Serving Texas and the World and Strengthening The University’s Engagement with Society
Recommendation 14:
The University should serve Texas by marshaling its expertise, programs, and people to address major issues confronting society at large. The culture of the institution should convey to students, as well as to faculty and staff members, that a commitment to service is intrinsic to a University of Texas education.
Though it possesses national and international reach, The University has a special obligation to serve Texas. It accomplishes this primarily through teaching, which prepares future generations of leaders and citizens, and research, which expands knowledge and nurtures innovation. A major research university also serves as a listening post, a connection to the larger world of ideas and new developments. Talented faculty and research staff alert the UT community—and the state—to important new discoveries that influence technology, public health, commerce, culture, government, and other aspects of daily life. UT’s wide-ranging and influential alumni, as well as the Texas Exes alumni association, are invaluable channels of communication for keeping the campus attuned to public concerns.
Logan Wilson, a former chancellor and president of The University of Texas, said in 1953, “We want this University to be truly of the first class, not for the sake of mere emulation or rivalry, but for more basic reasons. The potentialities of a great university as an instrument for the common good are almost limitless.”
The University of Texas has a responsibility to serve the state from border to border and to provide value to citizens even if they are not students or alumni. In addition, citizens can rightly expect this flagship university to:
- Provide expertise and information resources for the people, businesses, and institutions of Texas and beyond.
- Extend educational opportunities and access by new methods, including those afforded through new technology.
- Enhance the quality of life.
- Serve as a major engine for economic progress.
- Actively address pressing public problems of Texas, the nation, and the world.
The Commission believes that UT students, to whom so much is given, bear a responsibility to give back to The University, to Texas, and to society. The University can make them more aware of this responsibility through the curriculum and student life. Faculty members also share a responsibility to serve the society that supports their research and scholarship. The faculty should embrace opportunities to enlist their expertise to help solve major issues facing society.
The University is in a strong position to lead collaborative efforts of the state’s intellectual, creative, and entrepreneurial resources in ways that will transform individual lives and improve the welfare and governance of Texas.
Recommendation 15:
The University must provide the broadest and most effective access to its knowledge and collections in order to share its assets with Texas and the world at large.
The emergence of the Internet and other technologies has brought dramatic changes in education, communication, and collaboration. Recent developments in digital libraries and access through electronic networks only hint at the myriad possibilities that lie ahead for publication, presentation, and storage of materials.
While libraries and museums will remain important places to visit, UT’s collections and other resources will increasingly be experienced through electronic access, thereby removing many traditional barriers to their general use, such as time and location. Additionally, the development of sophisticated micro-technology can offer a richer and more interactive experience during the course of actual visits to university facilities.
These advances point directly to the need for skilled management of resources. To provide compelling experiences, digital libraries will have to be well designed, technically robust, and content-rich. The expertise needed to provide such services is only now being developed.
In shaping the future of innovative access to collections and resources, UT should take the lead in developing the knowledge needed to design, implement, and maintain virtual access to our cultural treasures.
Recommendation 16:
The University’s communications efforts must convey the value of higher education to society. In addition, UT must clarify its key strengths and distinctive qualities and devise ways to communicate them more coherently and consistently to its constituencies at all levels.
Texas—and society in general—relies upon an educated citizenry for prosperity and well-being. The University must effectively convey that message. It must articulate, forcefully and persuasively, the crucial role that higher education plays in making Texas, and the nation, more learned and competitive. Communicating this message to the public will require a coordinated effort by all members of the UT community, not just top administrators.
In addition, we must be more aggressive in telling the story of The University—what we do and how it influences the state and beyond. To foster support for UT’s mission and to create a greater national and international presence, The University must build public awareness of its distinctive strengths and its contributions to society.
At present, the institution receives considerable national exposure resulting from the reputation of individual faculty members and programs. But a comprehensive national and international communications and public affairs effort will gain much additional exposure, attracting faculty, students, and staff of the highest quality. In addition to such public affairs initiatives, the faculty should be encouraged to actively present research at professional meetings, symposia, and other events that will raise the visibility of university programs among academic peers and the media.
The Texas Constitution mandated that the institution be designated “The University of Texas.” Accordingly, the Commission recommends that “at Austin” be dropped from the name of the institution.