Long-term success begins with short-term success, President Bob Bell told faculty Wednesday in his opening address for the 2005-06 academic year. And while recent successes in national rankings — U.S.News & World Report, The Princeton Review — give faculty, staff and students reason to show their Tech Pride, there's more work to be done.

At the CEO Summit on Math and Science Education held last week in Oak Ridge, Gov. Phil Bredesen voiced concern over how few college graduates Tennessee is producing, said President Bell, who participated in the event.

"Then Jeff Wadsworth, director of Oak Ridge National Lab, spoke," said Bell. "Jeff Wadsworth holds a Ph.D. in engineering, is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and directs our nation's premier national research laboratory.

"Yet he talked about his challenges as a young student, about how poorly he did in high school and in his early college days, how he struggled about whether to remain in school. And he talked about one of his professors — a person who literally turned his life around by taking the time to care about him. Someone who, in a sink or swim environment, took time to help him swim.

"You may very well be that professor this year for a Tennessee Tech student," the president told faculty. "Someone who has the potential to go on to great things may depend on you this year. Please help them learn to swim."

The university's vision focuses on student success, said Bell, and our strategic plan focuses on access, retention, and graduation — all vital elements in the long-term success of not only our students, but our region, state and nation.

"We serve one of the most underserved regions of our state," he said. "While we have a national and international impact, TTU's mission statement retains a special commitment to the Upper Cumberland. We must find ways, perhaps by partnering with other institutions, to improve access to higher education in our region."

Providing access is a good start, said Bell, "but we have to make more students successful once they get here. They've met our admissions standards. We say they're qualified and capable of earning a baccalaureate degree. But more than half don't make it."

While TTU's graduation rate, at 41.3 percent, is the best among Tennessee Board of Regents universities, "there's room for improvement and opportunity to influence the life-long success of many more students, as well as the economic and community development of our state and nation.

"Student success means more than grades in a classroom — it's a complex weave of the campus experience, including teaching excellence, caring instructors and staff, an interesting and stimulating on-campus experience, a progression through challenging materials, a diploma that one is proud of, and a life-long experience that, on occasion, can be tied back to time spent at an outstanding university."

President Bell concluded his remarks by reminding faculty that students are already arriving on campus, many of them with parents in tow.

"I hope you can interact with some of the parents and students who will be on campus. You can feel their excitement about this new venture, their pride that their daughter or son is attending Tennessee Tech, and you can feel their hopes for the future. We're here to help them achieve those hopes and those dreams," said the president. "That's what great universities do."