Opening Remarks: East Region Spring Conference
By Dr. Russ A. Schultz, Dean, Fine Arts & Communications, Lamar University, Beaumont

Welcome

TACT Eastern Regional Spring Conference

John Gray Library, 8th Floor

February 14, 2004

On behalf of President Simmons, the faculty and administration of Lamar University I am very pleased to welcome you to our campus. We are particularly excited to have all of you visit our campus and see the changes that have taken place. Much like the Ford Car commercial, if you haven’t seen Lamar lately, see us again. We are very proud of the renewed look of our campus, with the new residence halls, the renovations of some of our older facilities and the overall attractiveness of the campus. But that is only the external side of our transformation. The success of our students and dedication of our faculty have spawned a rapid increase in enrollment all over the campus with many of our programs growing like never before. Enrollment this Spring Semester, the largest in our history, shows a 21% increase over just 3 years ago. It is also noteworthy that the spirit of collaboration between faculty and administration is better than any other campus I have had the pleasure to be associated with or visit. So, as you spend your day on campus, please take a moment to ask your Lamar colleagues what’s going on. Be prepared to get an earful of the pride that has come to be Lamar.

We are also pleased to have you here because of the work that you do. Not “punching a clock” like some other careers, our profession has not always received the public praise that we would hope or expect. However, it should be noted that higher education in the United States is the envy of the rest of the world. People from across the globe aspire to come to the US to study and receive a degree from an American University. Throughout the world that is both the key to success and a mark of leadership. Much of the success that we achieve is due to two things; one is the concept of shared governance, where the opportunity and responsibility to run the university is vested with the faculty and the administration. And the second is what you do, that is, vigilantly watch the politics of and about higher education, keeping the faculty informed of those issues that affect their ability to successfully do their jobs and to speak out and represent their interests when necessary. Your vigilance is an important protection of academic freedom, the cornerstone of our academies, and insures the presence of the best possible working conditions, so that we can continue to attract and retain outstanding faculty and provide the highest quality education for our students.

So again, welcome to Lamar University. We hope that your day will be enjoyable and your discussions productive.