Last year in this space I spoke of the “Conversation about the Future” that was soon to begin at the University of Washington. The conversation was meant as an opportunity for all of us to think more deeply about our common endeavor and to look together at where we should be headed. The overall context was change: the changing nature of education, the platform for institutional change we have been building at the UW, and especially the enormous changes taking place in the society we serve.

As anticipated, this conversation lasted for much of the 1999–2000 academic year and involved virtually every segment of the University community: faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni, Regents, and interested friends from throughout the state. It included more than 85 organized events and countless informal conversations. Groups ranging from the Professional Staff Organization to the Board of Regents to the President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity to the Graduate and Professional Student Senate sponsored lectures, panels, and discussions. The Faculty Senate’s series on liberal arts education was especially probing and thought provoking.

Summaries of all these conversations now appear on the Web site http://www.washington.edu/change/future/bulletin.htm. For anyone interested in a snapshot of higher education in this state at the turn of the millennium, I believe this site makes fascinating reading.

The conversation did not, and was not intended to, produce one broad, unified“vision” of the future. Its value was rather to stimulate thought and imagination—to show all of us the exciting “culture of possibilities” (in the words of one faculty member) that can lead us forward.

But if we did not emerge from all this with a roadmap, we did uncover some deep common themes. For me, three seem paramount. First, this is a place of incredible ambition. Students, staff, and faculty all believe that the University of Washington can and should be at the very top in all its endeavors: teaching and learning, research, and contributions to society. Second, all these ambitious people want very much to feel more connected to each other and to the world beyond the campus. A greater sense of community—and a more diverse community—is very high on the common agenda, and it is seen as a route not merely to feeling better but also to working better. Finally, the need for more resources was implicit in almost every comment. Ambition alone can take us a certain distance, but not the whole way. To play the vital role we should play in the welfare of the state and society, and to make the most of all the talents and energies here, the UW will require a stronger financial base than is currently in sight.

All these themes, and others that appeared in the conversation, will influence both our immediate and our longer-term plans. At the top of the list for the 2000–01 academic year: continuing to transform undergraduate education, enhancing community and campus climate, redoubling our efforts for diversity, and, in this biennial budget year, taking a hard look at the question of resources.

Of all the rewards of the Conversation about the Future, perhaps the greatest for me personally was hearing the voices of our students. Student Regent Chris Knaus and I held meetings with hundreds of students in all the University’s schools and colleges. In addition, the Comparative History of Ideas program offered a quarter-long course called “Rethinking the University,” which culminated in a student-written report and recommendations for change (also available on the Web site). The thoughtfulness and ideas UW students brought to these discussions confirmed my high opinion of our student body.

So in this annual report we present a sampling of student voices. Five stories cannot portray anything like the full range of student experience on our three campuses, but they do convey a flavor of what goes on here and the ways in which the UW is moving into the future. From the evidence of these students, that future will be bright.

Richard L. McCormick