February 28, 2004
Dear Brown faculty, students and staff:
I am delighted to write to you with news of the February meeting of the Brown Corporation. This morning the Corporation met in University Hall and endorsed the Plan for Academic Enrichment. The Plan, as you well know, is the result of over two years of discussion and debate among the various governing bodies of the faculty, students, and staff. It builds on the initiatives, such as expanding the faculty, graduate student support, and need-blind admission, approved by the Corporation in February 2002 and sets forth goals, objectives and proposals to guide our planning and priorities for the next decade and beyond.
Like any good plan, Brown's is a living document that will evolve and change over time. It is, however, a clear statement of the aspirations this community holds for Brown - both our immutable, core values of teaching and scholarship and our loftiest ambitions for the future. We are fortunate to live, work and learn at a distinguished University. We are equally fortunate to have the opportunity, supported by our leaders and our alumni, to seek even greater success in the production and distribution of knowledge. The Plan for Academic Enrichment is designed, above all, to provide Brown faculty and Brown students with the resources, the environment, and the tools they need to be the best scholars, teachers, researchers, and learners they can possibly be. No goal is more central to our purpose, and by endorsing the Plan for Academic Enrichment the Corporation has affirmed that fact and enhanced our ability to fulfill our mission.
I encourage all members of the community to review the Plan, available in its entirety via the web sites indicated below, and the associated documents with news of other actions taken by the Corporation this weekend. I particularly point you to the announcements of the new appointments to the Brown faculty and the appointments of current members of the faculty to named professorships. I am certain all members of the community will join me in welcoming our new faculty members to Brown and congratulating our current colleagues for this significant recognition of their outstanding academic accomplishments.
I would also like to thank Provost Robert Zimmer, Executive Vice President for Planning Richard Spies, and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper for their extraordinary efforts over the past months to bring us to this outcome.
Sincerely,
Ruth J. Simmons
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2003-04/03-082.html