SUMMARY

The AMP Steering Committee believes that the two years of rigorous self-study upon which this report is based have been productive and potentially beneficial to the growth and strengthening of all academic units in the university. We believe this process has identified the unique strengths of each of our academic units as well as the interrelationship of academic programs within the university and their contributions to the mission of the university itself. This process has also revealed at least two major areas of critical need shared among all academic units. The needs are a direct result of the university’s historic struggle to recover from diminished financial and personnel resources, and include additional full-time faculty with appropriate terminal degrees more office, laboratory, classroom, studio, recital, and presentation facilities. As all of these needs have been painstakingly documented in the individual academic department and non-college unit reports–but which are largely overlooked in the college-level reports and the extreme concision of the current document–we encourage careful review of these documents by university decision-makers. As stated previously, the steering committee has designated a Program of Nationally Recognized Excellence, six Programs Targeted for Enhancement, and seven programs as Programs of Pride for the university. However, it should be noted that the members of the AMP Steering Committee collectively believe that all academic programs within the university must receive adequate funding regularly in order not just to maintain the current status quo but also to enable them to strengthen and grow, overcoming their current staffing and facilities challenges. Finally, it is our good-faith understanding that, in accordance with the charge for academic master planning, PNRE and PTE programs will not be the only programs on campus considered for additional funding, even when revenues are short, but that these programs will be the first beneficiaries of increases over and beyond that necessary to adequately maintain and strengthen all academic programs in the university.