Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008 - (Page 34) I N T E RV I E W “We need to be recognized as being that leader, the pacesetter in more and more areas. It means investing in the right faculty, investing in the right leadership, bringing the right students to campus.” cutting-edge research. I think we need to keep our eyes on those two things: the focus on our core mission and the focus on quality. We’ll work our way through this. The economic cycle is the economic cycle. We’ll manage our way through the next year or so. If we do that right, we’ll come through it stronger than we went into it and we’ll be in a position to benefit when the economy turns around. But we need to be extremely careful in what we do. Georgia Tech is one of the most respected universities in the country now. We cannot sacrifice those advances. We need the support of our alumni. We’re going to need the support of our students and faculty, and we’re going to need some help from the University System of Georgia to maintain that quality and focus on our core mission. Georgia Tech is in good shape. We are moving ahead quite well. I’ve been quoting Will Rogers, who said that even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you’re standing still. That’s something that I’ve taken to heart. I think Georgia Tech is on the right track, and we’re not going to stand still. what is unknowable at this point. If we face a budget contraction of a few percent, then I think we can find that. But if it gets to 4 or 5 or 6 percent or beyond that, then we’re going to have to make some sacrifices. you to make it through Georgia Tech financially,” that really is a commitment that our alumni have made through us for our students. Without that, Georgia Tech is not Georgia Tech. How important are alumni to the success of the Institute? You know, I’ve been asked that question a lot of times. What I’ve said, and what I truly believe, is that oftentimes the alumni and the philanthropy and the support that they give is viewed as the icing on the cake. What I’ve said is really they are the cake itself. If you think about what distinguishes Georgia Tech from a lot of other universities, it is things that have been enabled by our alumni and by philanthropists who have contributed to Georgia Tech. If you look at what we’ve done in the biotechnology complex, the buildings that we have put up, much of that would not have been possible without the contributions and support of our alumni. That’s one of the things that makes Georgia Tech Georgia Tech. If you look at our leading professors, those who have endowed chairs, many of the funds for those chairs have been provided by our alumni. You take those faculty out of the equation and Georgia Tech loses its character, loses its edge. If you look among our students, the scholarships that the students are awarded attract some of the best students in the nation to Georgia Tech. You take those out of the equation and Georgia Tech isn’t Georgia Tech. You look at what the Tech Promise has been able to do for Georgia Tech, where we say to our students, “You maintain your grades and we’ll find a way for Tech Promise was important to President Clough. What causes are important to you? I would like to see Georgia Tech go to the next level. We had a retreat just about a year ago where key administrators and academics got together on campus and asked a series of questions about what will take Georgia Tech to the next level. I forgot who said it but it was that Georgia Tech is characterized — and appropriately characterized — as a fast follower. By that what’s meant is that national trends become apparent in education and research and Georgia Tech is on them very quickly, which is a good thing. We’re very responsive and very quickly attuned to what’s happening at the cutting edge of research and learning and education. Really to go to the next step Georgia Tech needs to be recognized not only as a fast follower but also as a leader, as a trendsetter, as defining the path forward. I think we already do that to some extent, but what we really need to do is strengthen that. We need to be recognized as being that leader, the pacesetter in more and more areas. It means investing in the right faculty, investing in the right leadership, bringing the right students to campus. That’s something that I’m committed to. A second thing that came out of this retreat that I think is true as well is, because of Georgia Can Tech ride through this economic cycle just by carefully monitoring spending or will cutbacks be necessary? We’re going to have to streamline some of our operations. That’s what I mean about coming through this stronger than we went into it. It’s a time for us to step back and to look at what we’re doing and say, “Is this the most effective way to do it? Is this the best way of allocating our resources? Is there a more efficient way that we can do what needs to be done?” It’s a time for self-assessment and for looking for efficiencies. Quite frankly, it depends on 34 Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Fall 2008
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