We had some wonderful accomplishments over the last year that have put us in a great position for the FY002-03, and we have an exciting year coming up.  I’d like to talk about where we are – which is based on the accomplishments of the past year – and then about where we are headed in the upcoming academic year.

We’ve had some major achievements recently that put the University in a strong position as we start this fall semester.

OUR POSITION AS WE START THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
 

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

We are starting this academic year with three new programs on campus – biology, international studies: global technology, and the MBA.

We are also increasing our “export” of programs, as part of the University System’s efforts to increase access, around the state, to higher education.  These programs are being referred to as “4-4-2” programs – 4-year colleges offering 4-year degrees on 2-year campuses.  To date, Southern Polytechnic is the leading purveyor in the state in this area, with arrangements to offer at least one of our bachelor’s degree programs at Gainesville College, Middle Georgia College, Floyd College, Georgia Perimeter College, and the Gwinnett University Center.

In particular, we’ll have two new “exports” this fall – offering our BS degree in Information Technology at the Gwinnett University Center and offering a new “+2” bachelor’s degree in Information Technology at Floyd College.  The Board of Regents recognizes Southern Polytechnic’s role in providing these high-demand degrees at other locations, and we’ll have a total of nearly $300,000 additional support for these two programs next year.

As further evidence of the central role that teaching plays at our institution, the Center for Teaching Excellence is scheduled to open later this fall.  This new center, led by Director Scott Tippens (Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology) and with a geographic location in Building H, will provide a variety of types of support for faculty regarding the teaching and learning process.  Nineteen faculty were appointed as “Fellows” of this new center early in the summer, and their plans for work during the upcoming year be featured later this morning, in this building.  I hope you’ll all have a chance to look at their preliminary work and talk with these faculty about their plans for the upcoming year.
 

STUDENT COMPETITIONS

Our student teams continue to do well in regional, national, and international competitions.

In June, the Supermileage Team (including students from Mechanical Engineering Technology) was part of the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Supermileage Competition – for the third year in a row, Southern Polytechnic students won the best design award; they’ve won this every year that the team has competed.

You may remember that last year’s mileage was 472 miles per gallon.  This year, it nearly doubled to 742 miles per gallon.  As our students get better each year, so does the competition; this year, our students placed 6th overall.  First place went to the University of California – Berkeley – with 1,068 miles per gallon.

Students from both Mechanical and Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology competed in the International Aerial Robotics Competition two weeks ago.  They placed third in static judging, and they, too, received the overall Best Design Award.  Is there a pattern here?

The student teams for the steel bridge, concrete bowling bowl, concrete canoe, and surveying were all strong competitors this year, too.

And the Architecture Design-Build Studio received an award of excellence from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission for their Reynoldstown Garden.
 

ENROLLMENT

Enrollment is looking good for fall.  Of course, we still have lots of students who haven’t registered yet, but our best guess is that we will have 3,650 students this fall – that’s a 2.6% increase over last fall, our highest enrollment since semester conversion, and a solid step up in our trend of enrollment growth.

Of particular note is the overall enrollment increase in Architecture - which is certainly linked to the new building.  We also expect increased overall enrollments in Information Technology and Software Engineering, which is good news for these new majors.

It’s too early to tell, but anecdotal information indicates a strong interest in our new MBA program – and I’ve certainly been hearing from people in the community who read Mohammed Obeidat’s statement in the Marietta Daily Journal on Monday that we’re ready for a 1000 new students!
 

STUDENT SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES

We are starting this year with a number of new ways to serve the students who are enrolled here – I’m going to mention only a couple of them.

The merging of Career Services and Counseling functions has worked well.  The new location in the Student Center has greatly improved access and awareness of the services that are available, and the staff has developed some great programs and workshops.  If you haven’t stopped by to see their new space in this building, please make a point of checking it out.

A year ago, some people were offering dire warnings about the impact the new mandatory meal plan would have on enrollment – mandatory, I would emphasize, only for those students who live in the traditional residence halls on campus and with considerable flexibility in the level of the plans.

I am pleased to report that this fall we expect a record number of students returning to live in the residence halls.  For the upcoming academic year, Howell Hall has been converted to an entirely first-year student residence; the FYRE program (First-Year Residential Experience) has been expanded to serve the increasing number of on-campus freshmen.

And, in the area of student activities, this is the year that we will have our first women’s intercollegiate sport:  women’s basketball.  Many of you saw the front-page, above-the-fold article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in July about this new program, in an article about the efforts this University is making to recruit and retain more women students.

We have a new head coach, Alise Staude, and assistant coach, Becky Wheatly;  they’re here today, and I’d like to recognize them now and welcome them to campus.  The opening game for both the men’s and women’s teams will be at home, the evening of November 4.  That will be a record-setting date in this school’s history.

As Dallas has said to me repeatedly:  It's about time we got a team that I can talk to in the locker room!
 

FACILITIES

On the facilities front, the new Architecture building and new Physical Plant buildings are complete and on-line.  The Architecture building, in particular, has brought a lot of attention to campus.  We’ve already had a number of groups come to campus to hold their meetings in that space, ranging from architects to the Marietta Redevelopment Task Force.  Chancellor Meredith has visited it.  This fall, the facilities officers from the entire University System will have part of their annual meeting in the building.  And we’re working to get a meeting of the Board of Regents on campus – an event that can only occur once every 17 years.

I had the opportunity, at the June meeting of the Board of Regents,
to be one of 11 campus presidents making presentations to the Board for new buildings to go on the Regents’ five-year capital outlay plan.  My request was for a new academic building to house Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology, on the site where the old architecture building (Building I) is located.  Of the 11 presentations, only three projects were added to the list – two promised significant private funding, to augment the state funding, and the third had its accreditation threatened if they didn’t get some new space – but I think we made a good show.

My presentation benefited greatly from the help of David Stone, in the Center for Instructional Technology (who also helped me with today’s presentation, as you’ll see in a moment), from the advice of Professor Dick Hahn about how to structure a presentation, and from the feedback of many of you who came to my “rehearsal” and made great suggestions.  The presentation I ultimately gave to the Regents bore little relationship to the version you saw on campus – and the changes were all improvements.  I want to thank the University community, again, for the help you gave me in preparing that presentation.

I have every reason to think we’ll have the opportunity to try again next year – and we’ll have an even stronger presentation then.

We’ve begun the process of updating our facilities plan to support a request for Phase II of the University Commons, to provide additional privatized apartment-style housing for students.  The strong demand for on-campus housing this fall will certainly support our proposal.

Statewide budget reductions have severely affected the funding category called MRR (Major Repair and Rehabilitation).  Our director of facilities management is a genius in figuring out how to stretch resources, and we will be better off this next year than many other campuses.  Anton Kashiri has already figured out how to accomplish a number of projects this year, including replacing the Library cooling tower.

The entrance to this building (Wilson Student Center) is scheduled for restoration over the next few months, and much of the Student Center will be recarpeted.  This project is expected to be completed by January 2003.

Building E (Physics, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences) has undergone some major remodeling, mostly for physics labs and classrooms.  Additional work in that building, for chemistry and biology labs, will be completed this year – we expect by December.  Our ability to complete this project is due, in no small part, to the hard work of Anton Kashiri and his staff, in figuring out how to make it happen.

Other projects already scheduled for completion over the next year include an expanded parking lot next to the gym (and across from the new Architecture building), renovations of the soil/materials labs in Civil Engineering Technology, and design of fire alarm upgrades for the Student Center, the Administration Building, and the Library.

For the last several years, I have emphasized – in this forum –the importance of increasing our visibility.  One of the issues that we have all discussed, often, has been the problem of visitors finding their way around campus – the lack of clear, informative signs on campus.  A campus committee worked hard last year, with outside consultants, to develop a new signage and wayfinding program.  You’ll be seeing the new signs soon, and the program should be fully implemented on campus by December.

Directional signs on the campus are one part of the solution to this problem.  Another part is to have clearer signage at the entrances to campus – signs that have an impact and make a statement about the technology-emphasis of this University.  We’ve been working with a group of partners to pursue this goal, including the Student Government Association, the City of Marietta, the Board of Regents, and private donors, and I expect we’ll see progress over the next year.
 

RESOURCES

You’ll remember that obtaining external resources has also been a high priority for this University.

Faculty and staff have played a central role in helping us pursue that goal, and I want to thank all of you who made contributions to the Foundation or the Alumni Association last year.  Last year, the faculty/staff campaign raised nearly $44,000, with a remarkable 59% participation.  The average individual contribution was $193, and they ranged up to $4,000.

This level of giving is a powerful sign of your support for this University, and it makes a strong statement to the Foundation and Alumni Association Boards.  Your support gives the University leverage to ask other donors for their support, and it means a lot.  A lot.  I hope that when we launch the 2002 faculty/staff campaign, in a couple of weeks, you’ll all help increase both the percentage participation and the level of support.  The faculty/staff campaign was important in helping us raise a record amount of money for this University in the 2002 fiscal year.

I’m optimistic about our fund-raising efforts over the next year, too.  We have a good staff in place in the Advancement Office, and we have an exciting opportunity that I am pleased to announce to you today.  (I announced this to the Foundation Board yesterday.)  An anonymous donor has extended a “Challenge Grant” to Southern Polytechnic’s Foundation:  If the Foundation is able to raise one-million dollars by December 2003 – the donor will contribute half a million dollars – $500,000.

The donor has been remarkably generous in making this challenge grant and in leaving the details up to the University.  The funds that are raised to meet this challenge can be used for naming opportunities or for whatever purposes the Foundation and the University decide – and that’s a conversation we’ll need to have very soon.

Average contributions, by faculty and staff, of $193 won’t get us to $1 million – not unless we have 100% participation by an employee base of considerably more than 5,000 people!  We will need six- or seven-figure gifts.  Of course, all contributions are welcome and needed.  Given the flexibility that the donor has given us, all contributions can count – but, additionally, we’ll be looking for major gifts to help us reach our goal.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this type of support for the University – for the commitment to the University and the belief in what we’re doing here.  This challenge gift is testimony to the many good things that are happening here, and your role in making this a place that is generating this kind of external support has been critical.

Please remember that every $10 contributed in the next 17 months will leverage another $5 – a 50% bonus to the University for all contributions.  I thank the faculty and staff for your role in helping us get to this place.
 

SCHOLARSHIP/GRANTS

Faculty and administrators have also been successful over the last year in bringing other types of resources to campus – through grants and contracts.  For example, the completion of Goizueta Foundation funding in the last fiscal year brought another $500,000 to the SPSU Foundation.

Right now, we have an all-time high number of four National Science Foundation grants on campus.  Meg Dillon, in Mathematics, has an NSF grant to explore new ways of teaching calculus.  Julie Newell, in Social and International Studies, is working on a project related to the history of science in the United States.  Patrick Bobbie, in Computing and Software Engineering, has NSF funding for a research collaboration in software engineering between Southern Polytechnic and Kennesaw Mountain and South Cobb High Schools.  And Ron Koger (Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services) has a grant to support scholarships for students studying science, math, and engineering.

With funding from the Board of Regents, the ICAPP project with Lockheed Martin, to retrain their engineers to become software engineers, will continue through December.  At that point, more than 70 people will have graduated from the program.  This project continues to bring SPSU visibility in terms of our partnerships with business and industry - and the ways in which we are meeting the workforce needs of Georgia.
 

INFRASTRUCTURE

We are also starting the new year with some significant steps forward in other areas on campus that support our overall mission.

When the staff and administrative salary increases are implemented in October, we will have brought all classified staff up to at least the minimum for their job classification.  We still need to attend to other issues in the staff salary structure, but this has been an important goal for the University ever since the completion of the staff “compensation and classification” study almost two years ago;  this year, the Human Resources Department will be updating that original study to ensure that we have valid data on staff salaries relative to current market conditions and inflation.

A salary equity study has just been started to address issues on the faculty side, and there will be opportunities for all faculty who are interested to contribute to the data-gathering part of this process early this fall.

As a campus, we are beginning this academic year using significantly more technology for managing our resources.  The Facilities Department has implemented the new web-based software for work orders and preventive maintenance.  The University Police Department has an automated records system.  And Fiscal Affairs has successfully completed the conversion of our financial systems software to PeopleSoft.

I’ve talked with a lot of people on other campuses in the University System, and I know that our staff in Fiscal Affairs has managed the change to PeopleSoft with minimal disruption to campus services.  I’d like to publicly thank them for their great work in making this happen.  You all are doing a great job.

Our use of technology on campus is also expanding in our use of information and our communications.  We will soon complete the conversion to a new secure standard for the network that will open the campus network to secure laptop and wireless access for students.  Southern Polytechnic has been approved to run a pilot project for a voice-over-IP telephone system.  We will be the first campus in the University System to try this, and we’ll be one of the first institutions in higher education to pilot this particular system.  The new system will ultimately save a considerable amount of money, and students and faculty in several academic programs, including electrical and computer engineering technology, will be engaged in evaluating and testing the system – which has the vendor pretty excited.

The Curriculum Advising and Program Planning module of Banner, which we have been working on for the last 6 months or so, will be available for faculty use some time this fall.  This module will provide faculty and students with access to a comprehensive degree-planning tool that should significantly improve the quality of advising on campus.
 

BUDGET ISSUES

In describing the generally positive position we are in, as we begin the new academic year, I need to also mention the statewide budget situation.

This year’s state budget started out with a 5% reduction relative to FY02, plus an additional 1% “holdback” – which is another way of reducing the budget without using the word “cut.”  You already know from the news media that state revenues have declined for the last 13 consecutive months.  Last week, Governor Barnes directed all state agencies to cut budgets by another 2%.

We’re in the process of considering how we will meet these additional budget reductions for FY03 and waiting for any additional information that may come from the state or the System Office.  I expect that our strategies will include careful consideration of all expenditures, evaluation of each vacant position that comes open and the probability that they may be held open longer than normal, and an increased focus on recruitment and retention of students.  The other rule about dealing with the budget situation is:  No Whining.

The state’s current budget issues are likely to continue – and perhaps worsen – into FY04, but, beyond that, the future begins to grow brighter.  Georgia’s budget picture gets rosier at the same time that this University should begin to reap the financial benefits of the enrollment increases that began last year.  We’ll all need to keep the faith over this fiscal year and next, but the fiscal projections look distinctly better after FY04.  For this year and next: keep your seatbelts on.
 

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

The state budget notwithstanding, we’re starting this academic year from a strong foundation.  I’d like to spend a couple of minutes looking forward, talking about our priorities for the 2002-2003 year.
 

THE HEDGEHOG

There is a concept that is popular in the business world right now that is relevant to our efforts to clearly define who we are and what we do here at Southern Polytechnic.  The concept is referred to as a “hedgehog,” which comes from the idea, outlined in an essay by Isaiah Berlin, called The hedgehog and the fox.  The theory is that the world can be divided into hedgehogs and foxes, based on an ancient parable.  “The fox knows many things.  The hedgehog knows one big thing.”

When challenged, the fox has many ideas, many defenses, most of them based on speed.  The hedgehog, on the other hand, is simple and consistent.  He rolls into a perfect ball – a simple, unifying response.  And it works every time.  I’m not going to elaborate the entire model here, but it offers a way to identify the core of what any organization is doing – of what they are about.  For anyone who may be interested, the concept is elaborated in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, published in 2001.

The hedgehog concept is about understanding what we can be the best in the world at doing.  It isn’t a goal or strategy – it’s an understanding.

The senior staff had a retreat last week, and we wrestled with this question at some length.  I’d like to share with you what we came up with:

Here’s a summary of the “hedgehog concept”; it’s the intersection of three elements:

What we are deeply passionate about,
What we can be the best in the world at,
What drives our economic engine.

The second element:  What can we be the best in the world at?  Applying technology (to solve real world problems).  We talk about this in lots of ways, too:  hands-on” experience; practical education; and cooperative education and internships.

The application of technology characterizes our programs.  It seems self-evident in the programs in engineering technology and the sciences.  But it also applies to international studies, technical communications, architecture, and management.  This emphasis is what makes the University unique – and we can be the best in the world at it.

Third:  What drives our economic engine?  Superior students (in sufficient quantities to sustain the programs we offer).  We talk about this in many ways.  But we don’t want just any enrollment.

You all know that statistic about how our freshmen have the third highest SAT scores in the University system;  if you consider only the state and regional universities in Georgia, we’re number one.  That’s a great statistic.  Coach Staude has been wrestling with this in her recruiting, but it’s a great problem to have.  Our economic engine is driven by enrollment, yes…but not just any enrollment.  It’s the excellent students that make us run.

This is the core of what we do, at the intersection of these circles.

The “hedgehog concept” is useful for clarifying who we are…and who we aren’t.  It’s not a strategy or a goal – it’s an understanding .  And, I hope, it’s a shared understanding.  I am sure we will be able to refine this and improve on it over the coming year, but this seems like a good place to start:

A clear understanding that Southern Polytechnic really cares about taking superior students and developing in them mature, balanced minds so that they can effectively apply technology to solve problems in a wide range of disciplines.

This school has always prepared students to be ready to work.  Some employers already think we’re the best in the world at that.  We want to continue to make that true.

One of our challenges, in conjunction with understanding who we are, is to also be able to articulate who we aren’t…using this framework to help us focus both on what we can and should be doing…and using it to say “no” to things that are outside the scope of who we are.

In a way, we’ve already applied this principle in developing recent proposals for new programs.  Consider the ones that are starting this fall.  Our new biology major doesn’t look like one you’d find at another school.  Neither does our newly named MBA program.  And you won’t even find a program in “International Studies: Global Technology” anywhere else.  All of these programs are about taking superior students, helping them to develop balanced, mature knowledge and understanding, in order to apply technology to solve real problems.

No other school in Georgia can say that.  Few schools in this country would try to say that.  And Southern Polytechnic can be the best in the world at it.
 

THE FIVE BIG ROCKS

So what do we do now?

At last week’s senior staff retreat, we focused on identifying the short list of activities that we would concentrate on this coming year.  I confess that when we started the day-long meeting, I had a list of 30 goals that I thought we should pursue.

As a group, the senior staff brought a different perspective. (That’s a polite way of saying they rebelled against my idea.)  They persuaded me that what we really need is a short list of goals for the year – with clear responsibility and accountability for each goal.

I also expected, going into the meeting, that our focus would be on the essential elements of what a university looks like – my 30 goals were organized around how Southern Polytechnic could develop more of the characteristics of a university.  The senior staff was emphatic that we should define the goals in terms of what our university should look like.  Not just any university.  Our university.  The hedgehog.

And they are right.

That’s when we stopped what we were doing and worked on the “hedgehog” concept, as a way of sharing our understanding of what this University is about.

So – we ended the day with five goals for this year.  These five goals are our highest priorities for moving this university toward the best that we can become:  a place where outstanding students develop balanced, mature minds and learn how to apply technology.

There’s a story that many of you have heard before, but it is so relevant to my next point that I’m going to tell it again.

There was a teacher who set a beaker on her desk and filled it with big rocks.  She then asked the class “Is the beaker full?”  The students said it was.

The teacher then added gravel to beaker.  The gravel filled the spaces between the big rocks.  “Now, class,” the teacher said, “is the beaker full now?”  They agreed it was.

Then, the teacher poured sand into the beaker, and the sand filled the spaces between the pieces of gravel.  “Is it full now?” she asked?  The class said yes.

Finally, the teacher poured water into the beaker and filled it to the brim.  “Class,” she said, “this demonstration has an application to your life.  Do you know what it is?”

A student in the front row waved his hand wildly, begging her to call on him.  “Johnny?”

“The message is that, no matter how full your life is, there’s always room for more!”

The teacher sighed.  “No, Johnny.  The point is that, unless you find room for the important things in your life – the big rocks – first, you’ll never have room for them at all!”

I’d like to list the “big rocks” for Southern Polytechnic for the upcoming year.  In a way, this is a little unfair, because the senior staff is working on the details of pursuing these goals right now, and we’ll  be discussing them next week, so I can’t give you details right now – but I can promise that they are forthcoming

1. The first rock is to have viable academic programs.

Southern Polytechnic needs to provide academic programs that respond to student interest, economic demand, and changes in knowledge, application, and societal needs.  Elements of this goal will include: using rigorous, regular program reviews to assess and make decisions about the relevance and sustainability of current programs; developing new programs that respond to new or changing needs – and which fit the “hedgehog” idea; engaging the business community in providing a wide range of support for the academic programs; and ensuring that, at a school that is best in the world at applying technology, we are applying technology appropriately in our academic programs

2.  The second rock is a strong sense of place.

This goal is characterized by student engagement in extra-curricular activities and more campus life in general – the campus should be a place where students want to be, beyond the classroom, laboratory, and studio.  It’s a community (both on-campus and off) that is proud of the University.  It’s a place where faculty and staff are engaged in community, where there is loyalty and genuine commitment from faculty, staff, and students – and by alumni and retired and emeritus members of the community.  Where there is a strong sense of place, there is pride in what we can do that you can feel when you’re on campus.

3. The third rock is enrollment to support our mission.

SPSU needs to have a sustainable balance between available resources and programs and services provided.  We talk about needing to increase enrollment – but there’s an unspoken assumption there.  What we really want is to have the enrollment (and therefore revenues from tuition and from the state allocation, which is based heavily on enrollment) be sufficient for what we want to do here.  Enrollment includes recruitment – of those superior students – as well as retention, which has many moving parts, embracing everything from housing and food service to the quality of academic advising.  There are a lot of pieces to this “rock,” too.

4.  The fourth rock is having private resources to support the mission.

This University needs to have sufficient resources within its control to support its programs and to protect the institution against fluctuations in annual sources of public, private, or tuition support. There are many elements to this goal, as well, including raising funds, developing an endowment, strengthening the Foundation, involving the alumni, and ensuring that the information and technology support good stewardship of the resources we have.

5. The last rock is a campus-wide ethic of customer service.

Customer service is all about one of our fundamental values – respect.  Strong customer service characterizes a mature organization, which we hope reflects the mature minds studying, teaching, and working here.

We all have anecdotal stories about students – or employees – who leave because they were treated rudely, or poorly, or not served at all.  The quality of customer service affects our ability to attract and retain faculty, staff, and students, the understanding of who we are and what we do here, what we value, and our ability to seek outside support for our mission

Customer service will be a campus-wide focus for the upcoming year.
 

The details of these goals are a work in progress;  the next step in the development of these five leading goals is being developed right now by senior staff members.

One of the critical elements of ensuring progress on these goals is having one person clearly identified as the one person who will be held responsible and accountable for each of these goals.

Clearly, Sandy Pfeiffer, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, will be accountable for the academic programs.

The “sense of place” is, at first glance, slightly less obvious.  This is an issue that has fingers all over the campus.  So who better to be responsible for the overall goal than Ron Koger, Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services?

Enrollment is certainly a goal that falls within his area of responsibility as well.

Patricia Garrett, Executive Director for Advancement, is the best person to be responsible for the goal of bringing private resources to the campus.

And Patrick McCord, Vice President for Business and Finance, is responsible for the campus-wide focus on customer service.

I have two additional observations about this designation of accountability.  One is that none of these goals fall exclusively within a traditional area of responsibility, given the University’s organizational structure.  Each of these people, in carrying out their work this year, will be engaging colleagues from across the University – in all the divisions – in the efforts.  We can’t let the traditional divisional boundaries get in the way of these important goals.

The other observation is that lots of people, across the University, are responsible for critical pieces of accomplishing these goals.  My identification of the people who are accountable for these goals does not mean that they are someone more important than those who don’t have such designated responsibility, or that, if I didn’t assign someone responsibility, there’s an issue.  These assignments simply clarify a central point for coordination and implementation.  Success in meeting these goals will require the collaborative efforts of every member of the University community.

The senior staff will be talking about the details of these goals next week, and I want to encourage anyone here who would like to make suggestions or offer ideas to contact the appropriate person.
 

CONNECTION TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN

Now here’s one additional observation:  most (not all, but most) of these goals (the five rocks) have been consistently part of the draft strategic plan.  If you doubt me, please go back and look at the draft plan from last April, which is on the University’s web site.  What you’re looking at here (the “five big rocks”) is the basis for our strategic plan for the upcoming academic year.

Our strategy is to share a common understanding that we can be the best in the world at what we do.  We will select a small number of goals that will help us become the best in world (according to the definition of our university).  We will identify one person to be responsible for getting us to each goal, and we will work collaboratively to accomplish these goals.  And we’ll say yes – and no – based on the primary importance of accomplishing those goals and becoming the best in the world at what we do.

I think you can expect to see a new version of the strategic plan very soon.  It will be radically restructured from the previous draft, but it will include most of the same information.

We have our work cut out for us, but it’s clear what needs to happen.

The plan is there.

The big rocks are in the beaker.

With your help – with everyone working together – we can do it.

And we can be the best in the world.

Thanks for getting us here – and thanks for what’s going to happen this year.