March 8, 2004

UA President Witt's First Year Highlighted by Important Events

An event-filled first year as UA President included Dr. Witt's awarding Dr. Douglas E. Jones, professor emeritus of geology, with the Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the December Commencement where Jones gave the address to graduates. (Photo: Rickey Yanaura)

Dr. Robert E. and Mrs. Anne Witt celebrated the "Opening Doors" Pioneers Recognition Program events with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who gave the keynote address. (Photo: Chip Cooper)

Dr. Robert E. Witt stands on the field of Bryant Denny Stadium for his first UA Homecoming with the 2003 Homecoming Queen, Maury Wilkinson. (Photo: Alice Wilson)

by Joanna C. Hutt

University President Robert E. Witt marks his first anniversary at UA this month, having assumed the presidency in March 2003.

Witt's first 12 months on campus have been marked by important events, as he shared his vision for the future of The University of Alabama; dealt with Alabama politics, budget cuts and a failed tax referendum; and met with hundreds of faculty, students, staff, trustees, alumni, federal and state government leaders, civic leaders, donors and other supporters of the institution. He also had the privilege of introducing UA's "best in the nation" five students recognized as academic All-Americans by USA Today, through an ad spot during nationally televised sports events and other regional outlets. (See the related story on this year's four winners of this prestigious honor in the Feb. 23 issue of Dialog.

First-year highlights include many success stories — from creation of an Honors College to celebrating the 40th anniversary of the desegregation of the University to establishing a plan to improve student housing on campus.

"Our University community has worked hard to develop a roadmap for progress that will take our university to the next level," Witt said. "Turning vision into reality will require planning, goal setting and accountability, but I am confident The University of Alabama family is up to the challenge."

Highlights of a Year

The campus took several steps to revitalize student recruitment including engaging the UA President's Cabinet and alumni in high school relations and hands-on recruitment efforts. Witt has set a goal of increasing enrollment from the record high of 20,333 set this fall to 28,000 students in the next 10 years.

The Honors College was created to further underscore the institution's commitment to educating the nation's brightest and best students.

A plan to build new residence halls has been approved with the first of three planned living/learning centers expected to open in fall 2005.

UA students continue to be recognized nationally for their accomplishments. Rob Davis was named a Portz Scholar, a first for any UA student. UA is again a leader in the number of students recognized by USA Today on their All-USA College Academic Team. For 2004, UA had four students on the team — second only to Harvard with five.

The President's Office provided leadership for numerous events relating to the 40th anniversary of the desegregation of the University including a gala dinner with special recognition of civil rights pioneers, special lectures and panel discussions, and a videoconference involving the Universities of Georgia and Mississippi.

Work began in the past year to expand the Women's Leadership Institute into a Leadership Academy offering professional development and leadership development opportunities to men and women on campus.

UA has been involved in developing a plan to coordinate distance education opportunities with UAH and UAB to maximize course offerings. Part of the enrollment growth projected for UA will be from increases in numbers of distance education students.

In an effort to build community and create a more welcoming environment for new students, several initiatives were undertaken including the creation and implementation of the first Freshman convocation at Woods Quad. The convocation included new students reciting the Capstone Creed.

Enrollment at UA

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions, under the leadership of Dr. Roger Thompson, assistant vice president for enrollment management and University registrar, and Mary Spiegel, director of undergraduate admissions, has expanded recruitment activities to achieve the goals for raising enrollment at the University. Activities include out-of-state receptions with help from alumni and trips to the area high schools. Officials are currently in the Dallas and Houston areas and future trips will include Florida cities. "We are actively recruiting sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have been admitted," said Thompson. "In the high schools we show the DVD and highlight academic all-Americans and faculty activities." (More information on UA's DVD is included in the Sept. 29, 2003, issue of Dialog.)

The College of Continuing Studies is poised to take advantage of the potential in distance education. "It is safe to say that distance education learning is exploding," said Dr. Carolyn Dahl, dean of the College. "UA's electronically delivered educational opportunities have doubled in five years and we've kicked up our efforts several notches."

CCS' plans include beefing up student services in anticipation of increases in demand, investing in faculty support to deliver more on-line courses, working with deans to identify demand, and more.

Plans and Visions

Witt emphasized the importance of improving UA's infrastructure to support research. Faculty and administrators are working together to establish goals for significant growth in funded research. UA hired its first-ever research vice president this fall, Dr. Keith McDowell. The executive team also includes new appointees, Dr. Judy Bonner, provost and vice president for academic affairs; Kerry Kennedy, vice president for financial affairs; and Dr. Margaret King, vice president for student affairs. Pat Whetstone is serving as interim vice president for advancement. Dr. Samory Pruitt continues to serve as special assistant to the president for community and corporate relations.

After making steady progress in successfully winning contracts and grants funding during the 1990s, UA reached an all-time high of nearly $80 million in 2002. Direct federal funding also reached a new high as we made the turn into the new millennium, and the new Shelby Building, to be completed soon, will be a gem in the infrastructure supporting increased research.

"With this solid foundation," said Keith McDowell, UA's new vice president for research, "UA is poised to reach a $100 million tier-1 research status."

Last spring, Witt met with student leaders from Panhellenic and the Interfraternity Council and supported their request to move fraternity and sorority rush from the delayed schedule used in recent years to the original schedule that saw sorority rush take place the week before classes began. UA officials had received numerous complaints about rush activities and preparation interfering with academic classes and tests. At the same time, he met with sorority and fraternity leaders to encourage recruitment of minority students to the traditionally white greek houses. In August, UA's first African American student pledged a traditionally white sorority. UA also has four other greek organizations with diverse membership.

Intercollegiate athletics' fund-raising campaign moved forward rapidly in the past year. The effort to date has raised more than $30 million to drastically improve athletic facilities and scholarship support.

A University Facilities reorganization was announced in February 2004 as part of an overall plan to further enhance the beauty of the campus through improved services and a zone maintenance plan in which teams of employees are responsible for the upkeep of specific campus areas. The reorganization did result in some positions being eliminated in the area of construction administration. Also, the University golf course was closed at the end of December as a cost savings measure. The University had operated the course at a deficit, and the decision was made last fall to close the facility.

Witt presented his vision for the future of the University at the fall faculty/staff meeting. "We are an academic community committed to moving to the next level. I believe that transformation can be guided by the following vision for the future of The University of Alabama: First, to be THE university of choice for the best and brightest students in Alabama and A university of choice for all other exceptional students including the sons and daughters of Alabama alumni; second, to be a student- centered tier-1 research university, and, third, to be an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians," he said.

The vision statement is the foundation for the institution's planning efforts that are being carried out as part of the SACS re-accreditation process (see this issue's Advisory). One of the recent initiatives resulting from those plans is the creation of the Alumni Scholars scholarship program in which sons and daughters of alumni with solid academic records are offered four-year renewable scholarships of $1,000 a year for four years. The scholarship package is being promoted with qualifying prospective students this month. The first scholarships will be awarded this fall.

The institution began planning for an upcoming capital campaign that will involve all areas of campus, Witt said. The groundwork for the campaign is being coordinated with the leadership of Pam Parsons, assistant vice president for development; Pat Whetstone, interim vice president for advancement; and development consultant Marion Peavey.

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