Realizing a Promise of Greatness
As we prepare to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the university’s charter, we recall that top quality was the promise in the University of Maryland’s mission from the outset.
In 1858, the founder of the Maryland Agricultural College, Charles Benedict Calvert, proclaimed, “We desire to have an Institution superior to any other.” Calvert recognized that academic innovations in agriculture would transform farming practices and the Maryland economy.
Fast forward to more recent history. State of Maryland leaders have an even greater appreciation for the link between a strong research university and a vibrant economic future. In 1988, the state set expectations that our university be ranked among the nation’s best public flagships, and went even further in 1999 by stipulating that the achievement of the top-tier ranking by the university be the state’s number one priority in higher education. These are remarkable recognitions of the importance of the flagship to the future of the state, and a public policy position that is singular in the nation.
Equally important to delivering the state’s promise to build a top-ranked flagship university is our promise to deliver affordable access to it. We are fiercely determined to provide highly talented Maryland students the opportunity to graduate from the university regardless of financial circumstances.
To fulfill these promises requires a multi-year partnership involving four players: the university, the state, the University System, and our alumni and friends. All have key roles to play and only by working together can we together deliver the promises.
The university is primarily responsible for delivering quality programs. We will use enhanced resources to increase financial aid and reduce the unmet financial need of Maryland students. We will invest enhanced revenues in nationally eminent faculty, innovative programs for undergraduates, and graduate programs that will be renowned for their quality, contribution, and national recognition. We will operate efficiently, raise revenue through entrepreneurial initiatives and expanded summer and winter term offerings, expand our research mission, and continue to develop mutually beneficial partnerships.
We desire to have an Institution
superior to any other.”
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FOUNDER CHARLES BENEDICT CALVERT, 1858
We have requested the state to increase funding per student through General Fund allocations and tuition increases, thereby meeting the flagship mandate and the state’s funding guideline by 2010; and to provide capital funding to construct and renovate facilities, thus enabling the ultimate in educational and research opportunities needed at a top-ranked flagship.
Likewise we have asked the University System to make “Delivering the Promises” a priority, hence supporting policies that encourage maximum flexibility and innovation; to advocate for funding that supports enhancement; and to reflect the flagship priority in system budget allocations.
Alumni and friends will promote increased quality and access through heightened philanthropy in the new campaign. By 2011 they will contribute at least $200 million in new scholarship funds, contribute at least $600 million in support of other university initiatives, help publicize university accomplishments, advocate for flagship funding, and assist in building alliances between the university and businesses, federal laboratories and other educational institutions.
The commitment of these four partners will ensure that Charles Benedict Calvert’s pronouncement is being realized. Having a superior university was important then, but it is even more critical today. Research universities have always been the most persistent organizations in the history of mankind because they are society’s best way of transforming itself. As we fast forward to the decades ahead, the spirit of our roots enables us to capitalize on our strengths and serve the larger community—now globally as well as regionally—in enormously significant ways.
—Dan Mote, President
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