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Thank you, George Schaefer and the members of the Board of Trustees. Arlen [Herrell, Undergraduate Student Trustee], you and I are in this together. I am delighted to have this be my first meeting of the Board of Trustees, and contrary to popular belief, I did not bring the weather.
I would like to begin my report, as I hope to at each meeting, with good news. For the record, it is only November, but this has already been an eventful academic year at the University of Cincinnati. Since the start of Autumn Quarter, the University has seen a record freshman class, topping admissions records for the past decade-an 11 percent larger class than enrolled in autumn of 2002.
We have announced that our research funding has topped $309 million-up nearly 19 percent from the previous year, including an increase of more than 27 percent at the Medical Center. We opened the new UC Genome Research Institute, a collaboration among industry, government, and higher education, for a team of world-class researchers dedicated to scientific research to improve drugs and diagnostics.
Then we accepted a grant of $25.2 million from Ohio's Third Frontier Project to fund a Center for Computational Medicine at the UC College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. As if that weren't enough, we earned a grant of $9.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop one of only four Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers in the nation at UC and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
We accepted an invitation for the University of Cincinnati to join the Big East athletics conference, which is also a very strong academic conference.
And, we began work on developing an Academic Master Plan.
Let me say briefly that on October 15, at the invitation of the All University Faculty, I presented the general outlines of a process to develop a plan to guide the University's evolution over the next decade to come. I suggested that we model this process on the Campus Master Plan-which clearly demonstrates the institution's ability to accomplish strategic objectives-and that the process should be inclusive, data-driven, cognizant of ongoing strategic efforts, and directed by an appropriately representative steering committee. And, I would add to that-conclusive. We expect to complete our work in the late spring, by the end of this academic year.
Since October 15th, a number of activities have moved this project forward. The officers of the University engaged in Cabinet meetings in frank and open discussion on the objectives and process required to achieve success. Efforts are underway to conduct the planning process in a manner befitting a prototypical 21st Century university -- that is to say, paperless. We will utilize the capabilities of the online Blackboard system, demonstrated in recent months to the Board, to document our conversation. Work has begun on assembling the data necessary for an objective analysis of the University's strengths and potential, and invitations have gone out to a representative group of officers, deans, faculty, and students to participate on December 8th in a listening session, at which time plans and assignments will be clarified.
So, as the planning process develops, I will report regularly to the Board and will apprise the Board of opportunities to participate as we develop a blueprint for the future of the University of Cincinnati.
Thank you, George.
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