November 19, 2004

President Jischke updates strategic plan progress

(Comments made by Purdue President Martin C. Jischke on the university's strategic plan during the Nov. 19 meeting of the Board of Trustees.)

In the fall of 2001, this board approved strategic plans for Purdue University.

Three primary goals were established, directly tied to our land-grant missions: First, attaining and preserving excellence in learning through programs of superior quality and value in every academic discipline; second, achieving and sustaining preeminence in discovery; and third, effectively addressing the needs of society through engagement.

Three years into our five-year plan, we are now past the halfway point. I can now say without reservation that this is the right plan for Purdue.

I have led four universities in a strategic planning process. All of them have been successful.

But the five-year plans under way at Purdue are the most successful and productive I have ever seen.

We have progressed toward our strategic plan vision and goals by adding 146 new faculty; developing a $200 million Discovery Park; expanding student financial aid by more than 25 percent in two years; increasing diversity to 21 percent for all faculty, 10.9 percent for all students; increasing faculty compensation 2 percent closer to our peers; strengthening the university's infrastructure with more than half a billion dollars worth of new construction; and engaging government and business leaders in economic development through initiatives such as our nationally No. 1 ranked Research Park.

There is no question we have a great deal of work ahead of us. We cannot be satisfied with what we have accomplished to date.

Not all of our final goals have been reached, and a great deal of work lies ahead. There are several areas in which are not progressing as rapidly as we would like, possibly necessitating mid-course adjustments. But we are moving steadily and surely toward success.

The essence of every university is people – students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. Purdue people have a commitment to this university that is truly inspiring.

Our strategic plans are a blueprint for excellence. Purdue people are builders who are creating our success.

Many thanks to everyone for the hard work and dedication that is making possible everything we are accomplishing at Purdue today.

My special thanks to the board members for your leadership.

The incredible support for our Campaign for Purdue shows that our friends and alumni believe in our strategic plans. This campaign is helping to provide the resources we need for success.

In 2003-2004 systemwide private fund raising reached $229.1 million. In West Lafayette alone the campaign totaled $215.6 million for the year.

This campaign was started in July 2000 with the goal of raising $1.3 billion by the end of June 2007. When we announced this, it was the biggest higher education capital campaign in the history of Indiana.

We set our goals high. We believed our alumni, friends and corporate partners would line up solidly behind our efforts to rise to preeminence. We placed our future in the hands of the right people.

In October our friends, alumni and corporate partners pushed our Campaign for Purdue past the $1 billion mark.

Purdue people have invested solidly in the future of this university. This support will leave an incredible impact on the university and on our students.

With more than 2 1/2 years remaining in our campaign, our $1.3 billion goal is clearly within our grasp.

This campaign is about stretching our potential and seeing how far we can go. This campaign is about taking everything we are doing at Purdue to the next level. This campaign is about rising to preeminence.

The huge support for the Campaign for Purdue has led us to the first mid-course adjustment in our strategic plans. And it is a good one.

We based our plans on the assumption that we could raise $1.3 billion in seven years. We now believe we can raise $1.5 billion, and that is our new goal.

Half of the additional $200 million will be earmarked for programming costs such as laboratory and equipment needs at Discovery Park. The rest will be unrestricted funds available for any campus needs.

We continue to enjoy solid support from our state.

State operating appropriations for Purdue this fiscal year are $240.2 million, up $7.2 million or 3.1 percent over last year. The increase includes the second year of support in this biennium for our research mission and our biomedical engineering initiative.

Though we appreciate this support from our state, we also note that Purdue's state appropriations for 2002-2003 fell well below the average appropriation per full time equivalent student at our peer institutions.

When the General Assembly convenes in January, a new biennial budget will be at the top of the agenda. State officials will be working to deal with an $800 million revenue shortfall, plus $722 million in payment delays.

Some difficult decisions will have to be made.

We believe that investments in higher education will build highways to the future for Indiana.

In recent years some state support for Purdue and other Indiana public universities has been reduced.

Funding for repair and rehabilitation is a very real concern. The state's formula calls for Purdue to receive $30 million annually systemwide for repair and rehabilitation – $16 million of that for West Lafayette.

It is estimated that Purdue is about $116.5 million behind in deferred maintenance and faces a $293.5 million backlog in renovations and rehabilitations. If the state is not able to address this issue, a mid-course adjustment in the strategic plan funding process might be necessary to preserve the quality of our facilities.

Successful management of enrollment is an important part of our strategic plans.

We are on target. Our West Lafayette enrollment this fall is 38,653.

We are receiving record-setting numbers of applications. This year we had 24,003 freshman applicants – 1,000 more than a year ago. That includes an increase of 440 from Indiana residents.

Students clearly believe in the power and potential of a Purdue education.

This fall we enrolled 461 more freshman students than last year – for a total of 7,128.

Enrollment in our professional programs is up to 924 students. While the number of new graduate students is about the same as last year, more students have completed advanced degrees and graduated, bringing the total number down.

We are also experiencing a nationwide decrease in applications from international graduate students.

We have 6,982 graduate students in West Lafayette. We are at work across the campus evaluating our graduate recruitment processes and laying the foundations for the future.

This fall systemwide our headcount is 68,746. Systemwide the total Indiana resident population at Purdue is 51,153. That is 74.4 percent, the same as last year.

The quality of Purdue students is improving.

The average SAT score for the fall of 2004 entering freshman class held steady at 1149 – an increase of 39 points in six years.

Diversity is at the heart of our strategic plans and one of our overarching goals. This means increasing diversity is a goal in everything we are working to accomplish.

Overall student diversity this fall grew from 10.5 percent to 10.9 percent. Diversity of new undergraduates is at 13.6 percent.

Minority diversity in the fall of 2003 increased to 16.8 percent for tenured/tenure-track faculty and 21.1 percent for all faculty. Staff diversity increased slightly to 7.4 percent and remains an area where progress is coming slowly.

As of September of this year, 21 faculty members had been appointed as new distinguished or named professors in the past year. We now have 98.

Since the Campaign for Purdue began in 2000, we have raised $83.5 million in private support to create professorships to help attract and retain leading faculty. Some of these are already filled.

When I arrived at Purdue four years ago, more than 100 faculty were being recruited by other universities and the private sector. Thanks to our strategic plan initiatives, we are now recruiting faculty from the private sector and other universities.

We are making progress on salaries, although we still have more work to do.

In the third year of our plans, average faculty salaries improved from 9 percent to now 6.9 percent below the peer average. Staff salaries remain competitive with peer markets.

When benefits and cost of living are factored in, Purdue fares even better in compensation comparisons.

Thanks to our strategic plans and Campaign for Purdue, total student financial aid last fall increased 10.2 percent to $362 million. This was a 25.3 percent increase in two years.

We have launched the Purdue Opportunity Awards for students with special needs – one from every county in Indiana. And we have been able to extend the benefits of this program through the sophomore year.

The $362 million includes $87 million in scholarships and grants and $275 million in loans and employment opportunities.

I can tell you that this year we have $396 million available in total student aid for students in West Lafayette as we continue to grow this important aspect of our strategic plans.

We have broken ground on our $47.7 million Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering.

On our West Lafayette campus, more than half a billion dollars' worth of construction is either recently completed or under way. This more than at any other time in the history of Purdue as we transform this campus for the 21st century.

In addition, construction projects totaling another $250 million are being planned.

We have started our $1.4 million radiation therapy facility in veterinary medicine, a $20 million Lawson Computer Science Building, a $10 million e-Enterprise Center in Discovery Park, and $2.7 million Tom Spurgeon Golf Training Center.

Our strategic plans and Campaign for Purdue in West Lafayette have resulted in: Pfendler Hall, Dauch Alumni Center, Pao Hall for the Visual and Performing Arts, the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Bowen Civil Engineering Laboratory, the Visualization Lab, the Earhart Dining facility, the Union "Pappy's" Sweet Shop remodeling, the Fred and Mary Ford Dining Court, the Veterinary Medicine Isolation Facility, Vawter Food Service renovation, the Birck Nanotechnology Center, Cary Quad South renovation, a biomedical engineering building, the Bindley Bioscience Center, Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering, the Equine Health Science Facility, Purdue-Calumet and Fort Wayne Student Housing and the Chao pharmacy facility.

The university's administrative computing applications need systemwide modernization.

This involves all of our campuses. It is requiring a mid-course adjustment in our plans.

OnePurdue is the name of our four-year initiative to modernize our dated computing applications, including the areas of student services, human resources, research administration and finance.

Responding to the changing needs of Northwest Indiana's business environment, Purdue Calumet recently added two new programs – a bachelor of arts degree in business and both associate and baccalaureate degrees in computer graphics technology.

Another Calumet strategy, on-campus housing, represents a big shift away from its commuter-campus tradition.

Currently under construction, a 380-bed student housing complex is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2005.

One of the most visible aspects of IPFW's response to local needs is the 568-bed student housing complex that opened this fall.

This is meeting the need for a residential campus experience for students making IPFW their campus of choice. This trend is demonstrated by enrollment growth approaching a headcount of 12,000 – making IPFW the fifth-largest campus in Indiana.

The average age of a Purdue North Central student is now down to 26, with at least 60 percent of students considered full time. The average credit hour load per semester is up to 10.5 from only 10 two years ago.

Adding baccalaureate programs in business, computer information systems technology, behavioral sciences, communications and industrial technology are a direct response to the demand from residents of LaPorte and Porter counties.

Our strategic plans in learning are focused on preserving excellence through programs of superior quality and value in every academic discipline. Our metrics show we are having great success.

We have added 146 of the 300 new faculty positions included in our plans. This is helping to reduce our reliance on graduate teaching assistants, who are being moved to our growing research initiatives.

In West Lafayette in our School of Liberal Arts, we have introduced a new Master of Fine Arts Degree in Art and Design.

Thanks to a $10 million gift and state support, we are adding 20 faculty to biomedical engineering, constructing a $25 million biomedical engineering building, and we have launched an undergraduate biomedical engineering program.

We have also elevated this department to become the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

The one-year student retention rate in 2003-2004 decreased slightly from 86.4 percent to 85.5. Also, our six-year graduation rate showed slight decline from 67.3 percent to 65.6.

At the same time our four-year graduation rate increased significantly from 36.1 percent to 40.2 percent.

The graduation rate of athletes hit a record high of 81 percent surpassing the 75 percent strategic plan goal.

Participation in study abroad programs increased over the past two years by 67.5 percent to 881 students. Last year Purdue study abroad students were in 129 programs in 45 countries.

More than 700 students were enrolled in service learning projects in 2003-2004. Purdue has $100,000 in grant money available to help both individuals and groups with these efforts.

This fall in a Wall Street Journal survey the Krannert MBA program ranked No. 1 in the nation among universities serving a regional recruiting base.

An indication of the respect a university earns can be seen in how it shows up in various rankings.

Purdue is doing quite well in these rankings, including those by U.S. News and World Report.

Intel Corporation this year ranked Purdue second in the nation in wireless Internet capabilities. Kaplan's The Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges of 2003 lists Purdue as "one of the nation's best in career services" and "best value."

In the most recent U.S. News and World Report Purdue had 24 programs ranked among the top 10 and 38 programs among the top 20.

This is excellent progress.

But to illustrate the work that lies ahead, our peer institution rankings showed an average of 43 programs in the top 10 and 67 among the top 20.

As we continue the success of our strategic plans, I believe we will see our rankings continue to improve.

Our goal in discovery is to achieve and sustain preeminence, and we are moving forward rapidly.

For the second year in a row Purdue has been ranked among the "Best Places to Work in Academia," according to an international survey of 1,456 researchers by The Scientist magazine.

More than 60 U.S. institutions were named as desirable employers by those surveyed. Purdue ranked second in the nation with only California Institute of Technology placing higher.

Our interdisciplinary research and learning area Discovery Park is already up and running as facilities come on line.

Since its inception, Discovery Park has submitted 176 proposals requesting $658.1 million in funding. This has led to 50 successful proposals, which have resulted in new, sponsored research funding and grants approaching $100 million, including the Lilly Grant.

Seventy proposals are still pending review totaling $153 million. About 500 faculty members are associated with at least one center, along with our students and many others from outside the university.

Our $7 million Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship is open.

Our $58 million Birck Nanotechnology Center and $15 million Bindley Bioscience Center will open in June.

A $10 million e-Enterprise Center is under construction.

And we are planning a $10 million Discovery Learning Center.

We have launched a Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Discovery Park, along with the Purdue Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering.

Nine startup companies have already emerged from Discovery Park. They include: Griffin Analytical Technologies, Inc., SpecraCode, Inc., Endocyte, Inc., SSCI, Inc., Biovitesse, Vista Biosciences, Attosense, Prosolia, and Tienta.

Systemwide, sponsored programs awards set another record at $243.4 million. The West Lafayette campus set a record at $235.6 million, an increase of 13.4 percent.

More than 90 percent of the university's 116 centers are interdisciplinary.

In 2003-2004 these centers received $47.5 million in sponsored funding. This is an increase of $9.3 million over the previous year.

Of the 23 Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund grants during the past year, 19 have involved Purdue. In these 19 projects Purdue is collaborating with eight other universities and 45 companies, government labs and associations.

With a Purdue office recently established in Washington, D.C., during the past year $11.1 million in research funds came from focused Washington projects.

A key element of our land-grant missions and strategic plans is engagement – taking all of our learning and discovery from off the campus and into society.

We have special focuses to help our state. In 21st century land-grant universities, every department and school must have engagement focuses.

The Purdue Research Park has been named the No. 1 facility in the nation. The ranking comes from the Association of University Research Parks.

The Purdue Research Park became the first Certified Technology Park in Indiana. It is being used as a model throughout the state.

In technology transfers, disclosures increased by 12.9 percent to 166. There were 154 patent applications. U.S. patents issued increased by 11 percent to 30. License/options were at 80.

Since 2000, Purdue's focus on engagement has resulted in a 117 percent increase in patent filings for technologies coming out of the Purdue Research Park. Royalty revenue in 2003-2004 increased by 50 percent to $4.4 million.

Two nurse-managed clinics, the Family Health Clinic of Carroll County and the Nursing Center for Family Health, have received global recognition while serving more than 5,000 clients annually.

A new second-degree program in Purdue nursing could help relieve the country's shortage of nurses, which has become one of the worst in history.

The School of Nursing's Second Degree Accelerated Program is designed for students who already possess bachelor's degrees in other fields but wish to become nurses. It is now accepting students to begin in May 2005.

Students who enroll in the program could earn a bachelor's degree in nursing in approximately two years.

Our College of Engineering has a major focus on outreach and has restructured its entire freshman program.

During "Love Engineering At Purdue" – which we call LEAP – summer camps sixth- and seventh-grade girls do hands-on projects and learn about engineering from current Purdue engineering students.

Last year Project Lead The Way, a pre-engineering, engineering technology curriculum for middle and high school students, offered courses to more than 14,000 Indiana students in 62 Indiana schools.

The Science Bound Program completed its third year with grants of more than $1.4 million for students studying engineering, technology, science, agriculture, math or math/science education.

There are 170 Indianapolis Public School students enrolled in this program, which offers full-tuition scholarships to Purdue.

The annual Indiana High Tech Job Fair hosted by Purdue’s Technical Assistance Program, attracted 51 companies and 1,000 students last year.

In 2003-2004, TAP assisted with 381 projects and placed 82 interns in the past two summers. Overall, TAP served more than 458 Indiana companies during the year.

Systemwide 63.3 percent of all our graduates stay in Indiana after completing their degrees. For graduates who were Indiana residents when they enrolled, 87 percent stay in Indiana, including 83.7 percent from our West Lafayette campus.

Our strategic plans have already made Purdue a greater university – better in many, many ways.

We have better facilities, better academic programs, a more diverse and better-prepared student body, more extensive research and more financial resources.

This board has been the key to accomplishing all of this. Thank you very much for your leadership and guidance.

Thanks to all our students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and corporate sponsors for the support and hard work that has gone into all of this.

Our strategic plans enable us to shape our destiny and determine today what Purdue University will become tomorrow. Everything we are doing is focused on helping Purdue to become a better university so we can help Indiana become a better state.

We will not be satisfied until we have carried out all the goals in our plans.

And with the progress that has been made, Purdue has every reason to believe we will fulfill our ultimate vision for preeminence.

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