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II. The University's Mission and Current and Future Characteristics
A. Mission The University of Maryland, College Park, is a public research university, the flagship campus of the University System of Maryland, and the original 1862 land-grant institution in Maryland. It is one of only 61 members of the Association of American Universities (AAU). In keeping with the legislative mandates of 1988 and 1999, the University of Maryland is committed to achieving excellence as the state's primary center of research and graduate education and the institution of choice for undergraduate students of exceptional ability and promise. The university has the only Division I intercollegiate athletic program in the state and offers a broad spectrum of programs for men and women at all levels of competition. The highest degree that the university offers is the Ph.D. It also offers terminal professional degrees, such as the MBA and MFA, and a number of master's and other doctoral degrees. The university awards a wide range of bachelor's degrees. Relying on its distinguished faculty in an increasing number of nationally-ranked graduate programs, the university provides graduate education at the forefront of research and scholarship and attracts highly qualified graduate students. The university provides enriched and challenging undergraduate educational experiences, including a core arts and sciences curriculum, opportunities for undergraduate research, living?learning communities such as College Park Scholars and the nationally renowned Honors Program, and other unique, intensive, and innovative programs such as Gemstone and Civicus. Degree programs are offered in agriculture and natural resources; architecture; behavioral and social sciences; business and management; computer, mathematical and physical sciences; creative and performing arts; education; engineering; health and human performance; humanities; journalism; life sciences; information studies; and public affairs. As the flagship of the University System of Maryland, the university shares its research, educational, and technological strengths with other institutions in the University System of Maryland and their constituencies throughout the state. The university's academic programs and expanding computer and information technology infrastructure serve many audiences, and the entire state has access to and depends on the university's libraries. In conjunction with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the university serves the state's agricultural needs through the Maryland Cooperative Extension and the Agricultural Experiment Station. The university delivers continuing education programs that are consistent with its research mission and core competencies to an increasing number of degree?seeking and professional audiences worldwide. The University of Maryland serves as a hub of knowledge from which flow cultural, intellectual, and economic benefits that enrich the state and region. Because of the caliber of faculty across many disciplines, the University of Maryland is uniquely positioned to forge relationships with corporations, non-profit organizations, other educational institutions, local school districts, and major federal agencies, laboratories, and departments. Because of its breadth of strength, the University of Maryland is at the forefront in advancing knowledge in areas that increasingly depend on multi-disciplinary approaches. Through a variety of programs and collaborative agreements, university faculty share with many segments of society the fruits of knowledge and foster and participate in an entrepreneurial culture that is essential to the development of new industries based on knowledge. The University of Maryland has a clear vision of its future as a nationally distinguished public research university. To realize this vision, the university expects to perform and be funded at the level of the public research institutions that have historically been the very best. Five such AAU members serve as the university's peers: the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, the University of California-Los Angeles, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The 1988 Higher Education Reorganization Act called for the university to receive "the level of operating funding and facilities necessary to place it among the upper echelon of its peer institutions." To compete effectively with our peers, in "Building on Excellence: The Next Steps," the strategic plan for the university that was adopted in 1999, the campus reaffirmed its commitment to "develop the university's physical facilities so that they meet the needs of a leading research university." |
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