THE U OF M TOWN MEETING AND PANEL

One February 22, 2001, 75 people were invited to come to a forum to discuss visions for the future of the University of Minnesota. Following that discussion, a 5-person panel, including University President Mark Yudof, discussed their visions. You can now listen to and read excerpts of those discussions.

VENTURA'S, YUDOF'S VISION STATEMENTS
Opinion leaders give their visions; what's yours?

Victoria Davis
Education Chair, St. Paul NAACP
The history of our experience with the U of M is that it does not act on this belief as it relates to the African American community. In many ways, the U of M behaves as if we were invisible. More ...

Sarah McKenzie
Managing Editor, Minnesota Daily
Given that the University's request for increased state support might not be fully funded, more students will likely have to work longer hours to keep pace with tuition increases. More ..

Jesse Ventura
Governor, State of Minnesota
If you believe everything you read in the papers, you probably think I really don't care what happens to the University of Minnesota. You'd be wrong. The University represents everything great about Minnesota. More ...

State Senator Deanna Wiener
Chair, Senate Higher Education Budget Division
Before Minnesota became a state there was a University of Minnesota. Now, 150 years later the University's future continues to be an important link to the well-being of Minnesota and its citizens. More ..

Lyle Wray
Executive Director, Citizens League
IBut the current budget discussion indicates that the state is on a path of declining quality or higher costs, or both. The choice for Minnesota is clear. There is no option not to change. The state should choose major reform now and leave a legacy of better value for future generations. More ...

Mark Yudof
President, University of Minnesota
This celebration is . . . an opportunity to look toward the future - to answer the question: what does it mean to be a land-grant university in the 21st century? More ...

COMMUNITY LEADERS AND CITIZENS PARTICIPATE IN ONLINE FORUM

We hosted a moderated web forum with a group of distinguished guests beginning on Feb. 9. It was opened to the public a week later, and ended on Feb. 23. More than 125 comments were posted to the forum. A selection of the best ideas and comments were packaged and sent to key policy makers and opinion leaders. Although the forum has ended, i.e., no more postings may be added, you may still read the Web Forum discussion in its entirety.

EDITOR'S CHOICE
The U's Future - The People Speak Out

Selected comments excerpted from the online discussion on the future of the U of M.

We Need a Balanced Vision
A vision for the University needs to operate in three time frames. The short, mid and long terms. We have problems when a vision is out of balance. When it focuses too tightly on a particular time frame to the exclusion of others. More ...

Educate for Citizenship
Back in 1917 a land-grant university president said a goal is "to give men and women a vision, to equip them with the tools that they may forge for the common man a new freedom out of the chains of injustice; to send them forth as persons who know the meaning of life." More ...

Fund Students First
Currently, 90 percent of the state funding flows directly to the public education institutions and about 10 percent to the students (in the form of financial aid). Let's flip that ratio to inject more competition, allowing students more choice. More ...

Face Up to Technology
I have asked the University leadership why faculty members are still lecturing in the age of multimedia content delivery. Faculty-student face-to-face time is still important but it is not the most efficient means of conveying content. More ...

Careful with Cuts
Program cuts actually save very little money, at least in the short and medium-run. Why? Because you cannot fire tenured faculty or you would truly sabotage the U's ability to recruit excellent new faculty. More ..