10:41 a.m., July 2, 2009----The following article by Provost Tom Apple appeared in the Wilmington News Journal on July 1, 2009.

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Today I began a new role at the University of Delaware, as its ninth provost -- the chief academic officer responsible for instruction, research, and public service programs.

In many ways it is a difficult time to assume such a role. In an economic downturn, public and private investment in higher education, research and development tends to diminish. That's not surprising; education is hardly the only sector to feel the pinch of recession. But it is challenging, because finding our way out of recession requires growing those sectors that drive the knowledge economy, and it is this nation's research universities that are so very integral to this growth.

I have long believed that great universities provide students a transformative experience, helping them discover and pursue their true passions. But great universities don't just transform their students. They transform entire communities.

Certainly, the University of Delaware is having this transformative effect. The University has enormous expertise in the industries powering the 21st century economy, among them environmental science, chemical and materials engineering, biotechnology and bioscience. We are an international leader in alternative energy research and development, particularly solar and wind technologies.

Recession or no, high-growth industries like these will attract investment. By the close of fiscal year 2008, external support of UD research and instruction totaled $162 million, a 25 percent jump in just four years' time, and more than double the dollars invested a decade earlier. Approximately half of that total comes from competitive federal contracts and grants.

This money doesn't simply enrich the University. It goes into UD's interdisciplinary research centers and institutes, where it creates jobs and yields new technologies and innovations. These technologies and innovations, in turn, support the wider Delaware community -- fueling businesses and entrepreneurs -- who further develop and apply the technologies, making new products, processes and materials. This is why every dollar invested in the University of Delaware returns $7 to the state's economy.

Partnerships are a key priority for the University of Delaware, given that they dramatically expand our reach within the state and increase our impact. In March, UD formed the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance with partners Thomas Jefferson University, Christiana Care Health System and Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. The Alliance will focus on translating lab research into clinical practice -- carefully but swiftly -- so that Delawareans may live healthier, fuller and longer lives. The Alliance -- along with substantial biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health -- begins the work of making Delaware and the surrounding region into a health sciences hub, filled with researchers and practitioners capable of winning competitive grant funding.

However, great universities attract far more than dollars to the state. They attract people. Great universities lure internationally known faculty and exceptional students. They attract professionals in the industries well supported by university research. And they attract alumni; I count myself among them. I am a UD graduate, lured back by this dynamic community and the opportunities it offers. I am far from alone. Over the last 20 years, the number of UD graduates choosing to live in Delaware has jumped 163 percent.

We want young Delawareans to be part of the compelling community we're building. But without access to higher education, they simply won't be. A nearly 20-year trend shows that U.S. job growth in high-education industries fully doubles that in low-education industries. Even through the first year of this recession, as the country shed millions of low-education jobs, those jobs generally requiring a four-year college degree climbed.

It's this economic reality that prompted UD's Commitment to Delawareans, a promise of University admission to any in-state high school student who meets application, coursework and grade requirements. This fall, we'll extend our Commitment in a powerful way. We will meet the full demonstrated financial need of enrolled Delawareans -- up to the full cost of tuition, fees, on-campus room and board, and books. And we are working to limit their debt upon graduating to about one-quarter the cost of a four-year UD education.

Perhaps it's little surprise that a good many residents are taking us up on our offer. This year's incoming freshman class includes 24 percent more Delawareans than last year's. This influx will require a significant financial obligation from UD, but we know it's the right thing to do -- for the students, for their families, and, ultimately, for the communities to which we hope they'll return and into which we hope they'll invest.

Great states don't only deserve great universities; they need them. This doesn't mean they come cheaply, and that is an admittedly difficult thing to hear in the midst of a recession. But great universities need support to continue their greatness. And, in the end, the dividends are far higher than the costs.

A few months ago, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel famously said the U.S. couldn't afford to waste a good crisis. The fact is, this tight economic climate gives the University of Delaware a unique opportunity to focus on its priorities -- priorities already articulated in our strategic plan, our Path to Prominence -- and move aggressively in the areas we know will spur not just economic recovery in Delaware but significant economic growth.