Georgia Institute of Technology

Designing the Future

Fri, 09/03/2010 - 2:40pm

My thanks to the more than 800 members of the campus community who came to hear this week’s Institute Address, where we introduced our new Strategic Plan. We started the process one year ago, and today we have an ambitious, overarching document that will guide academic and administrative operations for the next generation.

Notice I said “guide.” Rather than prescriptive, this plan should act as a compass, a tool that orients ideas and initiatives. The plan should be thought of as a request for proposals, a solicitation for ideas, through which the tactics, outcomes and metrics can be developed. Now that the vision is set, we’re asking everyone connected to Georgia Tech – academic and administrative units, students, and affiliated organizations – to think about ways they as individuals and their units can help achieve the goals outlined in the plan.

This process should not necessarily be thought of as a request for funding, but rather a request for ideas that will help us to shape the Georgia Tech of the future. This does not mean that we will not provide resources to ensure success – we will – but the solution to every problem cannot be more resources. Similarly, we must also redirect, reallocate, and rethink the way we utilize all of our resources today, including people, time and money.

When I first came to Tech, our vision – to define the technological research university of the 21st century – was well known. What was less understood was how. I believe this new plan provides a roadmap to achieve that vision. In so doing, we will be leaders in influencing major technological, social, and policy decisions that address critical global challenges.

Our time is now. This is our vision, and it’s up to us to make it happen. Not just for Georgia Tech, but for our state, our nation, and our world. Working together, we can do anything. This is, after all, Georgia Tech.