibility
to them and to our community.
To those landlords and proprietors in our area, I ask you to keep working with us toward
solutions that end illegal, high-risk alcohol consumption.
Our students will help lead the way.
I salute the Miami Student for its outstanding documentary, High-Risk, that raised awareness
on this issue and its particular challenges here at Miami.
I'm also grateful to the Marketing capstone Highwire – which is working on student-developed
innovative responses to this issue.
With respect to sexual and interpersonal violence – one assault is one too many.
We have enhanced our patrols at night to assist those in need.
I thank the Miami University and Oxford police and all first responders – We owe them a
debt of gratitude.
We encourage victims to come forward and report.
We are proud to partner with Women Helping Women, an organization that offers hope to
survivors, inspires communities to speak out loudly and act boldly, and educates all to
prevent sexual and interpersonal violence before it occurs.
This is a straightforward requirement of our life together – caring for fellow Miamians
in Love and Honor.
There must be no more uninvolved bystanders at Miami.
If you are standing by when you see wrong behavior, you must stand up to it or call.
All of the initiatives and partnerships for student health and well-being cannot substitute
for friends and fellow students who do the right thing.
Every student must be a responsible custodian of that Miami name, its principles, and the
values we all uphold.
With respect to the physical plant, our overall residence hall infrastructure is exceptional.
Two new residence halls will open in 2018 on the North End of the Oxford campus, and
more will be renovated across campus.
With this infrastructure in place, we can be bold in our vision for Miami so we can
advance residential life, intellectual engagement, academic integration, and healthy living.
We have bold aspirations.
Our nationally recognized student-centric education must include a flourishing and immersive
residential experience on the Oxford campus; early and proactive career exploration for
students on all campuses; and the highest commitment to student health and wellness
of all Miami students.
We are working to identify the kind of community we will create together.
A collaboration of faculty and staff led by Student Affairs is devising a plan to design
and implement that vision.
We are at a nexus NOW with residence life as we ask: what should a residential campus
look like in the future?
How will the residential campus help differentiate a Miami education by supporting and accelerating
meaningful connections of students, faculty, and the community in ways that fulfill the
aspirations of each individual and elevate the strength of the institution?
As we look forward I am also charging ahead asking an even broader question about our
first year experience – How do we integrate, coordinate and enhance the overall student
experience in the first year.
A thriving campus community must be a healthy community.
Take just one example of our commitment to the safety and well-being of our students:
the health center will be transformed, with additional space and services, including alcohol
screening for all visitors to the center.
Student health oversight, formerly with the Dean of Students, will now be split off and
led by a staff professional focused solely on the health and well-being of our students.
We will structure our efforts as a collaborative, comprehensive health model moving forward.
We will engage and fully utilize our vast faculty expertise to connect nationally and
help inform our solutions for student health and safety.
THIRD and FINAL, CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH MIAMI.
Our disciplinary, transdisciplinary, and transformative research will offer solutions to the complex
problems of the 21st century.
This is not only in science, engineering, business, and economics, but also in social
and political institutions, cultural understanding, and mutual respect.
We are an exemplar of a diverse, inclusive, and united scholarly community that builds
trust, conducts civil dialogue, and seeks solutions that benefit every individual and
the community as a whole.
We will equip our students through career services to apply what they have learned at
Miami, through internships, research experiences, and career opportunties, for their own success
and for the benefit of society.
We draw confidence from our history of success at making a broad impact.
We were conducting transdisciplinary research to solve problems before "inter-, multi-,
trans-disciplinary" became the buzzwords – 95 years ago, when the Scripps Gerontology
Center was founded as the Scripps Foundation for Research in Population Problems at Miami
University.
It's still thriving – it was named an Ohio Center of Excellence in 2011 – and
it's been joined by others like the Institute for Entrepreneurship, which attracts students
from about 100 different majors, and the Center for Structural Biology and Metabonomics.
The Humanities Center and the Center for Analytics and Data Science bring together a host of
disciplines to address vital issues across the academic spectrum.
Don't let the names fool you – in the connected 21st century, CADS includes liberal
arts, and Humanities includes STEM.
Let me provide one example of a transdisciplinary approach.
A team of five Miami faculty – Jennifer Blue of Physics, Ellen Yezierski (YE-ZEIR-ski)
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Nazan Bautista, Tammy Schwartz, and Jeff Wanko of Teacher
Education – received over one million dollars from the National Science Foundation to support
Miami's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program that boosts the number of highly-qualified
STEM teachers who serve in high-need schools.
We're making progress.
Our transdisciplinary expertise is indispensable in the 21st century, when the world is so
deeply connected and the problems are so vast and complex that no single discipline can
address them alone.
Our synergies empower our transdisciplinary pursuits with our 34 centers and institutes
on campus.
Moreover, our liberal arts foundation equips us with an instinct to take a broad view,
consider a variety of possibilities, and conduct effective analysis and synthesis to reach
answers and solutions.
In my view, the reports of the liberal arts' struggling are greatly exaggerated.
In the face of Big Data, artificial intelligence, and scientific and technological breakthroughs,
the need for the human dimension has become only more pressing.
It's not enough, as Michael Crichton said, to consider only what we can do – we must
consider what we should do, and our Miami Plan provides the tools for that investigation.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers recently issued an updated list of the key
competencies for career readiness, and it sounds a lot like "a liberal education grounded
in the qualities of character and intellect": critical thinking and responsible action,
articulate ideas and collaborative relationships, data analysis and inclusiveness, problem-solving
and empathy.
In fact, the list of personal qualities is much longer than the list of cognitive skills,
including ethics, integrity, interpersonal skills, developing others, self-advocacy,
and respect for diversity.
That is the Miami Experience.
We have bold aspirations and Big Ideas.
We will provide solutions to many of the complex problems the world faces – and we will provide
a model of community where learning and life can flourish.
Our teacher-scholar model has been foundational for Miami University – it is who we are
and how we attack enduring questions and complex challenges.
Our upcoming campaign will significantly invest in faculty and academic programs, both in
disciplines where we excel and in transdisciplinary initiatives where we will continue to advance.
These are a few of the transformative ideas embedded in and across our divisions – Global
Engagement, Design & Innovation, Socially Engaged Engineering and Computing, Health
Sciences, Entrepreneurship & Urban Renewal.
These big ideas need funding, and they will be a part of the campaign to enhance the university,
provide resources for our faculty, and offer more opportunities for our students.
We will continue to grow research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students.
Our undergraduates work side by side with our graduate students and are also creators
of new knowledge.
We will also expand our sponsored research efforts, our grant submissions to federal
agencies, as well as to as foundation and corporate supporters.
Soon we will hire a new corporate and foundations associate vice president to help extend our
reach – assisting faculty and staff in all divisions with connections and identifying
research opportunities.
We will elevate our mechanism to move our scholarship and research discovery into the
world for societal benefit – inventions, policies, educational strategies, and more.
On the student front, we will build out a new career exploration mechanism to provide
students with maximum opportunities.
Miami is already recognized for our incredibly high rate of placing our students in jobs
and in top professional and graduate programs.
With our expanded facility, we will innovate even more in career exploration, including
more internship opportunities and more experiential learning.
We have seen success at placing students earlier in internships, even between their sophomore
and junior years, in smaller companies through our Altman Summer Scholar Internship Program
– An innovative program to expose our students to start-up company environments.
On the subject of impactful research and bringing visibility to Miami, I am delighted to announce
that NPR's Science Friday is coming to Miami on April 21, 2018, and Ira Flatow will be
with us.
That means his 1.8 million listeners will be exposed to Miami University.
More details to come.
To guarantee our future, we will, first of all, conduct the most aggressive campaign
in Miami history.
Our aspirations are bold, our ideas are big, our ambition is to lead.
Such transformative thinking and leadership can be achieved only with the resources required
to make it happen.
We will focus on enhancing our academics, curriculum and research, faculty opportunities,
integration between campus life and academics, career exploration, and improved facilities
– we will focus on the academy.
We will accelerate our inclusion of diverse and top-tier students and focus our efforts
on need-based and merit-based scholarships.
We will enhance our Miami Experience, including our residential arrangements, athletics, and
community spirit.
We just finished our most successful fundraising year ever, raising nearly $100M. That is the
new normal.
Second, in addition to the campaign, we are building a strategic initiatives effort to
invest significant, one-time resources in collaborative and far-reaching ideas to advance
curriculum, programs, and scholarship.
The goal is the same: to provide resources for our aspirations.
We must start now to identify areas of focus for investment as we pursue funding through
our campaign.
I thank the Provost and deans for their efforts, and I want to acknowledge our CFO, Dr. David
Creamer, for his work in identifying resources to co-invest with our academic divisions.
The Provost, in collaboration with the deans, will define the process of selecting initiatives
that are collaborative, cross-divisional, empowering us to achieve our greatest aspirations.
Finally, 2020 is approaching – that means our 2020 strategic plan is nearing its end.
We have enjoyed great success on all fronts.
Building out a new strategic plan takes time, so we will start planning for the next phase
of Miami's future with broad participation and engagement.
With the rapid pace of technology and the accelerated world we live in, the plan will
be visionary – but it must also be dynamic and flexible.
We must ensure that our financial models are robust to support our future aspirations.
In my short time at Miami, I have seen passion.
Compassion.
Bold thinking.
Lofty aspirations.
Creative solutions.
Collaboration.
Unity.
We are equipped to achieve our vision of a future for Miami that builds on our strong
foundation of character and intellect, stays rooted in our rich liberal arts tradition
and student-centered mission, and elevates the teacher-scholar model.
I am calling on all of us to think big, to bring forward visionary ideas, to embrace
the future.
Creativity, imagination, and innovation will empower everything we do.
We all have a role to play in achieving these goals, both now and in the future.
I feel fortunate to be here at Miami – I know it is a gift.
I resonate deeply with the mission, Love and Honor, the aspirations of the students, faculty,
staff, and loyal alumni, and the overarching philosophy of a student-centered university.
Today, I stand before you enthusiastic about our future.
We will seize the opportunities ahead of us and face the challenges head-on, with the
courage to think and act boldly.
With the optimism to know we can advance.
With the imagination to impact others' futures.
With the vision to transcend the status quo.
With an unrelenting sense of purpose.
With the empathy to ensure that progress uplifts everyone.
With a dedication to meaningful connections.
Together, we will take Miami University to new heights, and more generations will say:
"To think that in such a place I led such a life."
I leave you with this micro-poem, or Twitter poetry, from a contest run by Professor of
English Cathy Wagner in the spring.
There were more than one hundred poems submitted on the theme of Love and Honor.
Everyone has their favorite poem; here is one of mine, from Cole Hankins, Class of 2019:
"We see it in red brick buildings, in the cupolas come Fall:
Miami is not mine or yours, we see that Miami is for all."
Yes, Miami is for us all, and I call upon all of us to
Connect the world to Miami; Build the community at Miami; and
Change the world through Miami.
As the Myaamia language puts it: Kiiloona Myaamiaki – "We are Miami."
Love
and Honor!
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