I hope you are engaged with the current challenges at UW-Madison. Those challenges are in large part defined by our commitment to continually review our mission "to create, integrate, transfer and apply knowledge." It is through this process of self-study that we can learn from each other and, together, find creative approaches to both long-standing traditions and new opportunities.

This report briefly summarizes the progress we have made during our most recent effort to implement new approaches. In 1995, I introduced A Vision for the Future, a document that connected as a vision and a set of priorities an earlier set of proposals based upon the self-study and various responses to the accreditation review of 1989. At that time, I said, "We have a tradition of excellence upon which to build and much to preserve, but I believe it is time for the university to start doing some things differently, not just doing the same things better."

I am pleased to report that our schools and colleges embraced this idea, examined their current environments and identified how they might do things differently. During the past few years, dozens of innovative ideas have been introduced, discussed, revised and implemented. Some of the results of these grassroots efforts are summarized here. While by no means comprehensive, the results demonstrate the level of commitment and innovation that pervades the campus today.

But even as we move forward, we are ever mindful of our fiscal challenges. UW-Madison has always provided a margin of excellence from endowment resources and from the success of faculty in obtaining extramural funding.

The key to our future is finding a way to guarantee a level of basic support from state appropriations and tuition that, at minimum, equals the average of our peer institutions. At the present time - despite our academic ranking along with the University of Michigan as one of the best of the Big Ten - our funding from state and tuition is last in that group.

To preserve the "leverage" of federal funding and the commitment of alumni and friends to private funding, the combined share of tuition and state support will necessarily have to be closer to that of our academic competition. In the absence of this commitment, we stand to lose the margin of excellence that defines the national and international stature of UW-Madison. These issues can be resolved successfully, but only if state policymakers, students, parents, alumni and Wisconsin citizens accept the necessity of a threshold level of basic support.

Our vision and priorities reinforce our intention to preserve UW-Madison's distinguished academic reputation, along with the effects of that stature on the welfare and growth of the state. These priorities represent our willingness to be creative and flexible as we face an uncertain future.

When I think back to the early state lawmakers who established a university in Wisconsin's newly settled wilderness, I realize that they taught us a valuable lesson about expectations. If we learn from their example, we will continue to push the limits of what is possible and yet, at the same time, recognize and celebrate our long tradition of learning.

Chancellor David Ward

A strategic planning process began in 1988 (see diagram 1) when a campuswide committee developed Future Directions, a document that outlined priorities identified during the university's reaccreditation, an extensive self-study that takes place at most universities and colleges every 10 years. UW-Madison, however, took an unusual step during its reaccreditation process: With the permission of the regional accreditation agency, the committee not only chronicled past accomplishments. It also focused on the university's future. During the next few years, Chancellor Ward, who was then serving as provost, led the implementation of Future Directions, which focused on improving the way in which the university carried out its mission.

A Vision for the Future: Priorities for UW-Madison in the Next Decade was issued in 1995. This document outlined UW-Madison's mission and the campus priorities for change. These priorities provided a greater focus and new challenges for the campus community: identifying ways to do things differently.

Following extensive communication about the priorities with key internal and external constituencies, campus departments developed specific action items to implement the priorities. The Provost's Office created a system for supporting and coordinating these activities. The campus budget was directed and redirected to support and advance the priorities.

A Vision for the Future served as the central framework for individual initiatives. The document began with a central concept of "learning":

Throughout the 20th century, major advancements in knowledge have been achieved by an almost continuous increase in the division of intellectual labor. Because we are so comprehensive in our programs and services, we must agree upon how to fabricate some unifying interrelationships among our highly specialized activities. Our familiar refrain is that we perform teaching, research and public service, as we typically view those as distinct and separate activities. In reality, they are creatively connected as "learning."

"Learning" was defined as three broad themes that overlap to create a strong, unified concept - called the vision themes (see diagram 2):

• The learning experience: Enhancing education inside and outside the classroom

• The learning community: Aligning and realigning to meet our goals

• The learning environment: Providing facilities and technology to support and enhance learning

The vision themes are then articulated as nine priorities:

• Maintaining our research preeminence

• Reconceptualizing undergraduate education

• Joining the global community

• Updating the Wisconsin Idea

• Maximizing our human resources: employees

• Maximizing our human resources: students

• Rethinking our organization

  and encouraging collaboration

• Using technology wisely

• Renewing our physical environment

The paragraphs following the chart below summarize key efforts undertaken in support of each priority.

DIAGRAM 1

PROGRESS ON OUR PRIORITIES

Maintaining Our Research Preeminence
Constant dedication to research excellence is essential to maintaining our international reputation. Recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty is a continuous emphasis, as we compete with our peers in the national arena. Interdisciplinary hiring initiatives have resulted in 20 new faculty positions targeted at interdisciplinary research areas. A strategic hiring initiative has resulted in more than 50 new faculty members targeted for specific research areas and has emphasized the recruitment of women in science and underrepresented groups. Strategic development of new research areas such as genomics, developmental biology, neuroscience and biophotonics are advancing UW-Madison's global leadership in the life sciences and generating economic development opportunities for the state. Through review and consolidation, research areas such as microbiology, pharmacy, human ecology and international studies have been strengthened. The research infrastructure has been improved through new building projects and additional equipment. Research and educational experiences for graduate students are being enhanced through increased research opportunities, new degree offerings and a new initiative (the Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship Program) to endow support for students and improved programs. An electronic system for grant information and submission is helping to advance and support research initiatives.

Reconceptualizing Undergraduate Education
New approaches to undergraduate education initially focused on the freshman year. With nearly 6,000 freshmen - most of whom have not chosen a major - coming to our campus each year, the freshman year was identified as a focal point for student success. Today advising is now provided across colleges for those who have not yet determined their majors, and the campus is strengthening the provision of both academic and career advising for undergraduates. General education requirements in quantitative and qualitative skills have been established to ensure undergraduate excellence in these fundamental areas. More than 900 students (compared to none in 1995) now live in residential learning communities, where learning is integrated with the living environment, and where faculty and staff learn together with students in informal settings. Each year more than 175 undergraduates are involved in campus-sponsored research projects, and a new research award program for first- and second-year students was created in 1998-99. Important discussions continue to make interdisciplinary teaching and learning an even larger part of the undergraduate experience. Connections between the student body and community groups (a group of programs and courses that feature service learning) are being expanded, in part through the updated Wisconsin Idea fellowship program for undergraduates. In addition, more resources have been committed to programs that encourage faculty and staff to review their thinking about teaching and the methods used to transmit knowledge. The Teaching Academy strives to enhance the quality of education by bringing together faculty members who have a special interest in enriching the university's learning environment. An annual survey of undergraduates has found consistently that approximately 90 percent of students are "extremely satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their education at UW-Madison.

Joining the Global Community
To prepare our students for joining the global community, the university has significantly strengthened international education. The International Institute was created to integrate area and global studies teaching and research. The World Affairs and Global Economy initiative, in collaboration with the Center for International Business Education and Research, was launched to help meet state and business needs that are tied to economic globalization. Undergraduate international studies grew dramatically through expanded overseas linkages in most fields, notably in the professional schools; study abroad participation doubled over the course of a decade. Curricula are being revised to comprise an international studies major and new international master's degrees, and an electronic Global Gateway has been made available online to improve international studies advising. To share our knowledge with the community, the International Institute is inaugurating an International Showcase, a new series of public outreach events on foreign affairs and international public policy, and, in collaboration with UW-Milwaukee, has formed the Wisconsin International Outreach Consortium to serve the needs of K-12 teachers and the state.

Updating the Wisconsin Idea
The citizens of Wisconsin and the world are benefactors of the continued advancement and updating of the Wisconsin Idea. Through research, teaching and service, our faculty members are engaged with community leaders and practitioners in the critical issues that face Wisconsin today. From criminal justice to health care delivery, from arts development to technology transfer, from global competition to welfare reform, we are partners in building for the 21st century. Knowledge is being shaped and shared globally through innovative partnerships with public and private institutions. Partnerships with K-12 schools include more than 100 initiatives in the Madison area alone, as well as national leadership provided by our faculty in the development of math and science education in the primary and secondary classrooms. Divisional committees reexamined tenure criteria to be sure they give appropriate credit for outreach activities. Research is being shared and applied in ways that benefit economic development and society through distance learning, opportunities to convert new knowledge into commercial opportunities and public communication programs such as "The Why Files," a popular science education Web site. The University Research Park connects the university's research resources with entrepreneurial high-tech companies, allowing the application of new knowledge through the creation of practical products.

Maximizing Our Human Resources
In meeting our mission, our most important resources are the people who comprise UW-Madison. We are committed to providing all students, faculty and staff with a welcoming, rich and diverse environment for their learning and work. Diversity and excellence among our faculty, staff and students have increased as a result of concentrated recruitment, hiring, development and retention efforts. A new system of learning opportunities helps faculty and staff members do their best work. Future leaders, including women and minorities, are being prepared through a variety of offerings, including a new leadership institute. Units across campus are advancing their missions through effective planning and improvement efforts, including actively reaching out to learn the needs of those they serve. Student diversity has been enhanced through comprehensive recruitment, retention and development initiatives. UW-Madison Plan 2008 challenges our campus to "foster and promote excellence for everyone in the community," and outlines an aggressive plan for advancing that goal.

Rethinking Our Organization and Encouraging Collaboration
Collaboration across traditional boundaries has served as a fundamental theme to guide each of the other priorities. Examples of this collaboration range from interdisciplinary hiring that fosters the creation of new knowledge, to providing more than 120 precollege programs for K-12 schools. Several collaborations and new structures, such as the creation of an Arts Institute to integrate campus arts programs and the reconfiguration of the biological sciences, have enhanced learning and resources. The development of residential learning communities has been instrumental in bringing together people from across the campus and beyond to enhance the learning experience. We strengthened external partnerships, including such initiatives as HealthStar, and most significantly the current state budget initiative that establishes an interactive partnership with the state. These and other external relations are developed and fostered by a new University Relations Team. As a campus, we are collaborating with other universities to maximize library resources and advance distance-learning opportunities. The medical school, hospital and clinics, and physician practice plan are working together to provide a comprehensive environment for medical teaching and research and the delivery of health care services.

Using Technology Wisely
We recognize that technology, used wisely, is a powerful tool that can transform our traditional approaches to teaching, learning and conducting research. Our data networks, which provide faculty, staff and students a means to communicate with each other and the world, have been vastly improved in their scope and speed. Campus technology courses enable faculty and staff to use technology effectively. UW Housing residents enjoy full connectivity to the campus network through ResNet, BadgerNet and WiscNet, which provide high-speed access to the state and the world. Internet2 is enhancing connections to our research partners. Faculty, staff and students access the vast array of information available via the Internet using a suite of software called WiscWorld. They use the largest library in the world outside the Library of Congress - the CIC Virtual Electronic Library. Technology facilitates learning outside the classroom through Web-based learning and computer-mediated communications. Working adults have new opportunities to participate in education at UW-Madison via distance learning. On campus, students have access to computers through sixteen public computer labs called InfoLabs that offer more than 1,100 computers, and they take courses in classrooms equipped with modern teaching technology.

Renewing Our Physical Environment
In December 1996, the university completed a Campus Master Plan that is intended to guide physical development for the next 20 to 30 years. An important aspect of the planning process was the broad involvement of internal and external constituents and experts. The plan, which defines a framework of opportunities for the campus, was developed to be flexible and responsive to change. Building projects completed or begun on the UW-Madison campus between 1995 and 1998 total more than $342 million. Several key projects include the renovation of the Red Gym, a new addition to the Biochemistry Building, construction of the Kohl Center, additions to the Chemistry Building and the Waisman Center, construction of the Fluno Center and a three-module research addition for the Medical School. The largest of new building projects to begin within the next several years include the construction of a new Engineering Centers Building, the Health Sciences Learning Center and the development of Murray Mall. A major effort is underway to improve the instructional environment. Dozens of classrooms have been renovated to include technology and enhance the learning environment. A partnership between the Division of Information Technology and UW Housing provides a full campus network (ResNet) to all students in residence halls. The six-year, $210 million HealthStar initiative was enumerated in the 1997-99 Capital Budget. This program will raise funds to build and improve medical structures.

DIAGRAM 2

NEXT STEPS
The progress that has been made to implement the campus vision and priorities is being used as the foundation for the most recent reaccreditation planning effort, New Directions, which started in 1998. As in 1988, the reaccreditation committee is both reviewing the university's past and exploring its future. The committee will issue a new reaccreditation report in February 1999.

Following that report, Chancellor Ward will seek comment from the campus and beyond. These comments will help to shape an updated version of the vision and priorities, which will be reflected in a new report. As found in A Vision for the Future, the report will outline a framework for action beginning in 1999.

As demonstrated by this continuous process of review, planning and action, UW-Madison is committed to identifying the needs of those it serves, channeling resources to meet those needs and continuously improving its effectiveness as one of the world's premier universities.