New students arriving on campus this year will begin to enjoy the harvest of our labors to transform the center of campus to meet their needs. Three transformational construction projects on the Mall are being completed in 2002: the Integrated Learning Center, the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion and the Student Union Memorial Center. Construction will continue throughout this year for the Ina E. Gittings Dance Theater and the Optical Sciences Center on the eastern end of the Mall; and in time the Alumni Plaza will grace the area between the ILC and the union, but the gigantic construction projects in the middle of our campus are nearing completion.

This will be a great relief for those of us who have lived and worked here during the heavy construction phase of this work, and it will be a great boon to be enjoyed by new students. Rarely has any university made such a dramatic commitment to improving the heart of its campus for the benefit of its students, and we should all celebrate our success.

In my exuberance I should not fail to acknowledge that the first of the residence halls being constructed to accommodate our growing student body will not be available until next year. We do not yet have all of the facilities that our students need and deserve, but we are approaching that goal.

I might add that our highly productive faculty and their most advanced students also need and deserve new facilities for the discovery of knowledge, defining the top priority for the next phase of campus construction.

The needs of students and faculty are linked at the University of Arizona, which we proudly describe as a ćstudent-centered research university.ä This is a place where learning by discovery is a key element of the educational agenda, augmenting the conventional learning that comes from books, Web-sites or expert testimony in a classroom or lecture hall. Both students and faculty learn by discovery in a research university, and they develop special bonds as they learn together.

We realize that the prospect of joining our learning community can be rather daunting for many of our new students, especially those who come to us directly from high schools in small towns or rural areas. You might even be intimidated by this campus and its bustling activity, with thousands of bright, busy people pursuing their dreams. You might be wondering if you can find your place here, pursuing a dream of your own.

Please be assured that you belong here, whatever your background, culture, race or religion. This is a very welcoming community, and we make friends easily.

You will make the transition most rapidly if you take the initiative in meeting new people, perhaps just with a smile and a friendly hello to strangers. You are beginning a great adventure if you are new to our campus, and that experience will be enriched by the interesting people you will meet here.

Finally, I will remind you to work hard from the very beginning of your university life, but to keep your balance, too. It is OK to have a wonderful time in your college years.