4:29 p.m., May 9, 2008--Where the University of Delaware stands and where it is headed were among the chief topics addressed by UD President Patrick Harker at a luncheon meeting of the University of Delaware Association of Retired Faculty (UDARF) on May 6 in Clayton Hall.

"You are the heart and soul of UD," Harker said. "We would not even be able to think about the future and where we go from here without all of the hard work of all the people in this room and many others who have brought the University to where it is today."

The next step, Harker said, involves taking UD to a position of national and international recognition that truly reflects its standing as a leading public university.

"During the last nine months we have been conducting a strategic planning initiative," Harker said. "In addition, I also have been running around, covering every inch of the University, trying to get my own sense of what people want."

Harker told UDARF members that he also has been meeting with the UD Board of Trustees to discuss the recommendations outlined in the recently published Report of the Strategic Planning Committee.

"I will be talking more about these recommendations at the May 19 meeting of the Board of Trustees," Harker said. "That is when I will be giving more specifics on the kinds of action that we will be taking."

While all UD colleges and significant units have been asked to come up with a list of five strategic goals to help move UD forward, a comprehensive review of campus facilities also has been initiated.

"There has not been a review of the campus master plan since 1972," Harker said. "The campus is beautiful, and a lot of great things have been done. We need to bring all of these things together and to create an intellectual cohesion between departments and schools around campus."

A review of the University's athletic and recreational facilities by HOK Architects, one of the leading sports architectural groups in the country, also is underway, Harker said.

"We have a very active group of students, and we want to encourage our young people to become involved," Harker said. "Our facilities have not kept up at the varsity and the club level. Doing these things does not mean we are going to win every game and land every research grant, but we have to be competitive. We should always be in the game."

Harker also said that the University is working to welcome its more than 135,000 alumni as part of its overall plan for future success and visibility at the national and international level.

"Our overall general fund contributions are up by 28 percent over last year, and we did this just by going out and inviting people to come to a series of alumni events," Harker said. "People are excited about these things, and they want to be invited. People like this University because it helped to change their lives."

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Tyler Jacobson