Imperative 5
5
Build
on the Tradition of Professional Education
Undergraduate
education in all areas, including professional education,
has been our traditional strength at Texas A&M University.
At the heart of Vision 2020 is a belief that we
will not only sustain but also strengthen our professional
programs at both the undergraduate and the graduate
levels. We expect that these programs will be the
first (as some already are) to represent Texas A&M
University solidly and firmly in the top ten nationally.
Our professional programs must also recognize the
necessity to prepare their graduates more broadly
for entry into a complex, changing, and unpredictable
world.
P
R E C E P T: E N H A N C E E X C E L
L E N C E I N U N D E R G R A D U AT
E
P R O F E S S I O N A L E D U C AT I O N
Excellence
in professional education as well as in the core
arts and sciences disciplines mark the best research
universities in America. The excellence is interdependent.
Our history includes a strong and longstanding commitment
to undergraduate professional education. These programs
should add to our distinctiveness and be capitalized
on as the arts and sciences programs evolve in quality.
Our engineering undergraduate programs are ranked
fourth by U.S. News & World Report. Additional
examples of particularly strong professional programs
at the undergraduate level include agriculture,
which is ranked second nationally; architecture
and landscape architecture, ranked seventh and second
nationally; and business, ranked tenth nationally.
These rankings are compiled from the Gourman
Report, and include both public and private
universities. While not as widely recognized as
either U.S. News or National Research Council
rankings, they evaluate a more comprehensive range
of programs. We will continue to enhance these and
other already strong undergraduate professional
disciplines.
The
current measures of excellence for universities
are focused on breadth and depth of graduate and
professional programs. These standards include
both educational and research components. Similar
indicators of excellence will continue into the
21st century.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
P R E C E P
T: C O N T I N U E T O B U I L D
G R A D U AT E
P R O F E S S I O N A L P R O G R A M S
While undergraduate professional
education has existed at Texas A&M University since
its  inception,
widespread professional education at the graduate
level is a more recent development. Many of our graduate
professional programs are good, but others need attention
to create the pervasive quality in professional education
desired.
P R E C E P T: C
R E A T E A U N I V E R S I T Y W I
T H I N A U N I V E R S I T Y
We are proud of our heritage
as a Texas institution. What we are and what lies
ahead are colored by our public nature. In a rapidly
changing educational environment, however, agility
and flexibility may become more important. Some
programs, notably specialized graduate offerings,
need to be tested in a setting that allows flexibility
and promotes innovation. The concept of a private
university within our public university, a university
that can respond quickly to offer special study
opportunities for distance education, professional
post-baccalaureate learning, extension work, and
certification programs would serve us well. The
university within a university would be a place
where faculty could implement new forms of educational
opportunity to serve Texas business and industry
at both the corporate and individual level.
Texas A&M University
will also operate a “university” funded totally
from non-state sources, primarily tuition and
fees, offered through multiple and diverse educational
modes (e.g., technology-based media) to non-traditional,
off-campus students throughout Texas, the United
States, and internationally.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
-
Become
a respected leader in educational innovation.
Establish an agile, private component of Texas
A&M University to respond to specialized education
needs. Create an operational 501(c)3 corporation
that generates revenues from specialized educational
services and provides a means for extended utilization
of faculty skill and insight.
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T
H E U N I V E R S I T Y ’ S F U
T U R E I S A B O U T
I N F O R M E D P R O F E S S I O N A
L P R A C T I C E :
Many
challenges and opportunities anticipated by
the college will be brought by changes in
the builtenvironment professions. Practitioners
of these professions will operate in a truly
global economy. Location of projects will
no longer influence selection of the project
planning or design-build firms; successful
practitioners will be effective in the global
range of physical environments, customs, and
cultures. Practitioners will completely renew
their knowledge base regularly.
The
College of Architecture Vision for 2020
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