I would like to take this opportunity to thank the campus, the Southern Nevada community, the Board of Regents, and the chancellor for their recent support of my contract extension. I was grateful for the unanimous vote by the board to extend my tenure as president to 2008, which will enable me and my leadership team to continue advancing the mission of our growing institution. Although I am naturally delighted by this development, I must note for the record that I believe that this affirming vote of confidence is chiefly attributable to the recent accomplishments of the university as a whole. As a result, I share this achievement with the entire campus and those in the community who have so generously contributed their time and resources to promote the success of UNLV.

I also appreciate receiving the feedback provided by those who participated in my evaluation, which is an integral part of the contract renewal process; the input of faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and community leaders into the evaluation is invaluable and has produced some very useful information about our challenges and our strengths. I feel it is important that I share this feedback with the university's key stakeholders, as it offers some significant insights into both what we have accomplished and what lies ahead.

By way of background, I should note that two independent but complementary evaluations were conducted as part of the contract renewal process — one through procedures prescribed by UCCSN policy and the other performed on campus through the Faculty Senate — and both offered extremely valuable feedback. The first was conducted by a committee chaired by Dave Frohnmayer, the president of the University of Oregon, who led two regents and two alumni as they followed UCCSN evaluation procedures. This included reviewing various background materials, such as planning documents, my self evaluation, and numerous reports, and conducting extensive interviews with representatives of virtually all of the university's major constituent groups, including faculty and department chairs; students and student leaders; deans and administrators; classified and professional staff; and alumni, donors, and members of the community. A total of 70 individuals from these various and critical constituencies participated in the process.

The evaluation report produced through this process included a variety of complimentary (even glowing) observations about our achievements. It noted the visionary and transformative nature of our endeavors and indicated that what distinguishes these endeavors is our ability to translate and implement our vision into effective programs, clearly stated priorities, and carefully weighed choices.

For example, the report acknowledges the university's "tripling of external research support, a robust capital construction program, the breadth of new program and curricular offerings (including major schools of law, dentistry, and architecture, among others), and the impressive demonstration of new sources of private support." Of particular interest to the committee also was a campus culture that greets growth and change with a spirit of enthusiasm. "The campus community, especially its new leadership team, is excited by the prospects for its growth and maturity. The decisions made to this point cumulatively are responsible for the rapid growth in UNLV's resources, facilities, programs, and stature. Unlike many campuses in the United States, UNLV has embraced change and growth as positive values."

I was pleased to find that the report referred time and again to the existence of energy, support, and widely shared motivating values in the campus environment. The report states, "The remarkable growth in national stature of UNLV is reflected in the universally praised academic quality of its new hires, the excellence of its leadership team, and optimism and pride which is shared broadly internally and externally."

While this kind of praise was prevalent throughout the report, one should not assume that critical feedback was lacking from the evaluation team's comments.Many challenges were identified, however none were of a surprising nature to me or to anyone with current knowledge of the campus. I believe they were summarized most succinctly in the following paragraph: "President Harter's agenda is not without challenges that will require focused attention. ... Growth management remains an opportunity but also a road difficult to navigate. Translating the research focus into messages which gain political and public support is an ongoing challenge. Student services are perceived by some to require a greater customer ethic.Media coverage has not reflected the institution's growing national stature."

Some of these constructive criticisms were echoed in the survey results from faculty and staff members in the evaluation conducted for the UNLV Faculty Senate. The survey was designed to measure my performance in achieving a number of objectives, including most of the university's strategic goals. Although I was pleased to find that I received favorable ratings on many items, the need for greater infrastructure support for students, faculty, and staff was identified.More specifically, improving our customerservice orientation in the business we conduct with students and providing greater internal support services for faculty are at issue.

I want to assure the campus and the community that the challenges cited in both evaluations are being explored fully, taken seriously, and will be addressed. I have already initiated discussions about several of these points, and I consider myself accountable for setting concrete goals directed at producing timely and positive results. I am clear that a favorable evaluation does not allow us to rest on our laurels; many challenges lie ahead, and I look forward to meeting them with the same vigorous, practical approach that I have traditionally adopted.

Additionally, I have outlined several goals that I plan to pursue in the coming years, and I would like to share them with you as well. These goals were included in my self evaluation, which was part of the evaluation process, and, though many of you may be familiar with them, I believe they serve as a concise reminder of some of UNLV's most important projects. Thus, in the coming years, I plan to accomplish the following:

• Continue to pursue the planning for a capital campaign through the UNLV Foundation with the goal of significantly raising the bar for private giving among members of the UNLV extended family.
  
  
• Continue to be actively involved in shaping the campus physical master plan for future campus construction, expansion, land acquisition, and fund raising.
  
  
• Seriously undertake campus planning and preparations for the university's 50th anniversary celebration in 2007-08.
• Move forward with the construction of the Science, Engineering, and Technology Building and the planning of other desperately needed campus construction projects, particularly Greenspun Hall and the Student Services Building.
  
  
• Continue progress toward our goal of becoming a Doctoral/ Research Extensive University (Research I) as defined by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
  
  
• Continue to seek tenants and partners for the Harry Reid Research and Technology Park.
  
  
• Continue to prepare for the implementation of the new admission policies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
  
  
• Continue to develop and build the professional programs on campus — the Dental School, the Law School, the School of Architecture, and others that are planned for the future, particularly in various health sciences disciplines.
  
  
• Continue to seek opportunities to work collegially and to seek collaborations with UCCSN partners.
  
  
• Continue to upgrade athletics competition and our commitment to enhancing student athlete academic success and graduation rates.
  
  
• Continue to identify community linkages and collaborative opportunities for the benefit of the entire community and state of Nevada.

I have also identified several of my ambitions as president that I will share. To offer some context, I should explain that I have a vision of UNLV as one of the premier metropolitan research universities in the Southwest and ultimately in the United States. This vision includes the following outcomes:

• UNLV will be a significant leader in the development of the higher education system in Nevada and will have a unique set of programs and research emphases to offer the region, state, nation, and world at large.
  
  
• UNLV will successfully combine excellent undergraduate teaching with superb research productivity.
  
  
• UNLV will reach the Carnegie Foundation's Doctoral/ Research Extensive classification (Research I) within the next five to seven years.
  
  
• UNLV will conduct a capital campaign and, ideally, will raise an unprecedented amount of private support. Among other campaign goals, these funds will be used to create endowed chairs in a dozen or more areas through which we can create internationally recognized centers of excellence.
  
  
• UNLV will become an indisputable resource and partner in economic development and diversification, health care, fine and creative arts activities, highly competitive athletics, and community development.
  
  
• UNLV will transform, in every way, our community.

I hope sharing these goals and ambitions offers you some additional insights into our collective vision for the campus. Once again, I want to thank you for your support of UNLV. I feel we are enjoying a period of renewed commitment and unparalleled optimism, as well as the esprit de corps that naturally emanates from the shared pursuit of an inherently noble cause. I look forward to pursuing that cause, as I have in the past, with genuine enthusiasm and unwavering dedication.