2023 Institute Address

here today and welcome to all of our colleagues who are joining us online you probably noticed today that today is Public Safety day hosted by a Georgia Tech Police Department so that is why there's a lot of vehicles out on our lawn today so make sure after we're done to go out there and see some of our public servants we will be taking questions at the end and without further Ado please join me in welcoming president Angel Cabrera thank you so much wow thank you so much this it's terrific to to see the community together so good morning everyone in the room and online and welcome back to uh to all of you and also to our newest Yellow Jackets welcome to welcome to Georgia Tech tomorrow will be my fourth anniversary in this job it's an anniversary that I share with Dean Lozier and Jim Hudgins that was a great batch of new employees [Applause] the significance isn't lost on me that each time I have given this address even during the pandemic I have been able to celebrate another banner year at Georgia Tech and that I am happy to report will not change today we made a commitment in our strategic plan that we would amplify our impact and I can proudly say that our impact has never been greater and at a place like Georgia Tech that's really saying something record-breaking applications and enrollment top graduation rates historic research Awards and sponsored activities best-in-class return on investment for our students and the highest economic impact for the state of Georgia what we have done together is just remarkable and I think each one of you for your role in achieving those results but before I give you a little bit more detail let me acknowledge the new members of our Str of our leadership team who have joined since my last Institute address if you would please stand and be recognized I think we have uh jbat director of Athletics [Applause] Shantae Bolton our Executive Vice President for administration and finance [Applause] Jonathan Clark our interim dean of the sheller College of Business Johnson thank you Alex also interim dean of the College of computing [Applause] and of course you just heard Abigail Tempe our new vice president of Institute Communications thank you all [Applause] I want to highlight also uh a few people joining us today we have Dean Sheehan president of din Shihan president of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Al Trujillo president of the Georgia Tech Foundation very important man because he has all our money uh anjan sikal president of undergraduate student government Association and John where are you thank you for being here [Applause] and Harrison borrow Executive Vice President of undergraduate student government thank you for being here we also have Kiera Tron Executive Vice President of the graduate student thank you for being here what also highlights some members of the cabinet and Deans all of you Deans members of the cabinet please stand so we can recognize you and thank you for all you do to guide us appreciate it [Applause] so in a minute I'll share some of those details about what we have accomplished this year but since we're still kind of in back to school mode allow me to First to to share a little bit of what I did this summer the Highlight uh was this unbelievable uh State dinner at the White House hosted by President Biden and the first lady in honor of India's prime minister Narendra Modi Beth and I we're honored to represent the Georgia Tech Community and use that to celebrate the amazing contributions that Indians and Indian Americans have made to our country and to Georgia Tech there was a very very special moment now when you zoom in in that photo you'll see that I was wearing my Georgia Tech pin on my tuxedo which I'm sure I wasn't supposed to uh according to Black Tie etiquette but I am glad I did because every single American or Indian CEO or government official that I met had an amazing Georgia Tech story soon whenever they saw my pen and it was a story about the amazing employees they had hired over the years or about the incredible bosses from Georgia Tech they had had and they credit them for where they are today or the colleagues they had worked with or the research they had done with us and Beth and I really spent the night beaming with yellow jacket Pride it was very very cool then we went from DC and embarked in our traditional three-day summer tour around Georgia and I I want to really thank the the great teamwork of the Alumni Association Institute relations development and Communications did amazing work and organized a trip where we attended almost 20 events from Savannah to Valdosta to Noonan and many other cities in between traveled all together about 850 miles met with students with family alumni and France there's an explanation for that we visited with local lawmakers and Business Leaders we toured some of the many companies in our state that are powered by our alumni including as you see they're one of the biggest Business Jet factors in the world and one of the biggest alligator Farms what can alumni not do it's remarkable and I know many of you enjoy wearing your Georgia Tech swag when you travel just like we do and I know you you have your own share of stories about spontaneous conversations that you structure in your travels and and I hope you two get to relishing just in in realizing the profound fact that we have not just locally but wherever in the world we go the talent that we develop the solutions Innovations we produce and that impact I'm delighted to report keeps growing let me share some data let's start with economic impact according to the recent report that was just released by the university system and was elaborated by a research group at the University of Georgia Georgia Tech had a Statewide economic impact of about four and a half billion dollars that is 22 percent of the impact of all public universities and it's the biggest share of any University in the state and those numbers mind you only measure the direct economic impact jobs Investments expenditures they do not capture the value of the startups that we incubate or the companies that we help attract to the state and that impact of course has a far deeper and longer lasting effect on in our state's economy key to that impact most important thing we do is the talent that we produce just since I arrived back in 2019 our overall enrollment has increased by about 12 000 students that is about twice the average size of an American College according to um the almanac um published by the by The Chronicle of Higher Education this makes us over the last decade the fastest growing University public university in the United States now much of that growth was driven by our groundbreaking online masters that have been incredibly successful that continue to grow but our campus-based undergraduate program alone has added 2 800 students just in the last four years and most of them from right here in Georgia and very importantly enrollment growth has not come at the expense of quality or student qualifications just the opposite this year we were listed again in the almanac as the third most selective Public University in the nation and for the first time as having the highest yield of any public university so not only we're serving more students but we're attracting some of the brightest and most talented students anywhere and we're helping them succeed so growing in enrollment selectivity and outcomes all at the same time it is just extraordinary and I am really grateful for all each of you do to make that possible and I do realize that some of our systems and resources are overstretched as our many faculty and uh and staff members but I hope you take great pride in being part of an institution that year after year is finding ways to serve more students change more lives produce more Innovations power our economy and serve our communities better this year applications for undergraduate admission again reach New Heights the growth did slow down but we still received 52 000 applications which is a record for Georgia Tech and for the state and we welcomed 3 800 new students our largest class ever including record numbers of first generation students women and other traditionally underrepresented students now some of this interest in Georgia Tech we owe to the strong demand for technology Savvy graduates in the marketplace clearly But ultimately it is our academic reputation and very importantly the unique value proposition that we provide that convinces students to want to study with us our students pay less here than they would at most other leading research universities they graduate at one of the highest rates among public universities and they land some of the best paying jobs in the nation the result is one of the highest Returns on investment anywhere this year we were the only University in Georgia in one of only 34 in the nation private or public to receive five stars by Money Magazine reflecting that in Princeton Review Leicester Georgia Tech as the number one Public University in value for students we tend to do well in media rankings but whenever the rankings measure value for students we come out on top our research growth has been equally impressive this past year our faculty want research Awards totaling a historic 1.45 billion dollars that's a 14 increase over the prior year with gtri making up almost two-thirds of that for the second consecutive year the NSF listed us as number one in research expenditures among universities without a medical school all this money supported very important work ranging from ranging from nuclear security to clean energy and carbon capture to AI applications to manufacturing to business to cyber security actually AI applications to everything the research enabled by these resources is making a difference just in the last few weeks I have visited with colleagues who are leading the way in semiconductor packaging technology or they're building an ion trap Quantum Computing a gtri or they're helping NASA understand the dangers of exploring the Moon they're studying why coral reefs are dying and why that matters or they're enabling new forms of artistic expression through computational media where they're uncovering the secrets of multicellular life evolution the discoveries ideas and inventions happening on our campus every day are truly delivering on our mission to improve The Human Condition they're also powering a new wave of startups as an example today in the exhibition Hall createx is hosting its biggest to-date demo day with about a hundred new companies Now growth in research and students is putting pressure on our physical infrastructure and we still have a lot to do to to catch up with our needs but I'm excited about improvements and additions that are either complete or underway the John Lewis Student Center in Penny and Rose stamp student Commons Pavilion and exhibition Halls are complete and fully operational in support of students design and construction are ongoing at science square and the George and sheller Towers in Tech square and a new first year residence hall with 850 beds was approved by the Regents and is set to open in 2026. this year we will complete the campus master plan with a special focus on developing the Southwest sector of Campus also finding solutions for student housing demand and supporting gtri's growth in Atlanta and Cobb County we will keep working with the university system with our affiliate organizations and with private sector Partners to find Creative Solutions to expand and upgrade our campus and be an example of efficiency well-being and sustainability a good example is our work with the Georgia Tech Foundation to develop the Randall Brothers site just across the street from the John Lewis Student Center it will increase residential options will bring new amenities and will create the seed of a new District at the intersection of Arts and Technology that we're calling Arts Square it will also include a new pedestrian bridge connecting the heart of our campus with science square and the Nara research Labs on the other side of the railroad now while physical infrastructure is important it is our faculty and staff who are most critical to driving our growth our needs are felt Across The Institute but perhaps more so among our faculty in Computing Math Science and in gtri as a promising sign we have uh Rec we had record numbers in new faculty hiring this year netting more than 80 academic faculty a five percent growth uh in one year and we prioritize instruction in our budget allocations to the colleges with over five million dollars targeting instruction on the research side we allocated one million dollars each to strengthening the administration and to modernize modernizing systems and we invested more than 10 million dollars in new facilities to support large Awards gtri increased faculty hires by four percent or a net of 70 research faculty and we will continue to hire both staff and research faculty to support the the growing portfolio I I want to highlight that all these growth is not happening to us we are driving it intentionally as part of our strategic plan commitment to amplifying our impact but our strategic plan has much more than that and I'm grateful to all who are part of the more than 20 strategic initiatives currently underway these initiative starts every functional area and they get to the essence not just of what we do and what we promise to do but also how we work they deal with our culture our systems our infrastructure to ensure that everyone at Tech has what they need to be as healthy productive and Innovative as possible here's some some examples I already mentioned the comprehensive campus plan which together with the sustainability next initiative is defining the campus of the future how do we improve Energy Efficiency how do we support the well-being of our community there are other initiatives like admin X data excellence and the administrative Services Center that are redefining how we support all campus units on the academic side the global student experience initiatives working to return study abroad rates to pre-pandemic levels which as you know we're among the highest in the country we launched the first year study abroad program and added options in Rwanda in India and in Spain among others where now I believe around 2 200 students who are living abroad we're living abroad last year and that's very close of 2019 uh numbers also this summer Provost McLaughlin announced the creation of the division of lifetime learning aligning c21u seismic and gtpe to better provide educational opportunities that are accessible affordable transformative and achievable at all stages of a person's life and career as you know Nelson Baker is serving as the interim Dean and we continue to work with faculty leadership and the university system office to build what we could what could become our seventh College another important initiative the well-being roadmap with a focus on students launched last August among other programs underway the plan has already led to the establishment of the center for mental health care and resources which with expanded staff capacity and some promising progress in reduced wait times a complimentary well-being action roadmap with a focus on faculty and staff will launch this fall Human Resources has implemented new systems to improve efficiency and programs that provide greater opportunities for fulfillment and recognition along with ongoing efforts around Employee Engagement and the employee experience Human Resources has launched Performance Management at tech for staff which is a digital platform that will expand paths for career growth professional development and rewards for all employees now our our strategic plan not only says what it is that we promise or commit to doing it also articulates how in articulates our values two of them I want to pay some attention to today or we thrive on diversity and we Safeguard freedom of inquiry and expression these two values are crucial to the academic Enterprise in our particularly relevant today it is not uncommon to see those two values pitted against each other apparently you're either pro-diversity and inclusion or Ur Pro freedom of expression and if you support one you're supposed to be somewhat skeptical about the other and yet our values reject that dichotomy and correctly Embrace both learning which is the business of the University requires that we be exposed to information insights and perspectives data that challenge our existing beliefs and yet we are hardwired to either ignore new evidence that contradicts our beliefs or to interpret evidence in a way that reaffirms our beliefs we're so good at it that we can go through extreme mental contortions to filter new evidence out or badly misinterpreted rather than re-evaluating our existing Frameworks learning it turns out is hard work it requires Great motivation it requires Great stimulation and that's why universities exist our faculty are superb at challenging students understanding of complex phenomena with new evidence in our grading system is very effective at motivating students to learn but Learning Happens outside of the classroom too in conversations over lunch presentations by a guest speaker evening discussions in the dorm now for learning to happen in those moments two things are necessary a community with diverse perspectives and backgrounds in an environment that empowers everyone to share their views and engage in respectful curious constructive conversations with others who's your two diverse viewpoints is instrumental for learning but only if individuals are not afraid to express their views for fear of being ostracized or in today's vernacular canceled by the same token freedom of expression is essential for learning but it's of little use if every one already shares the same view to deliver on our mission we need an intellectually vibrant campus that Embraces people and ideas of all kinds and empowers everyone to express themselves freely and openly now this summer there I have been asked by by several of you how the Supreme Court decision in the University of North Carolina and in Harvard case may affect our ability to build a diverse campus now it is important to know that the court did not deny the educational benefits of having a diverse student body in fact the court called out some of those benefits to train Future Leaders to prepare students to live in a pluralistic society to broaden understanding to Foster Innovation this is quoted verbatim and they and the court deemed those objectives commendable even if it limited what universities can do in pursuing those goals through admissions practices now a Georgia Tech race or ethnicity were not a determining factor in admissions but we did give applicants the option of disclosing the race as part of several factors in our holistic evaluation we have now removed that option in compliance with the Court's ruling yet our work to expand access continues and there is much more we can do that we currently do to make sure students of all backgrounds feel welcome and want to study here we work with school systems across Georgia to inspire students of all backgrounds to consider careers in science and technology we run camps that expose students to engineering Computing and science we provide direct admission to valedictorians and salutatorians everywhere in the state we offer transfer Pathways programs for students from other universities and we have dual degree options with historically black colleges we also raise private funds to provide need-based scholarship to students none of these programs is affected in any way by the Supreme Court ruling and yet they have a positive impact in increasing diversity of our student body along with many along many important Dimensions including race over the last decade we have made progress in the number of black students we attract upon nine percent of the incoming first year classes year women 43 percent students from rural areas about 13 percent of our incoming class first generation students whose parents did not graduate from college that's about 15 percent of our entering class and other groups and we also have improved retention and graduation rates across the board the area where we have struggled the most is in attracting students from lower income families we have made progress in the total number of Pell eligible students that we serve but as percentage of total enrollment we have stalled somewhere between 12 and 14 percent as a public university that is committed to expanding access we have publicly stated a goal to raise those numbers to somewhere between 15 and 20 percent by 2025 and we need to keep working to to make that happen now one of the best things we can do is to keep tuition low over the past four years not only we have not increased tuition and fees but thanks to a major investment from the state we were able to reduce mandatory fees by about one thousand dollars I am not aware of anything comparable outside of Georgia to be honest with you when adjusted for inflation that's a 22 reduction in tuition and fees for in-state students that's a big deal second we need to provide more need-based financial aid to our students this past year we expanded the the club Georgia Tech promise program to include more qualified students whose annual estimated family income is below 55 000 dollars we have also made need-based financial aid the biggest priority of our campaign and we will redouble our efforts to raise private funds to help more talented low-income students get to Georgia Tech and succeed here today I'm announcing a new program the Georgia Tech valve Sal scholarship under this initiative Georgia high school valedictorians in salutatorians with demonstrated Financial need will not only have automatic admission which they already do but will qualify for up to five thousand dollars in financial aid annually now yeah of course we not only have to help lower income students get to Georgia Tech we need to make sure they succeed when they are at Georgia Tech and to that effect the the Provost has launched a limited income student task force to propose actions to both attract more eligible students and help them succeed stay tuned for for the um the reports from that from that committee equally committed to being a welcoming place for talented faculty and staff from every background and to make sure that everyone can Thrive professionally and make a difference at Georgia Tech I am proud of the progress that we have made over the last decade thanks to the efforts of many members of our community today in particular I want to recognize one of them vice president for diversity equity and inclusion Dr Archie Irvin [Applause] as you know Dr Irvin has announced that after 13 years of service at Georgia Tech in a lifelong service to higher education he's announced that he will retire at the end of this calendar year now Dr Irvin will be leaving an Institute that is very different from the one he encountered when President Peterson recruited him 13 years ago and Archie you are a big reason for that Improvement and for that I thank you now things thank you now thanks to the progress we have made we're not in a position for all units to take additional responsibility for carrying out this important work we now have leaders throughout the Institute who have demonstrated a commitment to this work and I will be considering some changes to empower them further to continue to build a more inclusive more diverse and more Equitable Georgia Tech but going back to my premise about our values and our mission just as we work to build an inclusive and diverse Georgia Tech it is equally important that we protect freedom of expression for every member of our community we need to create a space on our campus where where we are routinely exposed to new and different ideas where we protect each other's right to express our views and where we cherish the practice of listening to One Another with curiosity and respect Clark Kerr was president of the University of California during the student Free Speech protests in the 1960s he argued that to Serve American democracy the university should not be engaged in making ideas say for students but students say for ideas and I could not agree more you may recall about a year ago I invited Greg Luciano who's the CEO of the foundation for individual rights and education otherwise known as fire to discuss his book that he had written with John hate the calling of the American mind which I highly recommend by the way if you haven't read it yet since then our general counsel the NAT uh Jocelyn Gaul and her team have reviewed our campus policies in speech codes and I am delighted to share that we received a green light rating which is Fire's highest designation for schools with policies that do not imperil speech now last April the Board of Regents approved a statement of on academic freedom and freedom of expression that affirms the 1940 aaup principles on academic freedom since then Chancellor Perdue has worked in translating that statement into policies that affect fewer areas among them the process of selecting and evaluating faculty and staff which among other things should avoid any form of ideological affirmation and as you know the Provost in in our vice president of research of HR skyducket are working Across The Institute to ensure that our policies and practices are compliant but policies speech codes what's on paper is have the battle at best the real test is whether our culture our day-to-day interactions support and actually encourage free expression this year our vice president for engagement and well-being Dr Lola Hong introduced a video during a new student orientation that is specifically dedicated to discussing the importance of free speech on our campus and this year she and the Provost will be leading efforts to create additional learning opportunities about the importance of free expression to our mission and the tools that can help us best put it into into practice I encourage everyone to think about how we can best deliver on this promise to nurture and intellectually vibrant academic environment where all perspectives are welcome respected and encouraged to be expressed but let me go back to where I started and how we continue to amplify our our impact I am fully aware that our growth is creating a good bit of stress Across The Institute and I I want you to know that securing new resources and finding better ways to allocate those resources remains a top priority for your leadership team our new EVP of administration and finance Chante Bolton is laser focused on that as is the Provost as is our EVP of research shall we Abdallah our senior vice president Frank Neville all their the people who work in their teams and report to them and so am I a big part of my time is spent advocating for public investment finding creative Partnerships with private investors and raising philanthropic dollars no um we had an unforeseen one-time budget reduction uh this year in the last few days of the legislative session and yet I'm grateful for the Investments that are stayed consistently makes in higher education which are more generous than National benchmarks Georgia invests more in in our public universities than many other states do our state leaders and elected officials overall have demonstrated a significant appreciation for our universities they value our contributions to our state and our nation and they support what we do the chancellor the university system office and the leaders of all the other universities in the state everybody's focused on a how do we serve the state better but also how do we convey this compelling story to State decision makers with the help of uh of Bert Reeves and and the rest of our Institute relations team we have and we will continue to Advocate from Washington DC to downtown Atlanta for increases in Public Funding to help us deliver on our important mission we've also become better at partnering with the private sector to secure the resources that we need to get the job done science square which I mentioned earlier is being built with private Investments and the collaboration of one or of our Affiliates gatv also the Georgia Tech Foundation continues to help us find Creative Solutions to develop strategic Assets in Tech Square the Southwest sector and around babidat Stadium and of course much of my time and attention is being devoted to our campaign transforming tomorrow our effort to raise more than two billion dollars by the end of 2027. campaign engagements have taken not just Beth and me but the Provost the Deans and many others on the road Coast to Coast over the last several months we have traveled tens of thousands of miles and met with hundreds of supporters friends and colleagues and will continue those important discussions and visits and I want to highlight the exceptional collaboration between our development team and under Jen Howe and the Alumni Association under the leadership of Dean Sheehan this collaboration has been exceptional and it is instrumental in making these events productive now in addition to what we can do from an Administration standpoint I encourage everyone to play a role each of you can be an ambassador for Georgia Tech to share our value with individuals you interact with and who are in a position to help us each of you each of us can identify inefficiencies find better ways to do our work and better serve our students we all need to commit to building a culture of innovation to challenge the status quo to find better ways to get the job done an entrepreneurial Innovative organization is one where everyone is empowered to find Opportunities and drive change for the better lastly I want to recognize the work of Georgia Tech Athletics this past year and I want to encourage all of you to support our amazing Yellow Jackets this season after an incredibly exciting summer in in golf and the Magical run of our Alum Chris Eubanks in Wimbledon our volleyball team yay [Applause] a little tough tough loss yesterday but our volleyball team got started by defeating number eight ranked Penn State and moving up to number 11. in the national ranking let me let me put a plug that on September 15th they're gonna play for a good bit of clean old-fashioned hate they're going to be playing our friends from Athens in mccamish Pavilion and we need to pack my cabinets we need to fill it up to the rim um no it has been a very complex year in athletics by the way uh conference alignment drama nil changes my gosh there's a long list but thanks to the work of our new athletic director Jay back and his team we have invested in the program we have recruited new coaches in football and men's basketball we have raised record amounts of to support scholarships and we have signed new sponsorships including our biggest one to date with Hyundai Motor Company tomorrow our football team will kick off the season at Mercedes-Benz and I will be cheering coach key and the team as loudly as I'm allowed to uh I really we could not have better Georgia Tech ambassadors now I close with an old photo that surprised me this summer so before we left for Spain in June Beth and I joined the Georgia Tech foundation for another great annual Retreat that included a lot of work and also a lot of fun and we also met with the campaign steering committee in preparing for the meeting our colleagues and Institute Communications came across a photo I had never seen before that's me when I was a grad student at Georgia Tech uh and how surprised with that younger me would be if uh if he knew what we would be doing for a living today anyway that but the the photo the the photo did make me reflect on my on my days as a student at Georgia Tech and what Georgia Tech has done to shape my life and then when I talked to our students in many ways I see myself in them and in in and I know that Georgia Tech will change their lives forever just like it changed my own and that's what we that's what we do at Georgia Tech and I am proud to work with each one of you to make that a reality I want to thank you again for joining me we're going to have a q a session in uh to close today's address where and then um and then I think we'll have a surprise at the end is that correct all right thank you all very much thank you so much president Cabrera we're actually going to start with questions that were submitted in advance so thank you to all of you who submitted questions in advance and then we are going to have some microphone Runners on the side so I'll be taking some questions from the room so um our first question is you discussed Dei and freedom of speech and the need for both to be upheld what about when freedom of speech goes too far and is hurtful so American American law really has one of the most expensive freedom of speech laws in the world and uh and and even forms of speech that to some of us would appear harmful or or hateful would actually legally allowed and as a public university so the legal answer is that I think we need to do better I think our our goal together needs to be how do we commit all of our all of us to exercise that right responsibly how do we recognize each other's right how do we exercise our own right so that we can share our ideas in that constructive curious respectful way so the legal thing the legal answer puts a very low bar if you will our My Hope Is that we can build a much much better better Community to detect great thank you for that could you talk a bit more in detail about what changes you're considering when you say quote continue to build a more inclusive more diverse more Equitable Georgia Tech what does that look like yeah so so um this summer I've been receiving a lot of input from uh from many folks about about that question about how do we do better um also recognize and as I mentioned the incredible work that has been done in the last in the last decade and more and um so I don't know exactly what the changes would look like but I do want to make sure that everybody Across The Institute feels this is our job too and and that everybody is empowered and feels that it is their Duty I mean we need to do a better job in admissions uh to continue to recruit uh diversities we need to do a better job in recruiting and mentoring new faculty members um uh Dean B uh just uh invited the promos to me last night to an event that he co-hosts with the University of uh of California Berkeley and with Michigan to encourage a new generation of uh of engineering faculty to become engineers and it was an incredibly diverse role so so we need to empower every aspect of the Institute how do we make sure we are that welcoming Place how do we bring more people from more backgrounds to our midst and then how do we create a culture where everybody feels welcome so so the changes are oriented towards how do we make sure everybody is part of the effort and that we provide whatever support and resources they need to have great thank you for that okay we're going to go to a couple questions in the room so I have a couple of folks that are going to walk up and down the aisles here and give microphones if you just put your hand up we'll get you a microphone as quickly as possible don't be shy can we have our microphone Runners move down here I think I see a couple arms over this direction put your hand up okay all right no everybody's shy I'll keep going to questions um oh right here thank you come on if you can come down here Jillian right here to the front I think you raised your hand right okay never mind okay I will keep going I will keep going for questions um yeah I'll keep going for uh for questions we have can we talk a little bit about more about Athletics there's been a lot of Buzz about ACC expansion and conference realignment could you elaborate more there man you're you're throwing me some softballs here uh so so listen I'm not I'm not thrilled with what's happening I mean to be honest I mean the fact that it solves so much pressure with that TV and media money and and these kind of endless race of of programs to sort of um keep up with with other schools and and that has really caused the implosion of the of the Pac-12 Conference to be to be quite quite Frank and it just it pains me to know that there's not going to be a top um conference in the Pacific coast and and that's just not a great a great outcome for for anybody now as you know if you if you follow the that drama um there are now the Pack 12 I guess is now packed for the the their sort of those schools are looking for for a home and two in particular there have been reports that that um there might be an interest in joining our conference I'm very supportive if that were to be the case I mean I think uh Stanford and Cal in particular they're too amazing in academic institutions they share our values they share values in terms of of academic focus on academics of of top research portfolios but also very competitive athletically so I would be very very excited if we find a way for them to join our conference all these changes are not ideal for uh student athletes because obviously if all of a sudden it may require more travel more time away from classes so so there's no easy solution now but I think the alternative which is to see Cal and Stanford not have a very competitive home is far far worse so anyway we are a conference it's 15 of us we have to agree uh stay tuned for it just just follow social media because it looks like social media is sometimes ahead of our own meeting so uh so go ahead and yeah great if there's any other questions in the room you can just raise your hand and we'll get we'll get microphones but I'm going to keep going with the questions that were submitted in advance so you've talked a little bit about the growth increases between the number of students and the research dollars which is really exciting but are we growing enough on the faculty and staff side and how do we keep up with this pace so the answer is our resources are trading our growth that is a fact I mean we I see I see signs of improvement like I mentioned some of the the work we're doing in in physical infrastructure I I mentioned some of the numbers in sort of the net increases these are not we hired many more people but just to make up for some of the departures and retirements so we netted I think what I mentioned maybe 80 and 70 between academic and and Detroit so they're good signs but this continues to be a absolute a top um a top area of focus it's also um the other issue we're facing nothing nothing personal Alex but I don't understand why every student needs to major in computer science uh so so not only we have record enrollments but then even students after they have applied for a major then they they choose to change their major to so computer science has a has a huge issue uh to we're trying to resolve now some some people would say well how about we just don't let students change Majors but yet it's one it's it's really a signature aspect of Georgia Tech that once you get into Georgia Tech you have the ability to to change your major so try to figure out a way to build the resources but also how do we deal with this kind of mismatched uh um sort of sort of growth that's that's going to be really really important we've been uh the Provost tonight some of the Deans we've been talking about maybe part of the work has to be how do we even maybe make other Majors more more attractive so people don't feel like students don't feel like the only thing you can do in the universe is become a software engineer we love software Engineers Alex uh but there are many other things in the universe that people can do so so there there's a ton of work in building the resources we need to catch up we need to keep hiring uh HR has now recruited a um a fully dedicated person to drive recruiting which my understanding never had a person dedicated to that so there's a there's a number of things that we that we're doing but uh but no we we are our growth in resources is not matching the growth of of our of our business that's the reality great and we actually have two questions in the room so both of you are going to get extra credit after class oh my name is Juan archila and I'm in the office of research and I'm focused on facilities and infrastructure and so something you said about the new buildings and things like that just reminded me of our existing facilities I think there's a significant gap between the money that's required to operate and maintain and upgrade our facilities and what we get from the state and I'm wondering if there are any strategies or any ways to close that Gap I'll tell you yes we are so so our biggest sponsor of research of course is not he's not the state it's is the federal government right so the the of the of the now approaching one and a half billion that's a huge number of the the the of that almost one and a half billion dollars the biggest um the biggest sponsor of that is is the federal government but many times it is the the the the state that that helps us maybe either plant the seeds or through the gra um uh structure it allows us to bring eminent Scholars sometimes it provides a match that is required for some of these from some of these grants um the reality is and then of course as you know whether through different mechanisms whether it's gtri or or the non-gtri side um we we recover uh ex monies that allow us to keep up our infrastructure um of course accounting analysis Nationwide they they do show that that all that those indirect uh um contributions and are not really sufficient to cover all the expense so ultimately we have to use our own uh our own resources so we're constantly working on on where the priorities are we're trying to figure out how to allocate that money we're also more and more we're we're traditionally most of our private philanthropy did not go to research it went to maybe physical infrastructure or things more and more we're now talking with donors about supporting uh research so that I hope that that will also provide some some relief one more question right here thank you president Cabrera for your address um there's a national and international debate going on on generative AI perhaps our CS group has had a had a lot to do with that as well but I'm curious on uh what we're doing at Georgia Tech what your vision might be for us to provide thought leadership in this area particularly as we explore its impact on the workforce which we train and even how we train on on instruction a great great question Rhett and we've been spending a lot of time also with with gtab and some of our advisory groups on on this I'll give you an example of areas where I think we're we're sort of leading in terms of our higher education thinking this week I think the guardian had a published or it was late last week or this week the guardian published an interview with our dean of admissions Ray Clark and would Rick explained there while some because think about now students have access to charity to write their admissions essay and I've tried it and it's pretty darn good so so some universities are saying should we cancel the essay or should we not allow uh or should we not allow or explicitly ban the use of child GPT because they're well there is another approach to that which is what would uh Ray Clark was was explaining which is listen if you are in a high income family you already had chargpt he was a lady in your neighborhood who charged a thousand bucks to help your ideas or parents that would sit with you and help you or you were in a very well resourced high school and you had advisors that would help you so it's like how about we look at child GPT of a democratization of access to that help so what we have done in that regard and this is just one of the areas I know it's bigger pretty is we have created a a page on our website that explains to students and this is the first time because remember cha GPT was made public in November so this is going to be the first year we do so we've created a website that says Hey by all means use charge deputy and when you do use it this way use it to you know bounce off ideas to get feedback ultimately though make sure that your essay for it to be effective it has to carry your voice and your and your unique experience but that's a great example that I said how about we just Embrace this and lead the way as opposed to be defensive uh around it I'm aware the other day we had a great meeting with uh with the senior leadership team we have folks from the administration side from research and from uh and from teaching and I heard Amazing Ideas about what what's happening experiments that the some of our faculty colleagues are running um and I like you I hope that we can sort of lead the way it's only it's it's uh it's only fair because we help produce this technologist so now for us to say oh yeah but we don't know don't don't you don't apply them to our business it's only fair that we figure out how to use them responsibly and maybe lead the way uh for others to come thanks for asking that red so last question given the recent partnership between Georgia Tech and Hyundai are we going to replace all of our fleet vehicles with Hyundai vehicles a couple of people up front are shaking their heads no and and oh I I heard this one the other day the rambling wreck is stained I mean that's a Ford uh yeah no no no that it is actually I I have to say we've been so pleased with our relationship with the Hyundai uh partners and again I mean this has been this has been a great teamwork with uh our legal counsel our athletic director uh Communications and and others in Hyundai the reason why I'm very excited this is not just a random commercial sponsorship hey who wants to put their name on their Stadium this is very intentional very strategic Honda is building a massive uh electric vehicle plant near Savannah this year this summer during our trips you you drive four miles and the cranes are up it's it's pretty massive and Hyundai has said very publicly that they're in they're in Georgia because they it's a business friendly they got some tax benefits of course they love the port where they can ship things in and out they love the airport and they love Georgia Tech and we're in conversations with them to see how we put our um our teams together to for example Advance research in hydrogen they're already doing something in hydrogen they were hoping that maybe the track shipping things back and forth between their Factory in Savannah maybe an example of of a new hydrogen economy we're working on a new tech Hub uh that hopefully will be successful this year around energy so so I want you to know that that a lot that partnership with Hyundai is is very strategic very intentional I'm super excited and and just it's been it's been great to work with uh with with those guys there will be I think a visit on September 19th by some of the worldwide leaders of the of the company so it's going to be uh great great so we're super excited to close out with our Public Service Announcement so we're going to cue that up tomorrow um as president Cabrera said is the football game and you're going to get to see a preview of what you will see on TV okay give us one second it was working this morning we promise foreign okay we're gonna do a reboot on that one second for us to pull this back up thank you to our av people for all of their assistance and making all of this happen today they have done a tremendous job we have we had a team here this morning at 7 A.M that was working to make sure all of the live stream and everything was working simultaneously so thank you to our folks up front here and our folks in the back who've had a very long day making sure that this all came together the confidence to compete [Music] the creativity to adapt [Music] the inspiration to innovate Georgia Tech ignites passion and possibility be so bold thank you for being here today go jackets

Channel: Georgia Tech

Views: 3,163

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Id: WFgMb2B0rhE

Length: 60min 30sec (3630 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 01 2023