Dr. Rallo's Vision

Kicking off the 2007-08 school year just 85 days after he became Angelo State University's fourth president, Dr. Joseph C. Rallo addressed faculty and staff collectively for the first time at ASU's fall convocation and outlined his plans for the institution's future.

"Convocations," he said, "are a time to reflect on our institution's history, traditions and values while also looking toward the future."

His take on ASU's future will largely be shaped by a strategic planning process that will begin this month to bring to life what he has named "Transformational Expectations: Vision 2012." The finished study will serve as a roadmap to guide major decisions on ASU's future over the next five years.

"This way we will have a coherent set of shared expectations against which the campus can prepare its requests for the 2009 state budget and allocation process," he said. "This planning process will also enhance transparency and accountability as to how funds are allocated and utilized on campus."

The most important part of this process, he said, will be "to craft our institutional vision, values and mission statements, including metrics or measures to assess our progress toward achieving these agreed upon goals."

His second transformational expectation is "to integrate all of our planning against the critical and central definition of our university, that is that we are a residential campus." Rallo indicated that he envisioned a campus with more activities and open facilities for students as well as flexible scheduling for classes, a significant first-year experience for new students and a "signature academic experience" for all students.

Third, he stated, "we must transform how we market and position our campus to attract, retain and graduate students." He said ASU must leverage our superb faculty and staff, small classes, welcoming community and safe campus into greater retention for all students, but particularly those between their freshman and sophomore years.

Fourth is the realization that "no transformation can succeed without the institution attracting, retaining and valuing its faculty and staff." He said ASU will implement efforts to attract additional talented faculty and to reward those already here through an equity review process.

Finally, Rallo stated the university must live up to its responsibility to the community in multiple ways, including economic development, intellectual diversification and international and multicultural studies.

"Angelo State University is an exceptional institution," Rallo stated. "I am excited to be here and honored to have been asked to serve as your president. As a university we are entrusted with the future.

"To be provocative," he concluded, "is not to diminish or minimize what has transpired in the past. Rather it is a window to the future. One can simply glance through that opening or one can embrace the vision. I think that you know where I stand and I hope that you will join me in what is shaping up to be a great adventure."

(To read the complete transcript of Dr. Rallo's Aug. 24 Convocation remarks, click here.)