From the Vice-Chancellor

It is five years since the University of Adelaide launched its last Strategic Plan. We have achieved - and in some cases exceeded - the objectives set out in that Plan. There is much still to be done, but the University is now in a far stronger position to start taking steps towards realising its full potential.

We are now working to our new Strategic Plan for 2008-2012, Building a Great Research University, which was approved by the University's Council at its meeting in December last year. This Strategic Plan evolved

over numerous workshops, forums and meetings held during 2007, building on an earlier discussion paper which put forward an aspiration to become a Great Research University.

I must say I was delighted by the degree of engagement and especially the overwhelmingly positive response to that discussion paper, and I sincerely thank everyone who provided their valuable feedback.

As I said in my address to the University community last month, a university's worth, its "greatness", should be judged by its value to society. A number of key characteristics that will help us to measure our "value" are outlined in the Strategic Plan, which is accessible on the University's website. If you have not had the chance to look at it, I would encourage you to do so. It can be found at: www.adelaide.edu.au/VCO/

The Plan sets out the University's mission to be internationally recognised as a great research university and to use that as the platform for excellence in teaching and learning. This is, of course, an enduring objective.

Greatness is not achieved overnight, nor even within the five-year timeframe of a single plan. It is vital though to begin to put in place the essential elements of the platform on which greatness might be built.

To achieve these goals we will need the support and involvement of the University community as a whole. It will also depend on increasing our level of engagement with government, industry and the wider community.

To those who fear that by describing our aspirations in terms of "Great Research University" we may be devaluing learning and teaching, I want to say: categorically this is not the case. We are seeking to differentiate the kind of teaching that we do, and to emphasise that because it occurs in intimate relationship with a thriving and extensive research culture, it is qualitatively superior to that which may occur at other institutions.

Fully understanding the crucial scholarly contribution we can make to contemporary society and fulfilling that contribution are integral to this Plan, as is our commitment to developing mutually beneficial working partnerships with the community.

This is the primary role of a great research university, and it is something to which we should all aspire.

PROFESSOR JAMES A. McWHA
Vice-Chancellor and President