g a z e t t e THE CHRONICLE OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY Winter 1998 Vol. 8, No. 2 blueprints revisited: strategic planning at ceu Sorin Antohi Academic Pro-Rector Those rare readers who still look for consistency and can go arguing that there was little interest on the part of most CEU back to the Fall 1997 issue (Vol. 7, No. 4) of the Ga z e t t e faculty in joining the institution’s leadership in strategic pl a n - may realize that the following paragraphs begin as an inter- ning, while some distinguished colleagues were suggestin g textual echo of my minimal program at CEU, “How to Do the contrary, the Planning and Budget Committee initiated Things with Blueprints.” As a matter of fact, this is in keep- a retreat for its three members (President and Rector, Ac a - ing with what I try to offer as long as I am affiliated with demic Pro-Rector, Executive Vice-President), aiming at the CEU: a coherent, public, frank discussion of its current pr o d u c tion of a draft strategy paper. These were brainst o r m - work, historical legacies and future projects. Some people ing sessions held in the Rector’s residence in mid- June, grad- think—due to natural inclination or to a misin- ually turning into a series of structured presen- terpretation of Machiavelli—that smart leaders tations by the participants, and eventually into a use more oblique ways to attain their goals. campaign 2 0 0 1 rather bulky first draft of Campaign 2001: More modestly, I take the ideal of the Open bringing ceu into the 21st century Bringing CEU into the 21st Century. The Exe- Society literally enough to support candid com- cutive Assistant to the Rector, Christine mu n i c a t i o n . Za p o t o c k y , was preparing the meetings, wr i t i n g the minutes and editing them between ses- nov e mbe r My “Blueprints” article is, in the short history of 1 9 9 8 sions, taping, and contributing to, a very pas- our university, one of many individual contri- sionate exchange. The Senate established a butions to a lively, if at times tense, ongoing con- standing Committee on Strategic versation about CEU’s development. The very Development on June 18, 1998, which took up general, idealistic original statements of the draft Campaign 2001 and kept work- the Fou n d e r , George Soros, on the mis- what’s inside ing on its various avatars until Novem- sion of our institution have inspired indi- ber 19, when the final text was ready to vidual reactions among our faculty, stu- be printed. I chaired the Committee, dent, and staff, and have definitely and its members we r e : Warsaw Pro- impacted the generation of most institu- Announcements 3 Rector Edmund Mokrzycki, Executive tional documents and actions. Never- Year Opening 5 Vice-President István Teplán, Professors theless, and no matter how path-break- Ed w a r d Be l l i n g e r , János Kis, Gábor Senate Elections 6 ing those individual contributions, our Kl a n i c z a y , Mária Kovács, Alfred Rieber, academic community took some time to Admissions Update 7 András Sajó and Tibor Várady. Christi n e articulate a process, and a discourse of Liberal Education 7 Zapotocky and my assistant, Ben O’Br i e n , collegial thinking about CEU. I claim have handled the minutes, editing, and Universities for Freedom 8-9 that such a process and discourse exist organization of the meetings. no w , and I will tell you their short histo- Events 10-12 ry . Thus, I believe, CEU’s corporate Research Resources 13 No narrative (of mine) can possibly cap- me m o r y , a basic ingredient of its dynam- ture the tension and the fun, the vo c a l The Book Pages 14-15 ic identity, has reached its critical mass. disagreements and the tacit consensus, the enthusiasm and the despair, the writing and the unwriting that went into Campaign 2001: Bringing CEU into the 21st Century Campaign 2001. Sometimes, the whole project seemed in Following a few discussions (or rather disputes) among the jeopardy: the Committee had frequent intellectual clashes; members of the CEU Senate, during which I was basically the inputs, comments and criticisms coming steadily from Continued on page 4. 1 letter from the rector CEU Taking Further Steps Towards Institutional Maturity Fra n k l y , it is hard to believe that Central European years since its foundation in 1991, did not feel University has not been around for a decade yet. the urge to be engaged in. Until last summer when And it is also very encouraging to think that before the need suddenly manifested itself after the the first ten years of its existence and continuous founder had initiated a debate about a “sunset- mission performance are completed there will be ting” process within the Soros foundations net- literally thousands of people who will have benefit- work in which a distinctive role and some new ed from the educational opportunities offered by perspectives were also envisioned for the univer- this young and unique institution. And that they will sity. The administration and a specially-nominat- make a difference in the whole region. The impact ed Senate Committee embarked on an evaluation of the university is logically weightier every year of the past and present and on a definitive pro- with the growing body of our alumni—last June in addition to cess of thinking ahead. The document resulting from many col- more than half a thousand Master’s degrees in 14 study programs lective sessions through the summer and fall was called we could award also the historic first three doctorates, in Medieval Campaign 2001. It was a pioneering attempt to reach institu- Studies and in Legal Studies. As more than one-fifth of our stu- tional consensus on major developmental issues. But when it dents are currently enrolled in five accredited doctoral programs, was discussed in a common meeting with the Board of Trustees and a few more will soon enlarge the number of successful grad- it became clear that strategic planning would have to be even uates, the Association of European Universities, at its quadrenni- more daring, more open to new and more challenging opportu- al conference in Berlin last August, was ready to accept CEU as a nities that will occur within the network and may face the uni- full member. Thus our school became one of the youngest insti- versity in the region. tutions in the family of some 600 European universities, and cer- tainly the first of those registered in the United States. The addi- This need to look further into the future gave birth to Ca m p a i g n tional pleasure that we were also able to enjoy at the conference 2010. An interesting coincidence or a logical concurrence with hosted by the Free University in Berlin (which, too, was initially the Association of European Universities’project “Vision 20-10” established as an American-sponsored institution after World War that was brought to a conclusion at the above-mentioned Berlin II) came from the apparently unanimous support of our member- conference last August? Most likely both. And yet another proof ship by the national Rector’s Conferences from the countries that of CEU’s growing integration within the international sphere of we take pride in serving, including the university representatives higher education. from Hungary and Poland, our teaching sites. There will be, however, very specific CEU issues to be dis- The transatlantic and international position of our university is not cussed and decided upon—which new study programs will, and always, for practical and legal reasons, an easy condition but it is can be, adopted and absorbed into the university curriculum? to a great extent this very situation that considerably enhances ou r How innovative, interdisciplinary, creative, and integrated will educational and research potential. Now that the dimension of the curriculum be in the end? How will the graduate school be internationalism in higher education becomes more relevant all eventually organized? Will there be a Graduate Law School, a over the world, an institution like CEU clearly appears in the fore- Graduate Business School (after even closer cooperation with ground of the present trend of developments. It is, therefore, also the International Management Center is introduced), a Graduate our institutional responsibility to challenge mere formal and poor- School of Arts and Sciences? Shall we have a functioning Research ly informed judgments from parties which may try to limit our effi- and Policy Center; how can we combine our experience from the cacy or even question our validity—and it has become very obvi- internal and the external programs, and will we bring the com- ous that we can best do so by our academically convincing results. bined potential of CEU and the Soros foundations network The prestige and reputation of a university can be won more like- together to be able to use them more fully and successfully? ly through good work than through futile arguments with adver- saries or unfriendly media. A great deal to think about—for the administration, the newly elected and established CEU Senate and its committees, for Self-confidence should be based on virtuous labor which even- every member of the academic community, and the staff. Let tually shall receive acknowledgment from authorities, organiza- me invite everyone to join in the meditation and reasoning tions, and the public everywhere.