Welcome back to campus! The spring semester is full of transformations—the weather changing from cool to warm, students changing from novices to experts in their courses, finally culminating in the blossoming of trees and flowers all over campus just as our graduates don their commencement robes.

Yet amidst all of this change, one thing will remain constant, the same thing that has been constant on our campus over 172 years: why we do what we do. Our mission of education and research has been stable and unfailing since the beginning, and maintaining that tradition is of absolute importance for our university as we collectively prepare for our future. Higher education, here in Iowa and across the country, is facing uncertain prospects, and we must remain true to our principles in order to continue serving our students, our faculty, and our fellow Iowans.

In order to ensure the ongoing success of teaching, research, and scholarship at Iowa, we must not overreact in the present to the detriment of the future. Through our creativity, collaborative spirit, and relentless determination, the University of Iowa will determine its own future. This is our charge, and this is our opportunity.

Together over the past three years, we’ve developed a new, transparent budget model, our board has committed to a predictable five-year tuition plan, and as a campus we have been exploring every opportunity to align our resources most productively with our mission. This work is fundamental to our goal of fully funding our strategic plan, which will improve the outcomes of our students and faculty in order to benefit Iowans.

We know the ways in which we achieve our mission will change over our next 172 years, just as they have for the previous 172. Calculators, then computers replaced slide rules, and phones replaced course-registration papers. We are always ready to adapt—but we can’t change simply for change’s sake. When we decide we need to do things differently, we aren’t being frivolous or fashionable—and our strategic plan for the university is not based upon hope but rather excellence.

In this new year, let us embrace the University of Iowa’s tomorrow, remembering where we have been in order to understand where we must go.