 "Photo: Joy Kowald")
Chancellor Richard Telfer used his inaugural address Friday to challenge students and the university to be on the move in a new era involving a challenging fiscal environment.
"UW-Whitewater is on the move, and we seek to provide regional leadership, a national presence and a global version," Telfer said.
"On the Move" was the theme of the inauguration, focusing on the importance of growing and adapting to meet the demands of the community, state and country it serves during tough times. Telfer said the economic recession, bank bailouts, collapse of long-standing firms and the stock market crash will affect the university along with the country.
"The question we must address remains 'How do we remain a university on the move in difficult times?'" Telfer said. "How do we go forward when the state is facing declining revenues and economic stagnation? What should be our course of action?"
Telfer said Wisconsin lags behind other states in the region in the percentage of its workforce with bachelor's degrees and higher, as well as in per capita income.
"There is a mismatch between the current workforce and the current and future needs of the state," Telfer said.
The state's challenge is to move from a 20th century economy to 21st century economy, he said, by requiring a higher percentage of all Wisconsin citizens to earn college degrees.
On his part, Telfer said he's focused on providing direction, setting expectations and locating resources. One part of his plan is to connect the university more closely with the community of Southeastern Wisconsin.
"We need to promote entrepreneurial activities by our students, our faculty and our staff," he said. "We need to make sure they increase the efficiency of the university, so we will allow more students to be educated while still keeping education affordable."
The university must promote an increasingly higher level of achievement by all students, Telfer said, and make them better prepared. He said hiring and retaining the finest faculty and staff is necessary to achieve university goals, as well as recruiting talented students and obtaining sufficient funding to maintain quality programs.
Telfer said the university has had multiple successes built on the foundation of work done by predecessors during the past year, citing the growth in enrollment and construction.
The audience was comprised of students, faculty, staff and special guests including former chancellors, state representatives and delegates who graduated from universities throughout the country.
At the reception, Telfer said he liked the opportunity to showcase student talent, including performances by dance students, the Chamber Singers and the Brass Quintet. He also enjoyed the performance by the Inaugural Ensemble of "Atlas," which composed by alumnus Elon Arbiture.
"I appreciated the very kind words that everyone had," Telfer said. "We have a good university, and I think we're going in a very nice direction."
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