Realizing the Vision:
Undergraduate Initiatives

Michigan State University currently is engaged in a series of deliberate efforts to strengthen the academic quality of MSU despite difficult economic conditions. Several bold and innovative proposals underscore our collective responsibility to enhance the academic quality of Michigan State through an ongoing process of self-examination and reflection. At a time when public support of public higher education is on a downward trajectory and constraints on resources are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, Michigan State must sustain the heritage that has infused it with a capacity for the creative and dynamic evolution of programs and structures.

Several of the proposals outlined in the February, 2004, Realizing the Vision document addressed enhancements and improvements in undergraduate education. Two explicit goals of these proposals were to

• Strengthen the coherence and organization of the undergraduate experience at MSU;
• Expand the university's successful living and learning programs;

Toward those goals, Provost Lou Anna K. Simon requested the advice of the Executive Committee of Academic Council (ECAC) on specific proposals related to undergraduate initiatives, which included

• Consolidating the three existing Integrative Studies centers,
• Reviewing writing in the undergraduate curriculum,
• Addressing quantitative literacy,
• Establishing a new degree-oriented residential college in the liberal and creative arts and sciences

After a comprehensive nomination process, four planning committees were appointed to review each of these undergraduate initiatives. Each committee was provided a broad charge (reviewed by ECAC on March 16, 2004 ), and asked to submit a set of recommendations which may be acted upon by appropriate governance committees.

Over the next few months, the Committees will be meeting intensively with groups across campus in the process of completing their work. This public Web site will keep members of the University community informed of the Committees' work and also provide opportunities for members of the community to make comments and suggestions through the Public Web Forum on this site.

We welcome your participation, both real and virtual, and look forward to this opportunity to bring our best collective thinking to bear on these important issues.