The first draft was circulated on campus and discussed in three public forums during March. On the basis of comments we received there and in writing, and after discussion with the Faculty Senate, Staff Employees Council, Dean=s Council, and President=s Cabinet, we have modified that version to produce the final draft you see here. One of the major additions is material relating to globalization initiatives on campus, as well as stronger statements about the need to consider both assessment and distance education activities on campus. We have also recommended against continuation of the present system of summer hours.

This report will serve as a basis for the university=s accreditation evaluation, which will take place in the fall of 1997. An 18-member accreditation team, composed of evaluators from peer institutions, will assess UNR's performance based on the data and analysis that we provide in this report.

Members of the Self-Study Steering Committee include: Elizabeth Raymond, Stacy Burton, Scott Casper, Indira Chatterjee, Pam Cross, George Danko, Dennis Dworkin, Neal Ferguson, John Frederick, Linda Hayes, Martha Hildreth, William Gerthoffer, Glenn Miller, Mark Pingle, Marsha Read, Steve Rock, Virginia Scheschy, Catherine Smith, Richard Tracy, and Joan Zenan. On behalf of all of them, I encourage you to review this self-study report. As was the case at the time of our last self-study, in 1988, this report will undoubtedly serve as the basis for numerous important university initiatives in the coming decade. Indeed, several are already underway. We thank all of you for your input to this process, and look forward to the evaluators= visit October 20-22.