OPINION | October 8, 2003

Editorial/Our View
Keep Those Goals High
Future president should have ‘great things’ in mind to keep momentum going

Recent grants and awards totaling $2,131,000 speak loudly for the university’s accomplishments. These point to an even greater potential for future awards under the right president’s guidance.

The UTA Continuing Education-Workforce Development Center has attracted $130,000 in federal grant funding, $2 million has been awarded for nanotechnology research, and the defunct Americorps-UTA organization received a $1,000 award for a service project performed during the summer.

That money makes us proud, but we must make sure the momentum toward larger prizes continues. Many of the grants and awards can be credited to former university President Robert Witt’s efforts. He hired university administrators with the same ideas and, together, they promoted state, local, national and international collaborations. At the same time, he maintained an academic priority.

Since his departure, several like-minded administrators have resigned. There are just a few left who played a major role in Witt’s university growth plan, and there’s no guarantee they will remain.

Currently, the university and Sandia National Laboratory are in the negotiation process for a sizable collaborative project. It is uncertain whether Sandia will hinge its approval on the presidential selection, but the UT-System Board of Regents’ choice will have a direct influence on future research and other types of grant requests.

Especially now that the university has attracted such attention, the regents should incorporate Witt’s ideas of university development into the next president’s qualifications to assure an unhindered transition.

By choosing the right person as president, the regents will assure “great things” for UTA.

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