Message from the President

		`Message from the President: Our Strengths, Our Weaknesses, and Our Future`
		By Alan G. Merten

These first weeks at Mason I've been on a steep learning curve as I meet and talk with as many of you as possible. I've also been talking to a wide variety of Virginians and others interested in George Mason's future--Governor Allen, business people, legislators, and local government leaders. I want to share with you early impressions, things I've learned, and some of my goals and expectations for George Mason.
I'm very pleased to discover that George Mason in reality is consistent with its image and what it says about itself. It is innovative, it is interactive, and it's involved in some very creative projects and programs. Those of you I've spoken to have been refreshingly frank about the university's and your own area's strengths and weaknesses. I've found here a strong desire to create a community. Everyone--faculty, staff, and students--are looking for an excuse to come together.

I've also found a strong positive feeling about George Mason externally. The legislators and other leaders I've met with have all expressed their enthusiasm and support for the university. All of them talk about our fast growth, our importance to Northern Virginia, to Virginia, and beyond, and our ability to make things happen.
There is a sense of momentum and excitement at George Mason and about George Mason that we must build and maintain. It's my job, in a sense, to be the cheerleader and the champion, to create the vision and context for what we're doing. But our success will depend on the willingness of faculty and staff, and in some cases alumni, to assume the initiative, the leadership, and the responsibility for making the necessary things happen.
Where We're Headed
As we move ahead, I want George Mason to be increasingly recognized for four things:

Academic excellence in both research and teaching. I hope people will say that our classes are tough. I hope they'll also say it's hard to get promoted here. We need to be perceived as demanding excellence, and that if you succeed here, it is because you are excellent.
Our ability to contribute significantly to both the state and the nation--and to get substantial support from both the state government and the federal government. I want us to be tightly coupled to the resources and needs of both the state and the nation. We have the location to do this better than anyone else.
Being a place where people like to work and study, where people look forward to spending their time and energy and really get engaged.
Being one of the best run universities in the nation. We want to be perceived as constantly improving in the way we use our resources. This should be a specific objective, not just an outcome, and we should be proud of it in the same way we are proud of our other achievements.

I like the phrase "what gets measured gets better." We will become a measurement culture and a decision-making culture. We will solicit opinions and involvement when we need to make a decision. When we make a decision, we will communicate that decision. We will never be satisfied with the current utilization of resources. And we will build the culture that it's everyone's responsibility to manage this university effectively.
We will then share information about our achievements. It's not enough to do it--we want to tell others about it, so we will all have to become better communicators.
The Immediate Future
The first thing we need to deal with is the selection of deans for the School of Information Technology and Engineering, Graduate School of Education, and College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a new vice president for information systems. This process will involve not only candidate selection, but also internal and external reviews of these divisions. This gives us a chance to begin to establish a culture of review that is both internally and externally driven.
Second, we need to begin a bottom-up, faculty-driven process of culling and consolidating our activities, both degree programs and administrative functions. We need to rationalize activities that may have individually made good sense when we started but collectively may not make sense now. We are not doing this to get smaller; we are doing this to get better.

Third, we need to personalize the university, to make the outside world perceive it as a collection of talented people, not a bureaucratic institution or a collection of buildings. I'm starting this process by making myself as visible as possible and meeting with as many people as I can, and am encouraging other members of the university community to do the same.
George Mason's Strengths and Weaknesses
The university has a number of strengths.
It has an unusual access to talent, both on and off campus. This institution, and the people around us, have a bias for action. Put this talent and action together, and you have a place that can make things happen much faster than most institutions.
This place has a sense of optimism, an attitude that we can do it, we can overcome obstacles. There's a sense of innovation that is a real strength.
We are part of multiple communities. We are part of Northern Virginia, part of Virginia, part of the Washington metropolitan area. We're also located in the midst of compatible organizations--the Roundtable, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, Potomac Knowledgeway--that bring us together in productive ways.
Smart choices were made in George Mason's past. High technology, the arts, public policy, innovative undergraduate education--these are issues of the 21st century. We have strengths and a reputation in areas that are important to the future.

We have some weaknesses. Many of them lie in individual and institutional attitudes.
While we make things happen, we are not committed to make them happen at the highest level of excellence. We are too individualistic; we don't work together, even when we recognize that it would be more effective to do so. We are often more concerned about action than about outcomes.
We have a belief that because we're nontraditional, we can't do the traditional. This is nonsense. We can and must work toward excellence in some of the traditional areas.
We fail to understand the connection between teaching, research, and service, or to put it another way, the creation of knowledge, the dissemination of knowledge, and the application of knowledge. There's a belief that these are independent functions, when in fact they interrelate.
We have interactions with the external community that result in relationships but not true commitment from these groups. These groups and individuals interact with us, but they don't feel it is their responsibility to support us. We need to tie them more closely to the university.
We are almost too customer oriented. We do what we're asked to do, instead of stepping back and asking if this is the best thing to do, and is it really what the customer wants.

Obstacles
As well as our weaknesses, we also face some obstacles. For instance, Virginia is still trying to decide what it wants to be as a state. If it is really serious about becoming a global economic engine for the 21st century with a widely recognized quality of life for its citizens, it needs to make commitments to those things that will make this happen, including to higher education.

I also have observed on several occasions a failure to understand what a first-class university is. A first-class university is not a state agency in the same sense as the Department of Transportation. It's also not a corporation. The faculty are individuals, or collections of individuals, who given the proper work environment, will create things far in excess of what anyone at the top could ever tell them to do, and in fact specifically telling them what to do will destroy their creativity and result in less productivity. Virginia needs to understand what it has in its universities, and then use them appropriately.
Pulling Together
We need to understand that we are in this together. When we complain about George Mason, we are complaining about ourselves. George Mason is not a separate entity from you or me; George Mason is the people who work and study here. When we praise George Mason, we are giving ourselves credit; when we complain, we indict ourselves. We all need to provide constructive criticism when needed on what our unit or other units are doing. Whining, either on or off campus, is of no value.
In the same vein, we all have a responsibility to market the university. We need to promote the institution, to interest others in supporting it and attending it. We need to concentrate on making friends; reconnect with the alumni in each school, department, or institute; make inroads into the corporations for which they are now working.
George Mason can be greater than the sum of its people. You have already achieved remarkable things in the name of this institution. By working together, by insisting on quality, by recognizing our individual and collective responsibilities, we can take ourselves and George Mason to a new level of excellence.

		These first weeks at Mason I've been on a steep learning curve as I meet and talk with as many of you as possible. I've also been talking to a wide variety of Virginians and others interested in George Mason's future--Governor Allen, business people, legislators, and local government leaders. I want to share with you early impressions, things I've learned, and some of my goals and expectations for George Mason. I'm very pleased to discover that George Mason in reality is consistent with its image and what it says about itself. It is innovative, it is interactive, and it's involved in some very creative projects and programs. Those of you I've spoken to have been refreshingly frank about the university's and your own area's strengths and weaknesses. I've found here a strong desire to create a community. Everyone--faculty, staff, and students--are looking for an excuse to come together.
		I've also found a strong positive feeling about George Mason externally. The legislators and other leaders I've met with have all expressed their enthusiasm and support for the university. All of them talk about our fast growth, our importance to Northern Virginia, to Virginia, and beyond, and our ability to make things happen. There is a sense of momentum and excitement at George Mason and about George Mason that we must build and maintain. It's my job, in a sense, to be the cheerleader and the champion, to create the vision and context for what we're doing. But our success will depend on the willingness of faculty and staff, and in some cases alumni, to assume the initiative, the leadership, and the responsibility for making the necessary things happen. `Where We're Headed` As we move ahead, I want George Mason to be increasingly recognized for four things: Academic excellence in both research and teaching. I hope people will say that our classes are tough. I hope they'll also say it's hard to get promoted here. We need to be perceived as demanding excellence, and that if you succeed here, it is because you are excellent. Our ability to contribute significantly to both the state and the nation--and to get substantial support from both the state government and the federal government. I want us to be tightly coupled to the resources and needs of both the state and the nation. We have the location to do this better than anyone else. Being a place where people like to work and study, where people look forward to spending their time and energy and really get engaged. Being one of the best run universities in the nation. We want to be perceived as constantly improving in the way we use our resources. This should be a specific objective, not just an outcome, and we should be proud of it in the same way we are proud of our other achievements. I like the phrase "what gets measured gets better." We will become a measurement culture and a decision-making culture. We will solicit opinions and involvement when we need to make a decision. When we make a decision, we will communicate that decision. We will never be satisfied with the current utilization of resources. And we will build the culture that it's everyone's responsibility to manage this university effectively. We will then share information about our achievements. It's not enough to do it--we want to tell others about it, so we will all have to become better communicators. `The Immediate Future` The first thing we need to deal with is the selection of deans for the School of Information Technology and Engineering, Graduate School of Education, and College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a new vice president for information systems. This process will involve not only candidate selection, but also internal and external reviews of these divisions. This gives us a chance to begin to establish a culture of review that is both internally and externally driven. Second, we need to begin a bottom-up, faculty-driven process of culling and consolidating our activities, both degree programs and administrative functions. We need to rationalize activities that may have individually made good sense when we started but collectively may not make sense now. We are not doing this to get smaller; we are doing this to get better.
		Third, we need to personalize the university, to make the outside world perceive it as a collection of talented people, not a bureaucratic institution or a collection of buildings. I'm starting this process by making myself as visible as possible and meeting with as many people as I can, and am encouraging other members of the university community to do the same. `George Mason's Strengths and Weaknesses` The university has a number of strengths. It has an unusual access to talent, both on and off campus. This institution, and the people around us, have a bias for action. Put this talent and action together, and you have a place that can make things happen much faster than most institutions. This place has a sense of optimism, an attitude that we can do it, we can overcome obstacles. There's a sense of innovation that is a real strength. We are part of multiple communities. We are part of Northern Virginia, part of Virginia, part of the Washington metropolitan area. We're also located in the midst of compatible organizations--the Roundtable, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, Potomac Knowledgeway--that bring us together in productive ways. Smart choices were made in George Mason's past. High technology, the arts, public policy, innovative undergraduate education--these are issues of the 21st century. We have strengths and a reputation in areas that are important to the future. We have some weaknesses. Many of them lie in individual and institutional attitudes. While we make things happen, we are not committed to make them happen at the highest level of excellence. We are too individualistic; we don't work together, even when we recognize that it would be more effective to do so. We are often more concerned about action than about outcomes. We have a belief that because we're nontraditional, we can't do the traditional. This is nonsense. We can and must work toward excellence in some of the traditional areas. We fail to understand the connection between teaching, research, and service, or to put it another way, the creation of knowledge, the dissemination of knowledge, and the application of knowledge. There's a belief that these are independent functions, when in fact they interrelate. We have interactions with the external community that result in relationships but not true commitment from these groups. These groups and individuals interact with us, but they don't feel it is their responsibility to support us. We need to tie them more closely to the university. We are almost too customer oriented. We do what we're asked to do, instead of stepping back and asking if this is the best thing to do, and is it really what the customer wants. `Obstacles` As well as our weaknesses, we also face some obstacles. For instance, Virginia is still trying to decide what it wants to be as a state. If it is really serious about becoming a global economic engine for the 21st century with a widely recognized quality of life for its citizens, it needs to make commitments to those things that will make this happen, including to higher education.
		I also have observed on several occasions a failure to understand what a first-class university is. A first-class university is not a state agency in the same sense as the Department of Transportation. It's also not a corporation. The faculty are individuals, or collections of individuals, who given the proper work environment, will create things far in excess of what anyone at the top could ever tell them to do, and in fact specifically telling them what to do will destroy their creativity and result in less productivity. Virginia needs to understand what it has in its universities, and then use them appropriately. `Pulling Together` We need to understand that we are in this together. When we complain about George Mason, we are complaining about ourselves. George Mason is not a separate entity from you or me; George Mason is the people who work and study here. When we praise George Mason, we are giving ourselves credit; when we complain, we indict ourselves. We all need to provide constructive criticism when needed on what our unit or other units are doing. Whining, either on or off campus, is of no value. In the same vein, we all have a responsibility to market the university. We need to promote the institution, to interest others in supporting it and attending it. We need to concentrate on making friends; reconnect with the alumni in each school, department, or institute; make inroads into the corporations for which they are now working. George Mason can be greater than the sum of its people. You have already achieved remarkable things in the name of this institution. By working together, by insisting on quality, by recognizing our individual and collective responsibilities, we can take ourselves and George Mason to a new level of excellence.