Georgia Institute of Technology

Assessing the State of the Institute

Wed, 10/28/2009 - 3:57pm

Over the past few weeks I've given several "State of the Institute" presentations, reaching out to parents, alumni, faculty, and staff. Because we thought these updates would be of interest to the entire Georgia Tech community, we've posted several of them on this Web site. In these presentations I have tried to focus on our heritage, our present status, and what lies ahead in our future. I have tried to present the Strategic Planning process, and encouraged people to visit the Strategic Vision Web site and to get involved in the process in order to ensure that we have the most vibrant and robust plan possible.

One of the questions people have asked about our Strategic Planning process is "Why 25 years?" There are really three reasons. First is that a long planning horizon allows us the freedom to think without the encumbrance of existing problems and conditions, particularly the economic condition in which we find ourselves today. Second, the idea of thinking 25 years ahead is very "freeing"; we can do anything in 25 years!! And finally, in 25 years Georgia Tech will be celebrating its 150th anniversary, and it is very appropriate that we would be planning a bright future to coincide with that milestone event. If we have a shared vision and we have an understanding of where we are going, we can make the necessary investments today that will help us achieve that vision! Georgia Tech is an outstanding institution today; we can only imagine what it might be in the future.