For the past three years, a great deal of thought, time, and energy has been devoted to the development of a strategic plan for Rice that would accurately express our ambitions for the university as it moves into the next century. Beginning in 1995, a faculty committee headed by Provost David H. Auston undertook a strategic planning process for Rice that early in 1997 culminated in the publication of a set of goals and objectives for Rice, entitled Rice: The Next Century. That document was truly the work of many hands. It was circulated widely and became the subject of vigorous and robust discussion with a wide array of faculty, student, and staff groups on campus and with alumni and other interested parties beyond the hedges. In March, 1997, the Board of Governors received the committee's report and heartily endorsed its basic outlines and principal initiatives.
The next step was to create an implementation plan that would establish timelines and financial parameters for accomplishing the aspirations expressed in the visioning plan, as well as assign responsibility to the appropriate parties for seeing the plan through to completion. In December, 1997, the Board of Governors approved this second document, entitled Implementing "Rice: The Next Century."
In some instances--the establishment of two new colleges, the rebuilding of Wiess College and the construction of a new building for the humanities, for example--the implementation plan is more than a general guide to the future, since the Board has given its explicit approval for these projects to move forward. In others, the implementation plan provides essentially an outline of our intentions. The specifics for realizing our priorities will be rounded out as we proceed. We understand that circumstances may, in some cases, require that we change some aspects of the plan as we move forward. By the same token, opportunities to move in new directions will undoubtedly arise over time in areas not currently envisioned in the plan. To that extent the plan must be viewed as a dynamic document that will continue to change even as it shapes our thinking about the future and about our priorities as an institution into the next millennium.
With this undertaking, Rice University moves decisively to embrace a future that is every bit as daring as that envisioned nearly a century ago by our first president, Edgar Odell Lovett. Even as preceding generations progressed from a bold vision of a great university to the reality that Rice has become, we in our own time have advanced from the contemplation of our preferred future to the articulation of an action plan for achieving that future. I invite you to immerse yourself in these pages and to join me as we move to realize the tremendous potential and high aspirations that are represented here.
Malcolm Gillis
January 13, 1998
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"Rice: The Next Century" Table of Contents
Go to President's
Introduction
Go to Implementing
the Plan
Go to Table
1: Summary of Funds Required
Go to Table
2: Funds Required to Enhance the Quality and Value of Education and Scholarship
Go to Table
3: Funds Required to Strengthen the Faculty
Go to Table
4: Funds Required to Strengthen our Interactions "Beyond the Hedges"
Go to Table
5: Funding Priorities
Go to Graph
1: Funds required for Endowments, Programs & Capital Projects
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