Spring Break
Task force issues final higher education report
Emily Iorg
Issue date: 10/24/05 Section: News
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Students, faculty and administration have mixed feelings about a local task force's higher education report released last week. Most find positives but bristle at suggestions the University of Missouri-Kansas City is behind where it should be.
The task force led by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation to study higher education in Kansas City released its final report Oct. 19. The report makes several specific recommendations for UMKC.
Interim Provost Bruce Bubacz attended Wednesday's meeting during which Dr. Benno Schmidt, chair of the Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF), issued the report to UMKC Trustees, faculty and administration.
"UMKC always welcomes an opportunity to review its processes and its roles in the community, Bubacz said. "The BRTF raises several important issues that we should address."
At the top of the task force's list is a significant increase in life sciences research and investment, as well as UMKC's greater engagement with the community as a "model urban university."
The Blue Ribbon Task Force report calls for greater unity among higher education institutions and the community. The report outlines ways to achieve this at UMKC.
The University must boost programs vital to the community and expand education opportunities to minority groups, the task force said.
These changes depend on three elements, the report states: a fiduciary role for the community at UMKC; academic and civic leadership; and a University strategy to implement such a framework.
Bubacz affirmed UMKC's role as an urban university. But he emphasized the University's efforts already underway in this direction.
"I am strongly supportive of the report's emphasis on our increasing opportunities for all of our citizens to have access to UMKC. I believe that this is a core mission of our urban university," Bubacz said. "However, the report mentions only briefly the substantial progress that we have already made in this area."
The task force led by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation to study higher education in Kansas City released its final report Oct. 19. The report makes several specific recommendations for UMKC.
Interim Provost Bruce Bubacz attended Wednesday's meeting during which Dr. Benno Schmidt, chair of the Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF), issued the report to UMKC Trustees, faculty and administration.
"UMKC always welcomes an opportunity to review its processes and its roles in the community, Bubacz said. "The BRTF raises several important issues that we should address."
At the top of the task force's list is a significant increase in life sciences research and investment, as well as UMKC's greater engagement with the community as a "model urban university."
The Blue Ribbon Task Force report calls for greater unity among higher education institutions and the community. The report outlines ways to achieve this at UMKC.
The University must boost programs vital to the community and expand education opportunities to minority groups, the task force said.
These changes depend on three elements, the report states: a fiduciary role for the community at UMKC; academic and civic leadership; and a University strategy to implement such a framework.
Bubacz affirmed UMKC's role as an urban university. But he emphasized the University's efforts already underway in this direction.
"I am strongly supportive of the report's emphasis on our increasing opportunities for all of our citizens to have access to UMKC. I believe that this is a core mission of our urban university," Bubacz said. "However, the report mentions only briefly the substantial progress that we have already made in this area."
