Conversations with the Colleges, November 2 and 4, 2009
November 6, 2009
Conversations with the Colleges 4
Reflections from the Provost's Meetings with Faculty from the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing
I write to provide the campus with an update on the fourth in my series of conversations with the faculty.
On Monday and Wednesday I met with small groups of faculty from both the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing. We met over the lunch hour on Monday at the College of Medicine and on Wednesday at the College of Nursing. The conversation this week allowed an opportunity to discuss an exciting new development involving the UA College of Medicine, University Medical Center and University Physicians Healthcare. This new conversation, that is just now beginning, involves the potential reunification of the mission and vision of University of Arizona College of Medicine, the University Medical Center, and the University Physicians Healthcare. These reunification discussions, if they are successful, will greatly improve the quality of patient care, identify greater efficiencies and lower costs, and improve medical student and resident training opportunities. It will provide an environment in which the University of Arizona College of Medicine and its faculty and the University Medical Center can begin to grow together and take their place among the truly great academic medical centers in the country. The great academic medical centers across the United States serve as the nexus for state-of-the-art health care, patient diagnosis, and treatment requiring the very best sub-specialists to treat the disease and to lead the breakthroughs in medical research that can be quickly translated to improve patient care and cure disease.
The conversation also covered a number of other topics including the historic challenges we face with our budget shortfalls, how to improve cross-college collaborations (especially across the colleges within the Arizona Health Sciences Center), and strategic investments in times of financial stress. We also discussed what we, the faculty, can do as individual citizens of Tucson and the great State of Arizona to help articulate the value of the University of Arizona to our students, our region and our State.
We reviewed, as we have in previous sessions, the dire condition of the UA budget and our loss of nearly $100 million in State appropriations since fiscal year 2008. We talked about what we need to do to continue to sustain and grow Arizona's flagship research institution during these difficult financial circumstances. In the face of declining State support, how do we preserve the quality and excellence of the UA experience and the value of the UA degree? One of the faculty members asked the following question to the group. "What can we, as faculty and as citizens, do to help get the message out to the people of Arizona about the value of the University of Arizona to our students and our community?" The question of how we, as a university community, articulate the value of the "UA Experience" to our students and our State is an important one. While I will address the economic impact of the UA on our region and our State later in this letter, I would first like to begin a discussion across campus about the following: What are the academic values that distinguish the University of Arizona? What is the importance of humanities, social sciences and a liberal arts education at a state flagship research institution? As I have stated before in my reflections from earlier conversations, I firmly believe that a strong and robust humanities and liberal arts education is absolutely central and essential to our land-grant mission. A liberal arts education is the bedrock of all that we hope to achieve as a university community. We all expect our students and graduates - be they graduates from engineering, business, journalism, biology, medicine, nursing, or law - to be the future leaders of this State and our country. And, it is the liberal arts education that gives our students and future leaders the knowledge and experience they will need to navigate and be successful in a global, multicultural, creative economy.
With regard to how we must articulate to the citizens of Arizona about the value of the University of Arizona to the entire State, I share some data from which we should build our message.
Point One: The three Regents institutions, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University, have a combined annual economic impact of more than $6.1 billion on the State's economy. (http://www.1millionsmartjobs.com/proof-of-economic-impact/arizona-university-system/).
Point Two: From a study from the UA Office of Economic Impact completed in 2004, (http://ebr.eller.arizona.edu/research/uaeconimpactfy04.pdf), at the University of Arizona, for every $1 dollar of state-appropriated funds there is generated an additional $7.13 dollars in revenue for the State. From the 2004 data, this includes state-wide UA impact in creating 41,272 jobs, $1.2 billion in earnings and $98.1 million in tax revenues for a total impact of $2.3 billion.
I encourage all of you to share these data with your neighbors, friends and family. They clearly illustrate the message that the University of Arizona is a powerful economic engine for the State and a tremendous return on the investment for the Arizona taxpayer.
I am so very proud of our faculty, appointed professionals, and staff across the entire University of Arizona campus. Every day, you work to ensure that the UA student has the best quality experience possible. You continue to create, discover, educate, and innovate in ways that are awe-inspiring and humbling. Our students continue to achieve the highest honors and graduate with the knowledge and tools they need to change the world. Thank you, our University of Arizona family, for all you do for our students, our State and the world.