"Engagement"
October 13, 2004
David J. Skorton

October, 2004: A critical time in the life of public higher education in the United States and in the State of Iowa.

The problems are myriad: budget austerity, widespread skepticism about the value of higher education, some misinterpretation of the basic missions of a research university.

Solutions? There are no glib or easy answers to this challenging time in American public higher education. For more than one hundred years, the enormous success of The University of Iowa and similar public research universities has been founded on adherence to our critical missions of undergraduate, graduate, and professional education; scholarly and creative activity; and service in selected areas of the campus.

Last week, many of you joined me to hear Bruce Cole, Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, deliver a lecture on our campus. His subject was “The Scholar and the Citizen: The Necessity of the Humanities to Democracy.”

On this subject, Chairman Cole has said, “The NEH was founded in the belief that cultivating the best of the humanities had real, tangible benefits for civic life. . . . The humanities help form the bedrock of civic understanding and civil order.”

Chairman Cole’s lecture was not only an important touchstone for our Year of the Arts and Humanities, but for our larger lives as teachers, scholars, and public servants in the mission of higher education.

I think Bruce Cole’s ideas apply not only to the study and teaching of the humanities, but to all we do as a public institution of higher education. Dr. Cole has helped us frame how the life of discovery, and the life of the university, are central to our collective selves, our community, state, regional, and national identities.

The academy is often charged with being aloof and remote from the concerns of the rest of our community and society in general. We are accused of living and working in an "ivory tower." Sometimes, an ivory tower isn’t a bad place to be. Learning, teaching, scholarly activity, solely for the sake of knowledge itself, is a worthy goal, an admirable ambition. Discoveries made in this environment become pieces of a larger mosaic that can improve our understanding of ourselves and our world. At times, these discoveries have driven concrete, positive societal advances.

We continue to do an excellent job of maintaining our prominence in the knowledge work that our larger society demands. As a public and publicly supported institution, we have a special obligation not only to seek knowledge and teach in the realms of pure intellect, but also to dedicate ourselves to improving the lives of our fellow citizens directly. This obligation grows, in part, out of our privileged position in society. In my opinion, the life of a university professor, particularly, is a privileged one. As faculty members we are allowed to apply our talents and pursue our individual scholarly interests virtually unrestricted. Few, if any, other professions urge one to follow a personal path so completely, with so much autonomy, and with public support. This is the essence of academic freedom, the foundation on which the discovery of knowledge has been so successfully built, especially in the American public higher education system.

The faculty also live lives of economic privilege in our societal context. As a national professoriate we are paid relatively well. At the same time, within the context of academia, the UI continues to struggle to remain competitive. Faculty compensation has steadily eroded in comparison to our peers. This erosion is alarming. We must do much more to enhance salaries and to ensure continuing vitality of the faculty at this University.

Our Board of Regents realizes the critical importance of a high-quality faculty and staff. They have just approved a systematic plan entitled "A Partnership for Transformation and Excellence." This plan will lead to a request to the state for an annual additional investment in the Regents institutions of $40 million in operating funds above current state funding levels for each of the next four fiscal years. The universities, including all of us here at the UI, will be asked to participate in the process of transformation. Of critical importance, we will reallocate and redirect one dollar of institutional funds toward educational excellence for every two dollars of increase in state funding. Based on this plan, we will hold tuition increases initially to the rate of projected inflation of the Higher Education Price Index for resident undergraduate students. Through this plan, the Regents are asking us all to be partners in improving the financial underpinnings of our institution in a forward-looking, innovative fashion.

Yet, if we are to progress as a public institution, even at current levels of funding and compensation, The University of Iowa must also enhance its contributions and service to Iowa, the nation, and the world. We must all repay the privileges we enjoy with intentional, dedicated efforts to improve the lives of our fellow citizens as well as our University itself.

In other words, we must become an “engaged” university, more so than we are now. We must think of service to the public as more than a political obligation. Service is a covenant, a solemn compact with the state that created us and the citizens who support us.

A couple of years ago, my colleague Tom Dean shared with me some ideas that he and former University Relations Director of Outreach Jane Hoshi brought back from a conference on university outreach. They directed my attention to The Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities and their final report of 2000 entitled “Renewing the Covenant.” The Kellogg Commission redefines the classic ‘research, teaching, and service’ triad into a new interactive framework of ‘discovery, learning, and engagement.’ Engagement is perceived as an integral part of research and teaching. It extends beyond the traditional ideas of service being outreach activity separate from teaching and research.

Engagement is a partnership with our public constituencies—federal and state taxpayers—who support us. As a public university, we must be sensitive to the needs of our citizenry. But engagement goes beyond this mindful awareness. We must also consult and collaborate with our public to assess and address their needs. In doing so, we will bring all members of our university community—faculty, staff, and students—into a common endeavor in which all play crucial roles.

Of course, there is nothing fundamentally new about this concept of engagement: you are contributing to the present and future of the state and nation every day. But the discourse of “engagement” reframes and re-energizes our public institutions’ commitments to the world outside of academia’s walls. I am proud that today The University of Iowa continues its strong tradition of engagement with the people of Iowa, the nation, and the world as we conduct our trifold mission. And today I am asking you to refresh your thinking about and your commitment to this legacy of public service. In his 2002 Convocation Address to the University of Iowa community, Interim President Sandy Boyd said, “A vibrant University depends on a vibrant Iowa. A vibrant Iowa depends on a vibrant University.” In that speech, he declared that outreach and advocacy were to be the themes of his interim administration. I intend to continue Sandy Boyd’s commitment to public engagement as a central tenet of our University mission.

The UI has been building on our partnership with our public since its inception.

The UI has long been a leader in the humanities and creative arts, a tradition continuing in our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. We were instrumental in promulgating the idea of equality between creative and traditional scholarly work. For generations, we have brought the magic and uplift of art, music, theatre, and literature to our community, state, and nation.

For decades, our health sciences colleges and our University Hospitals and Clinics have aimed for and achieved cutting edge medical research, the highest quality training of health care professionals, and the most effective patient care.

In the College of Law, the Legal Clinic not only provides education for our future attorneys, but it also offers crucial services to people in need in our community.

The UI Law, Health Policy and Disability Center works to improve the quality of life for persons living with disabilities through education, research, and improved public policy.

The Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center, under the leadership of Sandy Boyd, provides interdisciplinary, collaborative services to create new knowledge about the nonprofit sector, educate and train students and nonprofit providers, and build the capacity and develop the effectiveness of community-based—and community-building—organizations.

In a country with public education as one of its highest values, we were pioneers in standardized testing, which has made it possible for our culture to more easily assess the achievement of the children in our schools.

These are only a few examples chosen from a handful of areas of our campus. The UI clearly has a long and proud tradition of aligning many of our scholarly ambitions with the public good.

We must not lose that commitment. We must continue and advance that tradition of scholarly engagement in the context of our society’s changing needs at all levels—within our immediate community, our state, our country, and across the globe.

As we think about what public engagement means and how to effect it, individually and institutionally, we must also think deeply about what we mean by “the public.” As a national university, we certainly must put forth efforts to improve the lives of all throughout the nation and the world. But as we do so, we must never forget our fundamental commitments to the local and regional. No matter how internationally significant and no matter how globally aware our work is (and should be), we are always grounded in our local community and our state. We must nurture the bonds that tie us together as people living, working, studying, learning, teaching, and helping each other in a particular place.

I am proud of the many University activities that keep our local and regional welfare in mind.

I-CASH, Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health, provides prevention and education programs to enhance the health and safety of Iowa’s agricultural community.

Arts Share brings music, dance, and theatre to our neighbors across the state.

The work of individuals like Steve Thunder-McGuire, Associate Professor of Art Education, uses the primary materials of Iowa life for their teaching and research.

Steve’s project “Iowa Stories” for this Year of the Arts and Humanities will set up “story swaps” around the state.

Our campus radio stations KRUI, KSUI, and WSUI boast a long tradition of excellent local programming. Their efforts have been central to keeping our sense of local identity.

Economic development in our state is a critical type of public engagement and remains an important priority for us.

The governor, legislators, and business colleagues expect that we will assist in improving the state's economic condition.

Education and the workforce development that flows from it are our chief means of promoting economic development. Educated with a strong liberal arts and sciences background, the highly skilled, professional workers we help provide to the Iowa economy also contribute greatly to our communities and our state culture within and outside the workplace.

Discovery of knowledge, processes and approaches with commercial value, especially in the sciences, benefits the public through technology transfer. Just last week, we honored the spirit and accomplishment of invention with the first UI Distinguished Inventor Award given to UI Distinguished Professor of Microbial Virology Mark Stinski. Professor Stinski is the inventor on two U.S. patents both pertaining to the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, a tool to "promote" the expression of proteins. Not only is this work significant as scientific research, but it has had tremendous applications through the processes of pharmaceutical development. Let me acknowledge as well the professionalism of our colleagues in the UI Research Foundation, who have been effective partners in the process of technology transfer and economic development.

Discoveries made by our colleagues have also led to the creation and success of new companies in our state. And they have brought millions of dollars to UI inventors personally, to departments, and to the university at large. Some of these funds are used for enrichment of research, scholarship, and creativity. We must and we will lower obstacles and increase incentives related to economic development and technology transfer at the UI.

On August 3, Governor Vilsack released the findings of the Battelle Memorial Institute’s report “Bioscience Pathway for Development.” This study identified the state of Iowa’s national leadership role in the biosciences through the Regents universities, its current diverse range of bioscience companies (especially in bioenergy, biofuels, and related biomass initiatives), and the state’s higher-than-average employment in the biosciences industry. The strategic plan suggested by Battelle encourages commercializing bioscience R&D and fostering a supportive business climate to enhance opportunities for start-up, emerging, and existing bioscience Iowa firms. The Battelle report envisions an important role for the Regents universities.

I have been outlining many excellent faculty and staff accomplishments, but students are also integral to our public engagement efforts. In fact, they have much to teach us, their own teachers and mentors. Our current generation of students comes to the UI with broad experience in community service. The University of Iowa Student Government and UI students have brought that experience to our campus with a surge in civic engagement and outreach during the past year.

Here are a few examples:

Just as I urge our faculty and staff to become engaged with the operation and daily life of our institution, the University of Iowa Student Government’s goal for the year has been to “put students in on the discussion, not the decision.” UISG is encouraging students to lend support not only to the end product, but also to take an active part in the decision-making process.

Along with others in the UI community, University of Iowa Student Government is working to make service learning a reality. Service learning creates civically engaged UI graduates, who will bring the values of The University of Iowa to their communities for years to come.

In the past several minutes, I have outlined some impressive examples of how our teaching, learning, and research serve the public good. We must continue these efforts at making our learning activities and our scholarly pursuits dovetail with public needs. But, as university community members, we also must continue engaging in “service” as it is traditionally defined—philanthropic and volunteer activities outside of our normal duties and professional pursuits. In fact, I exhort us all to redouble our commitment to lend helping hands, minds, and hearts to our fellow citizens. The universities are not the only public entities that have faced austerity in recent years. Human needs are increasing on all fronts—local, national, and international—and, in some areas, I believe we could contribute more.

Just in our own county, human needs are increasing dramatically. The United Way of Johnson County reports the following:

• Demand for emergency shelter services at the Domestic Violence Intervention Project has tripled in the past three years. Last year, 269 women and children were refused services because the shelter was full or had inadequate resources.

• As of this past summer, there was a waiting list of over 900 children with special needs for Home and Community Based Waiver Services (Handicare).

• Requests for services to the Community Mental Health Center have increased 38% in one year.

• Increasing numbers of people are uninsured or underinsured for health care, including medication.

• Iowa's Medicaid reimbursement rates have not increased in several years, yet the number of clients and patients being served has increased dramatically.

• Our population in Iowa continues to age. The growing number of elderly in our state will need more and more services in the years ahead.

• Our county is becoming much more diverse, with an increasing international population (including refugee populations) and increasing racial and ethnic diversity. Johnson County is thus experiencing more demand for support networks and assistance programs and benefits.

Our community responds vigorously to human needs, from the local to international arenas.

Our business, university, professional, and lay communities all contribute generously to the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic. In an era of escalating health care costs, and with limited resources, the Clinic has provided this most fundamental of human needs to local residents for over 30 years through the compassion and generosity of our community.

The UI Center for Human Rights is a multidisciplinary organization that involves faculty, staff, students and community members in consciousness-raising and in advocating for human rights across the globe. In recent months, the Center has been particularly active in issues of child labor. Late last year, they initiated a database of child labor laws from around the world as part of a U.S. Department of Labor grant that funds the Center’s Child Labor Research Initiative.

In innovative ways, students have shared their generous spirit with our community through such long-standing traditions as the Dance Marathon, which supports families being treated at Children’s Hospital of Iowa, and through new and innovative programs like the 10,000 Hours Show. By offering a special concert to students who complete 10 hours of community service each, the group exceeded their hopes and racked up over 13,000 hours of community service last year. And our Greek community puts philanthropy and service at the center of their missions, fund-raising for and volunteering with a large number of local agencies and charities.

In this important election year, we are reminded of the importance of political engagement. While the University itself does not and should not endorse specific candidates for office, we all bear a responsibility to help our community and our students be politically aware and engaged.

We can provide discussions on societal issues in order to give our students the knowledge and tools to make their own decisions.

We have a number of faculty and staff in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences involved in research that is important to our political system, from Douglas Jones’ work with voting machines, to David Redlawsk’s studies of voting behavior, to Peverill Squire’s research into campaign dynamics, and to groundbreaking work in polling and election prediction through Michael Lewis-Beck’s research as well as the efforts of many in the Tippie College of Business with the Iowa Electronic Markets.

The UISG is actively engaged in a partnership with the New Voters Project, whose goal is to register 7,000 UI students, helping to ensure that the voice of youth is represented well in our country’s future.

And many students are fully engaged not only with political groups like the UI College Republicans and Democrats, but activist groups that seek to make a difference in national policy and international human rights. Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, and Students Against Sweatshops are just two examples.

And many, many individuals—faculty, staff, and students--are actively involved with volunteer work for the candidates and parties they support. That work is invaluable to our democracy, and the more of it we have, the healthier our society will be.

Of course, service work hours—in humanitarian causes, in pro bono professional services, and in political activity—are essential, and I thank everyone for each and every minute contributed. But the work of these organizations would not be possible without financial support. Direct dollar contributions remain an essential part of service.

Among many other choices, The University of Iowa makes it very easy to contribute to three very important and effective service agencies:

• Iowa Shares, a coalition of 19 nonprofit grassroots organizations,

• Community Health Charities of Iowa, with 17 member health agencies providing education, research, and services, and

• The United Way, the single largest private source of funds for more than 30 Johnson County agencies that meet the health and human service needs of local residents.

Surprising to me, UI faculty and staff participation in the United Way, for example, appears to have declined, not increased, in recent years. I realize that many of us contribute directly to individual agencies. Nonetheless, the apparent trend toward decreased giving is concerning. In 2003, UI participation in the United Way, for example, was 4% of faculty and staff, down from the previous year’s low level of 5%.

UI employees give at even smaller rates to the other charities with whom we have campaign relationships. Last year, barely 1% gave to Community Health Charities of Iowa, and 1 1⁄2% gave to Iowa Shares.

By our very nature as a public university, we are a concerned and generous institution, and I know we all give of ourselves to create a better world. We do that every day in our jobs. But we also need to do it more robustly through our direct monetary contributions. I urge everyone to share with our neighbors as generously as possible.

One of the tenets of “engaged institutions” is concrete and visible institutional commitment to the idea, as well as the specific activities that faculty, staff, and students engage in. Based on the need for the UI to be an engaged research institution, I am declaring the next academic year, beginning in July of 2005, the Year of Public Engagement. During next year and in the months leading up to it, we will plan an ambitious agenda of engagement with the public and public issues at the local, state, national, and international levels. This year will continue and enhance the efforts that you have initiated over the past decades and have made a more central part of our academic life in recent years. As is the case in our current Year of the Arts and Humanities, the Year of Public Engagement will recognize current faculty, staff, and student initiatives and activities. It will raise the profile of these activities for reasons I have explored with you today. This Year of Public Engagement will honor the first 50 years of President Sandy Boyd's work with and for this institution. It will launch Sandy's next 50 years as The University of Iowa's leader in public engagement.

As in the current Year of the Arts and Humanities, I cannot and should not dictate your conscience and action. I can and should engage you in this process. I offer to the faculty, staff, and students of the University the following suggestions for some areas of focus for the Year of Public Engagement. I ask that you seriously consider these initiatives as well as others, and that we spend the next several months debating and discussing them for a more engaged University and University community.

In addition to maintaining and increasing the teaching, scholarly, creative, and service activities I have outlined today, I ask for your commitment to four additional specific areas.

First, I ask that you consider an increased emphasis and focus on service learning.

Second, I ask the faculty and staff to support UISG and other student initiatives that I have outlined.

Third, I ask that you participate in the new strategic planning process now under way. Our new plan will direct the UI’s course through 2010. I recognize the skepticism that some feel toward strategic planning in academia. Nevertheless, to reflect our ambitions and priorities best, the widest possible participation is necessary. Two open forums will soon take place, and I urge you to attend one. The first forum will be held tomorrow, Thursday, October 14, from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Penn State Room, Room 337, of the IMU. The second forum will be held from 11 a.m. to noon Monday, Oct. 18 in Room 283, Eckstein Medical Research Building. Provost Hogan is skillfully leading this strategic planning effort. Please work with him and the members of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Fourth, I ask that you become engaged with the life of our institution in one further very important way. I ask that we redouble our efforts toward further diversifying our campus in terms of race and ethnicity, gender equity, and many other dimensions of diversity about which you have taught me in the years I have been here. To be truly engaged, the UI must be more representative of our greater society and, thus, more diverse. I ask that the elected leadership of the faculty, staff, and students work with me to establish a Charter Committee on Diversity to bring diversity into the mainstream of campus life, now and far into the future.

The engagement efforts of our University community must be rewarded and recognized. Therefore, I announce today the establishment of the President's Award for State Outreach and Public Engagement. Based on another superb recommendation from President Boyd, the President's Award for State Outreach and Public Engagement will comprise three awards. One each will be given to a student or student group, a staff or staff group, and a faculty or faculty group. The criteria for the award have been developed over the last few months in concert with faculty, staff, and student leadership. Details of award criteria and nomination procedures will be sent to you soon, and I look forward to announcing the first recipients of this new award in the spring semester.

Let me return to themes that I sounded at the beginning of these remarks. Our key mission as a university is the pursuit of knowledge, whether as learners, teachers, researchers, scholars, artists, or support staff. Through this pursuit of knowledge, we best serve our selves, our university, our community, and our world. As we pursue knowledge, I also ask that you join me in the publicly engaged work, in all its dimensions, that we must intensify as a public institution. Please join me in ensuring that now, and into the future, we remain and become even more, an engaged University.

Thank you.