"I like the land-grant mission—good teaching, good research, and connecting those two activities through work with the community. Every time we can accomplish something in that broader context, we've done well." Tom Scott, former director of CURA (Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.
Scott's quote struck me. The university system, weighted down by offices, departments, initiatives, centers, and programs; layers which cause transparency to become opaque. What is the University doing? Where is the money going? What benefit does the public receive? It is refreshing to have someone within (or formerly within) the univeristy asking those questions, and I think CURA does that well. To be loyal and critical at the same time-- to respectfully question-- what a role, what a challenge! I'm hopeful that others will continue in his post as advocates and practitioners of the land grant mission.
