August 23, 2010

Dear Howard University Community:

Welcome to a new academic year and a time of promise and possibility.  Howard University is a place where world-class scholarship and commitment to service intersect.

Last year was an extraordinary year as we made important strides in the face of significant challenges. Because of the dedication and commitment of hardworking members of our community – students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends, we accomplished a lot:

  • Receiving full accreditation from the Middle States Commission for Higher Education;
  • Engaging in a full review of our academic programs through the President’s Commission on Academic Renewal (PCAR); this included discussions on the uniqueness of Howard;
  • Successfully overcoming a 22 million deficit and ending the year with a balanced budget;
  • Developing a budget with greater financial accountability;
  • Introducing a modified employee benefits program featuring enhanced savings and online benefits management;
  • Participating in volunteer service on campus, in the local community, around the nation and the world to apply scholarship and to assist underserved populations.
Yes, you have made a difference… and to what end?  At Howard University we are in the business of preparing students for world challenges with a competitive advantage over their peers.  In the year ahead, we must continue the work of renewing our academic programs and be a place where the research we do defines disciplines so that the people we serve are changed as a result.We must be a place where scholars and their protégées not only meet and collaborate but where they agree to commit to use their work as catalysts for new ideas.

It’s not enough to have many academic programs with lofty goals and to be without the resources to realize those goals or without the commitment to excellence they require. Bigger is not necessarily better.Rather, we must be a community focused on our strategic imperatives of continued excellence in teaching and learning, service to students and the world, transformational research and faculty/ staff who know the legacy and care about the mission.

This year, in some ways, will be like every other year: students will study and learn, faculty will teach and research, staff will support and organize and the University will continue to serve.  What will be different, however, is what makes the University thrive -- the energy that you will bring – the momentum that you will offer as we cascade towards the future, standing on the shoulders of the past.  That energy is invaluable in creating a University that gives a top-tier performance in higher education. I thank you in advance. 

Sincerely,

Sidney A. Ribeau