The first half of the year 2000 has certainly held its share of promise
and accomplishment for the University of Maryland. These six months have
whirled by on a wave of activity and effort unparalleled in my
experience.
Always central for a public university president are the issues of state
support, not just financial but for the initiatives that move us forward
as a flagship university. This year, the Maryland General Assembly and
Gov. Parris Glendening once again proved their commitment to our success
and their understanding of our value to the state.
Riding on the optimism of a large budget surplus, the legislature
approved a record-setting budget for higher education, with an
unprecedented 10 percent increase in the university's operating base,
for a total of $333.1 million. Also approved was a capital budget
allocation of slightly more than $100 million for new
construction-almost twice as much as any previous capital budget for
this campus. In addition to funds for the Comcast Center, a new sports
arena slated to begin construction by fall 2000, the university will
benefit from a new Engineering and Applied Sciences building and a
Chemistry teaching building with state of the art laboratories. The
capital allocation also contained matching funds for the expansion of
Van Munching Hall, which houses the R.H. Smith School of Business and
the School of Public Affairs.
Almost $1.1 million in supplemental funds will finance academic/research
initiatives at the university, including a National Center for Smart
Growth, housed in the School of Architecture; the Center for Energetics
in the Clark School of Engineering, and the Small Business Development
Center, part of the University of Maryland Center for Applied Policy
Studies in the Office of Research.
The $31 million increase in the university's operating budget has been
earmarked for enhancement funds--our margin of excellence, as we often
characterize it. Some of these funds will be applied to graduate
fellowships, IT infrastructure and support for the University of
Maryland Libraries. Our Academic Planning and Advisory Committee (APAC)
has been evaluating proposals from the deans of each of the colleges and
schools, and has selected three initiatives to date that will also be
supported with enhancement dollars. A common feature of these projects
is their cross-disciplinary scope. Collaboration across campus units is
a unique aspect of the university's academic and research programs, one
that distinguishes and strengthens our position in higher education.
The first project, centered in the College of Behavioral and Social
Sciences, will focus on the public policy dimensions of the dramatic
changes in income parity, family structures, and gender relations in
recent decades, and their variations across racial and ethnic groups.
Titled "The Demography of Inequality: Social, Economic and Policy
Dimensions," this initiative builds on the work of the Center for
Population, Gender and Social Inequality. Maryland has remarkable
faculty strengths in this area, and with our strategic location in the
Washington, D.C. area, we expect to solidify our leadership in this
field, which brings together faculty and graduate students in sociology,
economics, women's studies, and family policy.
Another multidisciplinary initiative will address land-use,
transportation and growth-related issues such as sprawl, public service
costs and inner city decay. The Center for Growth Management Studies is a collaboration of the
School of Architecture, the Clark School of Engineering, the School of
Public Affairs and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The third initiative that will receive funding this year is a Center for
Scientific Computation and Mathematical Modeling. High performance
computing now compares with experiment and theory as a fundamental tool
of scientific research. Maryland joins the University of Texas, Austin,
Stanford and MIT in the development of this field. Working with faculty
currently engaged in areas of research where computational issues are
critical--specifically in ensemble weather and climate forecasting,
astronomical magnetic fields and protein folding--researchers in the
College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences will help to
develop optimal tools for scientific computation.
All of these initiatives will place the University of Maryland in a
leadership role in their respective areas of concern. Their
interdisciplinary nature ensures a broad and strong foundation for long
term attention to the problems they address. Each project has the
capacity of attracting research funding, outstanding faculty and highly
qualified graduate students to further grow the reputation and
excellence of which we are so proud.
--C. D. Dan Mote, Jr., President
