CARBONDALE, Ill. -Southern Illinois University President James E. Walker today delivered his shared vision for SIU in an address given at the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses to faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the university.

"I want our university to be viewed within our community, and well beyond it, as a great university with an unflagging commitment to excellence in teaching, in research and creative activity, and in service to our region, our state, our nation and our world," Walker said.

In his address, Walker unveiled initiatives to:

• Create the 2020 Vision Committee, chaired by former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, to anticipate the needs of higher education decades from now and ensure that SIU is prepared to meet them.
• Establish a Presidential Scholars Program to bring top Illinois high school students to SIU.
• Initiate major fundraising campaigns on both campuses in the near future.
• Establish a task force, chaired by former SIU Trustee Bill Norwood, to recommend joint ventures for the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses.
• Direct chancellors to review resource allocations and redirect funds to priority programs.
• Establish a university-wide Committee on Health Education and Related Health Matters to coordinate academic planning among SIU's health care programs.
• Secure a professional firm to assist in marketing SIU.

The address was the culmination of a process Walker began shortly after arriving at SIU in October. Walker met with faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the university in various settings and forums to seek guidance on the direction of the institution. Walker said it was now his responsibility to provide the university community with his plan, a Shared Vision for Southern Illinois University.

Referring to the triad of teaching, research and service, Walker said that to become a truly great university, SIU must be able to do all three well and find ways to entwine them.
"By stimulating, cultivating and supporting the creativity within our community, we can integrate teaching, research and creative activity, and service in ways that will become beacons for higher education," Walker said.

Walker said he believes the university must do a candid assessment of its strengths and challenges and begin mapping a course for the new millennium.

"We must inventory, recognize and celebrate our strengths, which are numerous," he said. "My sense is we don't do enough of that, both within our community and in the world beyond it."

Walker announced the creation of a Presidential Scholars Program to bring more of Illinois' top students to SIU. This new program will encourage Illinois' best and brightest to attend SIU's campuses by providing $5,000 annual scholarships to high school students who have high ACT test scores and classroom performance as well as a demonstrated involvement in extracurricular activities. Thirty Presidential Scholarships will be awarded each year beginning with the fall 2002 semester.

While thanking Gov. Ryan and the General Assembly for providing strong state support for SIU over the last several years, Walker pointed out that more dollars are needed from private fundraising to take the university to the next level. He called for the university to ask alumni, businesses and foundations to support SIU's plans by "contributing millions and millions of dollars toward capital campaigns on each campus that I believe will focus, re-energize and lift us like nothing has done for decades."

Walker also talked of SIU's strength as a multicampus institution with facilities and programs throughout the region, state, nation and world. With nearly 250,000 living alumni around the world and strong support in the General Assembly, SIU draws strength from being one university. To maximize the potential of all campuses working together, Walker announced the creation of a task force, to be chaired by former SIU Trustee Bill Norwood, that will focus on identifying ways to foster greater collaboration and cooperation among the SIU campuses. Task force membership will be in place next month, and Walker said he expects an initial report by the end of the school year.

Noting that many people have expressed to him their concern that SIU has an image problem, Walker said he is prepared to hire a professional firm to develop and direct a strategic marketing campaign.

"The management of a private-sector operation of our size would be deemed irresponsible for not tapping strategic marketing expertise to help promote and sell its products," Walker said. "A strategic marketing campaign coupled with the other new initiatives will allow people to have a much different attitude about SIU in the years ahead than they do today."

To aid in the university's long-term planning, Walker announced the creation of the 2020 Vision Committee led by Simon, who currently heads the SIU Public Policy Institute. The committee, composed of members of the SIU community as well as national leaders in business and education, will assist in the university's strategic planning process by recommending innovative ways to keep SIU on the cutting edge of higher education.

Walker said he will use his address, and the initiatives included in it, to guide the overall direction of the university during his tenure as president. Walker has discussed his initiatives with the campus chancellors and has directed them to use his shared vision for the university as a framework for campus planning.

Walker's speech will be available on the Internet at www.siu.edu/pres/vision.html