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October 18, 2007
A frequent question asked of me when I meet with various groups and individuals (internal and external to the University), is… “what does a provost do?” I choose to condense “what I do” into the statement, “the Provost of the University leads in the advancement of academic excellence throughout the University”. That is accomplished when we ensure that the University’s learning, inquiry and engagement missions at the undergraduate and graduate levels are among the very best in this era of a “creative economy”.1
We now confront fiscal realities specifically within this academic year… and in the future. Those realities include:
- reduced federal and state resource support which force us to examine multiple revenue streams to support our work;
- higher costs in areas of health care, energy sources and efficiencies and our infrastructure base.
We now confront political realities with the creation of the Ohio System of Higher Education and the alignment of missions of all higher education institutions in the state. Incremental changes or across-the-board cuts are no longer viable or sufficient to sustain our future. We are in a transformative era for higher education in the country and in Ohio. There is a definitive urgency for fundamental changes. We will begin by ensuring that each decision aligns resources, whether from public or private sources, with the academic and intellectual priorities of the University. This alignment is a condition to building a coherent focus on excellence. We are engaged throughout this year in careful strategic thinking and focus so that we may maintain a coherent institutional vision and implement it in an efficient and effective way.
Strategic thinking and planning imply that priorities will be set. In setting academic priorities, a focus on quality is the most important measure, along with (1) examining how each program relates to and is central to the mission of the University, and (2) determining whether we have a comparative or unique advantage by supporting or enhancing particular programs. If we are to be successful in building excellence at each task within our mission, we need to carefully evaluate the balance between capacity and demand.2 Ultimately, this process will inform our decisions and validate our actions.
There are basic characteristics that profile BGSU. The most basic characteristic of BGSU is that we are a public educational institution and therefore a public good. Although an education at BGSU is a private benefit to the student engaged in learning, a public education is a public good, with contributions to society as a whole.
BGSU, as a public university, is an important economic organization. Our focus is to fulfill our purpose in the era of the creative economy. In our current creative economy, all economic systems have cultural and social dimensions. The creative economy brings together ideas about the creative industries, as well as cultural industries and creative communities. As an economic organization, we prepare graduates for lifelong inquiry and careers as well as for civic leadership and civic responsibility in a democratic society.
We also (1) invest in discovery that creates new products, services, technology and innovations; (2) expand intellectual capital that contributes new talent for the state’s economic growth; (3) expand cultural capital that enhances our public well being; and (4) attract external financial support that has a multiplier effect as we leverage resources.
Mindful of these characteristics, we will begin to establish priorities for our future. A set of principles will guide our work. Those include:
- Ensure that the student experience at BGSU is a quality academic experience.
- Ensure that we invest in our human capital: our faculty, staff and students.
- Ensure that our internal foundations for learning and inquiry, such as the library, academic technologies, etc. are a centerpiece to support our excellence.
- Ensure operational excellence in the structures that support our work.
As the new Provost, I perceive my role to be one of leading and managing the academic expectations of the University in this time of urgent and long-term change. To succeed, we need to set clear academic priorities through a reflective and careful deliberation of our future in context of our core mission, values, and characteristics of BGSU. We will then carefully implement these policies and values in a way that ensures their efficiency and effectiveness.
All of us will be engaged in the process of establishingpriorities and strategies for implementation at various stages. I have asked each dean within collegiate units to review their existing strategic plans, and to begin to benchmark our basic criteria through a “compact” reporting process. As we review those, we will ask them to address key questions:
- What is your core mission?
- What support is essential for this core?
- What is it that we are engaged in that does not directly relate to these categories?
The President presented our current realities in his Opening Day Address August 17, 2007. The President has appointed an Academic University Work Group that will review our existing documents and data to identify priorities and suggested implementation strategies to present in BGSU’s Master Plan. As I review the documents that many of you have developed for BGSU (The Academic Plan, the Strategic Imperatives, The Values Initiative, The Strategies for Engagement document, to name a few), it is obvious that so many across our institution have made the initial contribution(s) important to our immediate work. In that, please be assured that we are building on each of those contributions and refining them for our future.
The President has asked us to join in a partnership that will challenge each of us to think and act creatively to address the new realities and challenges confronting BGSU. If this public university is to continue to be a public good for Ohio, we must commit to sustaining the unique characteristics of Bowling Green State University with clearly defined priorities for our future. We are asked to make difficult decisions at this time, and in doing so, create new opportunities for our future.
I am confident of our future. I am confident that in our partnership, we will define the future of BGSU.
Shirley L. Baugher
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
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