Introduction February 3, 1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1- 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 History and Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 The Early Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 The Transition to University Status . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 Achieving the Status of a Comprehensive University . . 1-4 Growth in Quantity and Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 1- 2. Statement of Mission and Purpose . . . . . . . 1-10 1- 3. Statement of University Goals . . . . . . . . . 1-11 1- 1. INTRODUCTION 1- 1.1 HISTORY AND HERITAGE The official history of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI&SU) began in 1872 when it was founded as a land grant college under the Morrill Act. Its heritage, however, stretches back to the middle of the eighteenth century when those who would eventually be responsible for the institution's devel- opment settled the Appalachian frontier of Virginia. As early as the 1740s, settlers had established what may have been the first permanent English-speaking colony west of the Alleghenies on the present site of VPI&SU. Among these early settlers were the Prestons, a family destined for prominence in the history of Virginia (producing several governors and other statesmen) and in the history of the University. The town of Blacksburg was named in honor of the Revolutionary War hero, William Black. Situated on the route of the Wilderness Road, the major route of America's western expansion, Blacksburg grew quickly. In the 1840s, just a hundred years after the ear- liest settlements, this thriving mountain community had developed an interest in education. In 1841, descendents of the Preston family and of William Black were instrumental in establishing the first educational institution in the town, the Blacksburg Female Academy. A decade later, in 1851, community leaders organized a seminary for boys called the Olin and Preston Institute; it was reorganized several years later as the Preston and Olin Insti- tute. The Preston and Olin Institute prospered and, according to early records, took its place among the foremost colleges in Virginia. An early newspaper editorial described the college this way: Situated in the mountains of Virginia, proverbially the most healthful region on our continent, surrounded by a pi- ous and virtuous community, and being accessible from all points North and South, by means of the railroad and its connections, it possesses advantages in location equal to, if not surpassing, those of any other college in the land. The system of education is arranged to meet the practical demands and tendencies of the age; thus enabling the stu- dent to acquire a thoroughly classical and purely mathemat- ical, or a scientific education, or both as he or his parents may desire. Passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act in 1862 provoked a long legislative struggle in Virginia over access to the available funds and a suitable location for an agricultural and mechanical college. The struggle, which continued for several years, became known as the "War of the Colleges." All of the state's estab- lished institutions expressed interest in becoming the recipient of the land grant monies, including the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, Washington College (now Washington and Lee), Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia Military Institute, and Emory and Henry College. During the long debate over the issue, a bewildering number of petitions, arguments, and counterarguments came before the state legislature. As the leg- islative session of 1871-72 opened, many legislators had come wearily to the opinion that no existing college presented a work- able solution and that a separate college specifically organized for agricultural and mechanical education should be established. The trustees of Preston and Olin Institute, including Dr. Harvey Black and Col. Robert T. Preston, and the citizens of Montgomery County provided a plan. The trustees offered to reorganize the Institute into an agricultural and mechanical college and the citizens of the county pledged $20,000 for the new college. The proposal was presented to the legislature by Senator John Penn of Patrick County who practiced law in Montgomery County and had a reputation as a powerful speaker. After some debate, the pro- posal was accepted and on March 19, 1872, Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College was formally established. To support further the new college, Col. Robert T. Preston sold the Commonwealth 250 acres of his farm and his historic home, "Solitude," which still stands on the campus. Shortly there- after, additional lands were acquired from the Black family. Dr. Harvey Black, a civil war surgeon, was appointed Rector of the new college and Col. Preston was appointed to the board. William H. Ruffner, who gained a place in history as Virginia's first su- perintendent of public instruction, developed the college's rather narrow technical and agricultural curriculum; this curric- ulum was described as follows: The fact was recognized that if the school was to do any- thing peculiar to a technical school, it could not do all that the classical schools do besides: . . . the natural ambition of professors to rival in scholarship the other colleges of the state was laid aside, the fact was recog- nized and acted on that the state had elsewhere made ample provision to train scientists who might analyze her soils and detect poisons, and such engineers as might plan her railroads or project her mines, such military officers as might serve her in her time of need; that the task of this college should be to train practical working men who should till her farms rather than theorize about scientific agri- culture, build rather than plan her houses, construct rather than supervise her railroads, sink rather than project her mines, rather be guided intelligently by the analysis of others than make analysis themselves, and fur- nish in time of need a large number of men well trained in company and battalion drill. 1- 1.2 THE EARLY YEARS Charles L. C. Minor was chosen as the college's first president and he, somewhat uneasily, implemented Ruffner's curriculum. His unease was justified and the first few years of the college's history were stormy and uncertain. The narrowly defined curric- ulum was unpopular with both faculty and students. Furthermore, the role of military training in the college was unclear. Often, statewide partisan politics interfered with effective adminis- tration of the college. As early as 1878, however, the Board of Visitors of the college produced an important document: an or- ganizational plan for the college, which helped direct its fu- ture. This organizational plan provided for a Corps of Cadets as a way of solving the disciplinary problems among the students that had plagued the college's early days. This plan also placed limits on the role of state politics in the college's internal affairs. Most importantly, this document contained the first statement by the college expressing the belief and desire that the institution should be developed on a broad rather than a narrow interpreta- tion of the Morrill Act. In its plan, the board concluded that "degrees should not be confined to agricultural and mechanical instruction, but should likewise be awarded for distinction in those courses of study necessary to provide the student for other professions and pursuits in life." In 1891, the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College under President John M. McBryde (often re- ferred to as the "Father of the Modern VPI") continued to stress the expanded role for an applied science or technical school. They held that "agriculture and the mechanical arts were not mere handicrafts, [but required] training which should be scientific and professional." The Board's purpose was not to abandon the idea of an applied science or technical school; rather, their in- tent was to "make the College a real school of applied science -- an institution of technology that will in due time be an honor to the state." It was to be a school in which "the sciences, espe- cially those related to Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts, hold the foreplace in strict accordance with the acts of Congress from which the College derives its income." In recognition of the na- ture of this new direction for the College, the name was changed in 1896 to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute. Quickly, the more popular reference be- came Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI), a title offically re- cognized in 1944. 1- 1.3 THE TRANSITION TO UNIVERSITY STATUS Despite these clearer directions under President McBryde's lead- ership, the restriction of the institution to applied studies, even with a more professional emphasis, continued to be a source of controversy in subsequent administrations. However, this con- troversy did not impede the steady growth and development of the institution during the years between the McBryde presidency and the second world war. The Agricultural Extension Program was es- tablished at VPI in 1914; the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program began in 1917; and the training of vocational ag- riculture teachers was initiated under the Smith-Hughes Act of 1918. With the Army ROTC program and the the tradition of the Corps of Cadets, VPI became recognized as a center for the devel- opment of career military officers. Dr. Walter S. Newman assumed the presidency in 1947 when student enrollments were growing rapidly. During his 15 years as Presi- dent, the curriculum was broadened so that VPI began to assume many of the attributes of a university without formally changing its major emphasis on agriculture and engineering. These devel- opments occurred because President Newman and the faculty per- ceived that technological education needed to be supplemented with the fundamental academic disciplines as a solid basis for the more practical knowledge of the broader implications of agri- culture and engineering and their related social impacts. In the development of the generic disciplines, usually associated with the liberal arts and sciences, the groundwork was laid for the transition to full comprehensive university status. 1- 1.4 ACHIEVING THE STATUS OF A COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY Dr. T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. was appointed President in 1962 and served in that capacity until December 31, 1974. The Hahn years coincided with an era of rapid change in higher education in Virginia generally, and at VPI particularly. Major changes in direction were initiated during the early years of the Hahn ad- ministration. Among them were: 1) the issuance of the 1964 pol- icy statement elaborating the institution's new mission, which involved developing programs, faculties and facilities needed to become a comprehensive university; 2) the dissolution of the re- lationship with Radford College as the Women's Division of VPI and the consequence of this action for increasing the enrollment of women on campus; 3) the adoption of the policy of optional, rather than compulsory, membership in the Corps of Cadets; and 4) the organization of the academic schools into colleges, including the expansion of the School of Science and General Studies into a College of Arts and Sciences. In 1966, the institution was reorganized into three state agen- cies reflecting the breadth and complexity of its several missions. The first of these agencies embraced the instructional programs of the University; the second was developed to support the merger of the Agricultural and Engineering research stations into a new and broader-based Research Division; and the third was developed to merge the extension and off-campus teaching programs into a new Extension Division. Separate budget allocations for these three agencies within the institution provided a strong base for rapid expansion of the three missions throughout the state and resulted in transforming VPI into a land grant institu- tion much like those in other states that had developed earlier from former land grant colleges. This status was recognized in 1970 when the General Assembly of Virginia approved the name change from VPI to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Uni- versity. At the same time, the State Council for Higher Educa- tion in Virginia (SCHEV) recognized VPI&SU, along with the University of Virginia, as one of the two comprehensive, doctoral-granting institutions of higher education in the Common- wealth. 1- 1.5 GROWTH IN QUANTITY AND QUALITY When Dr. Hahn was succeded by Dr. William E. Lavery in January 1975, VPI&SU had become a comprehensive, doctoral-granting uni- versity of more than 18,000 students. Within its seven colleges, programs leading to Baccalaureate, Master's and Doctorate degrees were offered in a variety of basic subjects and professional fields. Through its Extension Division, the University provided service to the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. The growing ef- fort of the Research Division reflected the new concern of the University for basic work in the sciences, social sciences and humanities, as well as in the applied areas. By 1975, a major construction plan had been initiated and partly completed, the financial support for the University had increased dramatically, and the University had begun to assume a place among the leading institutions of higher education in the United States. This growth has continued during the Lavery years. Selected data illustrating this growth are found in Table 1-1. At present, VPI&SU, with more than 22,000 graduate and undergraduate stu- dents, is one of only 80 four-year institutions in the United States with a student enrollment greater than 20,000. As can be seen in the table, the undergraduate enrollment has increased 16.0 percent (15,786 to 18,310); the graduate enrollment has in- creased 28.1 percent (2,691 to 3,716). Important in this growth is the transition to a fully coeducational campus. In 1975, only 34.8 percent of the undergraduate students and 27.9 percent of the graduate students were female. In 1986, these percentages were 42.2 percent and 31.1 percent, respectively. The growth in enrollment has also been accompanied by an increase in the qual- ity at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. While the mean SAT scores for entering freshmen across the nation was the same in both 1975 and 1986, the mean SAT for entering freshmen at VPI&SU increased substantially from 1030 to 1103. At the gradu- ate level, no standardized measures are available, but the data in Table 1-1 indicate that there has been a greater degree of se- lectivity among the applicants. In 1977, 65.5 percent (1796/2740) of those who applied were accepted; in 1986, the per- centage was 43.7 percent (2,333/5,343). The increase in the enrollments is partially attributable to the 1980 opening of the College of Veterinary Medicine, which is op- erated under a joint agreement with the State of Maryland. It was created in response to a serious shortage of veterinarians in the region and the need to curtail very large annual animal losses in the two states. The temporary and inadequate facili- ties and equipment in which the College began operation are gone; new facilities and equipment, provided from state, federal, and private funds, have made it the envy of less-well-equipped col- leges throughout the country. The growth and quality of the faculty parallels the growth and quality of the students. One illustration of the quality is the percentage of faculty with terminal professional or doctoral de- grees. With its salary schedule (see Table 1-1), the University continues to attract quality faculty from across the nation. Other evidence of quality is the number of faculty in the various colleges and departments that have been recognized regionally and nationally by their respective professional associations. Of special note are those faculty who are members of the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering. Another indicator of faculty quality is based upon national polls, taken at irregular intervals (1964, 1970, and 1982), of faculty in departments that offer the PhD degree; these faculty are asked to evaluate departments at other universities on a six- point scale, ranging from 0 (inadequate to offer doctoral study) to 5 (distinguished and strong). The data for various depart- ments at the University offer the best evidence available con- cerning qualified outside perception of the progress being made toward major research university status (see Table 1-2). These results portray steady growth in the quality of doctoral programs campus-wide over the past two decades, as perceived by the Ameri- can academic community. There are other indicators of growth and quality (see Table 1-3). As can be seen, the total university resources available in 1986 are three times those available in 1975. Of interest is the fact that a smaller percentage of these resources is received from state revenues. More dramatic are the assets of the Virginia Tech Educational Foundation. While the total assets in 1986 are over ten times greater than in 1975, the market value of the endowment is over fifty times greater. These numbers partially reflect the Campaign for Excellence, a major capital campaign that ended in 1986 with gifts and pledges totalling $102.6 million, more than twice the orginal $50 million goal. Research expenditures at VPI&SU have also shown impressive growth over the past decade, increasing from $20.5 million in 1975 to $65.5 million in 1986. These monies come from appropriations by local, state, and federal governments (Core) and from a wide spectrum of sponsors (Sponsored). In 1986, the University was ranked 49th out of 91 research institutions across the nation in terms of research apporpriation of $30 million or more, and is the first research institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia to move into the top 50. In another ranking of research insti- tutions, VPI&SU remains in the top 10 in terms of the percentage of total reasearch expenditures that are derived from industrial sources, with no one sponsor accounting for more than 15 percent of the total sponsored expenditures. A key factor in the growth in research expenditures has been the dramatic growth in the computing resources needed for the re- search mission of the University, as well as the instructional and public service missions (see Table 1-4). In addition, VPI&SU is among the leaders in the use of personal computers on campus. Both the College of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science require entering freshmen to purchase personal computers. With over 10,000 personal computers on campus, together with the recently acquired supercomputing capability, VPI&SU had the most advanced computing facility in Virginia and is among the leaders in the nation. One area that has declined rather than grown is the Extension Di- vision. With an erosion of financial support from both the state and federal governments, there has been a reduction in faculty and staff from approximately 1,500 in 1975 to less than 1,000 in 1986, However, even with this reduction in personnel, the Exten- sion Division has taken advantage of the available computing and telecommunication resources and expanded its capabilities and programs. Pilot programs are underway to explore the possibil- ities of combining the technologies of the computer and the video disk to create a self-paced learning machine in which a person can talk to a computer by placing a finger on a touch-sensitive television screen. This same technology can be used to create Extension information centers that require limited personnel. The Extention Division also is using videotape to prepare courses for mass in-home learning. Video teleconferencing and program- ming will be added when the 22 satellite receiving dishes are placed at Extension offices across the state. In recent years, programs in the humanities and the arts have ex- perienced tremendous growth in both size and quality. The Center for Programs in Humanities, established by an NEH grant in 1979, has become the focus for exciting interdisciplinary work in the humanities and the arts. Its three major programs, Humanities, Sciences and Technology; Humanities and the Arts; and Appalachian Studies, have become models for other institutions. Under the auspices of the Center, the prestigious Audubon Quartet began a permanent residency. In 1983, the College of Arts and Sciences created a separate di- vision of performing arts to recognize their special needs and give greater attention to their accomplishments. The Department of Theatre Arts sponsors a national program for new playwrights and an arts management institute. Departmental productions have been selected for regional and national competition for more than eight years. The Art department has gained national recognition for its Mountain Lake seminar series on issues in art. 1- 2. STATEMENT OF MISSION AND PURPOSE The Mission and Purpose Statement is strategic in nature and is intended to serve as a guide for the institution as it moves to- ward the year 2000. Formal systems for strategic planning have played a major role in both the public and private sectors since the mid-1950s. Strategic planning is both a process and a prod- uct involved with the establishment of the broad goals of the in- stitution and the identification of the priorities associated with each of these goals. Objectives to measure progress toward the achievement of the goals are set, and strategies are devel- oped through which the objectives can be realized. The Statement of Mission and Purpose explicitly describes a de- sired future state of the institution. The statement must be considered as one part of the overall process of strategic plan- ning in which the University is engaged. The work of the various subcommittees of the Self-Study will focus attention on possible alternatives for achieving that state and identify potential road blocks. The development of the Statement of Mission and Purpose was an iterative process. The following statement was endorsed by the VPI&SU Board of Visitors and the Steering Committee of the Self- Study. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a pub- licly supported, comprehensive, land grant university, serves the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the international community by generating and disseminating knowledge in the humanities, arts, social sciences, scien- tific, and professional disciplines through instruction, research, and extension. The University instills within each member of the University community an appreciation of the values and obligations of productive citizenship and the responsibilities of leadership while promoting personal and intellectual development. Its scholastic programs are accessible to all who demonstrate academic merit to gain entrance. To achieve this mission, as the University moves toward the year 2000, it will identify and build on strengths across the University, forge innovative and mutually productive relationships with industry and government, manage re- sources efficiently, and establish a clear identity as a forward-thinking, high-quality institution that systemat- ically guides and evaluates its future. 1- 3. STATEMENT OF UNIVERSITY GOALS At intervals of ten years, the University undertakes an extensive self-study for accreditation purposes. An intensive study over a period of two years is completed prior to a visit by a reaccredi- tation review group representing the Southern Association of Col- leges and Schools (SACS). The 1987-88 Self-Study has addressed significant issues, initiatives, and directions of concern for the next decade. The self-studies of the 1960s and the 1970s demonstrated their value in helping focus institutional concerns. One of the important aspects of the current self-study will be the use of the recommendations as long-term guides for institu- tional planning. In a dynamic institution, the planning process provides general directions while encouraging initiative and permitting shifts in focus. The strategic statement on mission and purpose, and the long-term plans that emerge from the self-study, represent a part of the commitment to planning within the University. In addi- tion, a statement of goals has been developed to help guide poli- cies and to identify an overall direction for the University. The complexity of the University is such that a long list of stated and implied goals might easily be compiled. The list that follows, however, has been limited to eight major goals. 1. The University will pursue academic excellence in undergradu- ate and graduate instructional programs. 2. The University will recruit undergraduate and graduate stu- dents aggressively to maintain student quality and to strengthen the diversity of the student body. 3. The University will strengthen integration of academic and student life programs to develop leadership skills and to en- hance personal and intellectual growth. 4. The University will aggressively recruit new faculty and strive to retain talented faculty and staff who have diverse backgrounds and perspectives and who have demonstrated excel- lence in teaching, research, extension and public service. 5. The University will encourage growth of research to enhance the emergence of new understandings and new knowledge. 6. The University will provide public service that contributes significantly to the intellectual, cultural, and economic well-being of Virginia, the nation, and other countries through quality educational and informational programs out- side of traditional classroom settings. 7. The University will provide quality telecommunications and information systems to support its teaching, research, and extension missions. 8. The University will increase the effectiveness of managerial efforts to obtain adequate financial resources, provide a physical and cultural environment conducive to collegiality, and furnish a framework for effective planning.