Self-study Themes
This study will examine the university in service to the public good; that is, as a public entity serving in a broader role to help both individuals and groups, near and far. Six self-study themes have emerged from campuswide engagements in Spring 2007 (each link will scroll to the relevant section):
- Rethinking the Public Research University
- Integrating the Processes of Discovery and Learning
- Creating an Impact and Shaping the Global Agenda
- Preparing Global Citizens and Leaders of the Future
- Building a Welcoming, Respectful and Empowered University Community
- Institutional Integrity: Being a Responsible and Sustainable Public Institution
Rethinking the Public Research University
This theme provides an opportunity to engage the campus and the community in a more public conversation about the overarching theme of the study. The separate ideas encompassed within each of the terms “public,” “research,” and “university” are fundamental. This discussion is essential to the university’s self definition as the model of “the new public research university” under the auspices of the Wisconsin Idea.
- What will define the “new public research university” of the future?
- Who is our public?
- How is/can/should the university be of service to the public?
- How can the university be a public space?
- How can the university become more accessible and better serve Wisconsin citizens?
- How might the Wisconsin Idea guide our articulation of our future role and responsibility to a global society?
Theme 1 update video, Monday, February 25, 2008, Vice Chancellor for Administration Directors meeting
Integrating the Processes of Discovery and Learning
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is renowned for being a preeminent research university that provides students (undergraduate, graduate, professional) with extraordinary learning opportunities. How can we build on those strengths by enhancing the integration of research and learning? Knowledge adds value by being disseminated through learning processes, and by being applied in ways that impact our lives. This theme embodies academic excellence as the core of the university’s institutional mission and is intended to encompass undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.
- How will we enhance the integration of the teaching and research missions in our new “public university”?
- What will be the new view of where, when and how research and learning are done?
- How can we get research findings transferred into learning opportunities in innovative, flexible and timely ways?
- What does the “classroom” of the future look like?
- How are research and learning integrated to best address world problems and improve the quality of our lives?
- How do we effectively strengthen and reward our culture of collaboration and interdisciplinary discovery and learning from classroom to community?
- How can we enhance graduate education through a reexamination of our processes of discovery and learning?
Theme 2 update video, Monday, February 25, 2008, Vice Chancellor for Administration Directors meeting
Creating an Impact and Shaping the Global Agenda
What we do at the university affects Wisconsin and the world, and the world affects us. The university is uniquely positioned to play a leadership role in research and education about many global issues such as health, security, poverty, social justice, energy, and the environment. By focusing our extraordinary talents and resources on major global issues, we can work with and through others to both impact those issues and, in the process, help shape the global agenda. The following questions guide the development of both a general model to serve multiple issues, as well as an in-depth model for one issue. We have chosen environmental sustainability to serve as a starting point for an in-depth model.
- How might the university effect change at a global scale by being leaders in addressing issues of global significance?
- What role is appropriate for a public research institution in educating and informing the public on issues of global significance?
- In what ways should we consider the interrelationships among global issues?
- How can we support learning and discovery that has an impact on global issues?
- How can we develop nimble processes that allow us to address critical questions in a timely way?
Theme 3 update video, Monday, February 25, 2008, Vice Chancellor for Administration Directors meeting
Preparing Global Citizens and Leaders of the Future
The university and its graduates enjoy a long tradition and reputation of working to serve the community and the world. Citizens and leaders in a global society will rely upon a suite of multicultural competencies. This theme addresses our role in preparing, educating and nurturing the entire university community to be leaders for a future that is increasingly global and diverse.
- What does it mean to be a global citizen within the context of the univbersity’s mission?
- What are attributes that we believe define excellent leaders and citizens in a global community?
- How do we develop these attributes to empower our students to be both citizens and leaders to serve our global community?
- How do we best support the development of our staff and faculty to be global citizens and leaders?
Theme 4 update video, Monday, February 25, 2008, Vice Chancellor for Administration Directors meeting
Building a Welcoming, Respectful and Empowered University Community
This theme focuses on the power of community when comprised of empowered individuals who achieve their own potentials. It also addresses our desire to be diverse in ways that mirror changes happening in the broader society.
- What does a welcoming, respectful, empowered university community look like? What would be key indicators?
- What are opportunities or existing successful programs to build upon?
- What are the impediments to creating and sustaining a more inclusive campus community, and what will it take to overcome those challenges?
- How can the university better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse community and society?
- How can the university increase the awareness and connectivity of its multiple sub-communities on campus?
- How do we turn words into action and ensure that processes have integrity?
Theme 5 update video, Monday, February 25, 2008, Vice Chancellor for Administration Directors meeting
Institutional Integrity: Being a Responsible and Sustainable Public Institution
This theme captures our institutional responsibility to model the vision we wish to become to the public.
- How do we operate ethically, and with integrity and transparency?
- What are the values we want the university to model?
- How are we as an institution modeling the values that we hold?
- How can we demonstrate or be held accountable for our pursuits?
- How can we become a “living laboratory” for developing best practices for integrating our values into our policies and practices, so that others will look to us as a model?
- How can we create better alignment between what we say we value and how we reward behaviors?
Theme 6 update video, Monday, February 25, 2008, Vice Chancellor for Administration Directors meeting