Ribeau charts future of University in annual address

“A University is a place of ideas, excitement and possibilities,” President Sidney Ribeau told the audience at his seventh annual State of the University Address Feb. 27. “And more than that, it’s a place of optimism and hope.”
It is important to remember these things as Bowling Green deals with the economic challenges it is faced with today, the president said. He reassured the community that, in spite of the current adversities, the University will continue to “do the right thing and meet our obligations to our students.”

Progressing toward achieving BGSU’s highest goals while carefully managing the University’s limited resources in tight financial times will be the University’s task for the next couple of years, he said in a speech titled “Transforming Our Learning Community: Inquiry, Engagement and Achievement.”

One fortunate aspect for the University, he said, is that the newly completed Academic Plan will serve as a good blueprint when making the difficult decisions that lie ahead. “There are many things we can do that don’t cost money,” he said.
The scenario the University is faced with is serious. In response to a state budget deficit, Governor Bob Taft has enacted funding cuts for this year in the amount of $121 million, with higher education absorbing $13.4 million of the reductions. Another $162 million in cuts is expected, with higher education losing $39 million more, as a result of the failure of the governor’s proposed tax increases to pass the legislature.

In the long term, we can anticipate greater losses if the legislature does not take steps to enhance state revenue for the biennium which starts July 1, 2003.

Ribeau said there will be no mid-semester tuition increases to accomplish the budget cuts. The hiring freeze will be continued, he said, which so far has saved $1 million-$1.4 million for BGSU, “but there’s a price to be paid for that,” he said. “There’s a qualitative difference when you can’t hire or replace people, and an impact on services.”

The cuts also mean the base for the next biennial budget will be lower, he cautioned. This presents additional problems as “our enrollment has continued to grow while our funds are shrinking,” he said. In fact, in the last year, BGSU has lost more than $7 million in state support, he noted.

Ribeau said the first priority must be to support instructional areas. “We have an obligation, really a contract, to provide a strong educational experience in addition to all the services students need.” Funds will be reallocated to the highest priorities, and it will be essential to protect our “mission-critical” activities, he said.

“We’re doing a heck of a job with reduced funding, but one-time savings cannot offset permanent reductions,” he said.
BGSU will continue to lobby hard to prevent any further cuts to its funding, and for any possible increase in state support, Ribeau said. He strongly urged everyone to contact their legislators to voice their support for higher education.

Another important part of safeguarding our future will be to search aggressively for alternate sources of revenue—through external research funding, through development activities and through collaboration, the president said.

Academic Plan

The Academic Plan was composed by a team of experienced faculty and administrators charged by President Ribeau to give a clearer focus and sense of direction to all academic undertakings now and many years into the future. Calling it a “very insightful document,” Ribeau said the plan begins with the vision of the University to be a premier learning community and what that means in people’s everyday lives.

The three major themes identified in the Academic Plan are inquiry, engagement and achievement, which form the character of BGSU and are essential to becoming a premier learning community.

Clear expectations are a key component of achieving distinction in any endeavor, he said, noting that the nature of society, and therefore its students and schools, has changed. Today it is important to identify the expected outcomes of an educational experience in order to link that to a career, he said, rather than simply “going to college and seeing what you might learn.”

The University must be able to transform its students and all those who work here through its culture, and be itself transformed, Ribeau said. Continual updating to meet the needs of its students and of the larger society is crucial to remaining a high-caliber institution.
Students who attend BGSU should emerge as thoughtful, sensitive and engaged citizens who are technologically sophisticated and aware of the benefits of the arts. “The arts humanize us,” he said, and Bowling Green should “capitalize on the synergies within the arts.” Likewise, the University should foster an understanding and awareness of other cultures in its students, he said.

To accomplish all these things in the face of diminishing resources is a challenge, but one BGSU will meet, the president said. The University will endure long past today’s problems, and together the campus must plan and act collaboratively to keep it on track.
“The hope that’s embedded in the smallest dream of one of our students is worth all the hassle and travail of budgets and administration we might face,” he said. The key will be to not panic, to control our own reactions to events and to plan wisely. “We’ll get through these difficult times,” he said.

The Academic Plan can be found on the Web at www.bgsu.edu/offices/provost/BGSUAcademicPlan1.PDF.