Purdue News

November 2, 2001 Purdue maps future of university By J. Timothy McGinley Chairman, Purdue Board of Trustees Managing Partner and principal owner, House Investments and House Investments Securities Inc., Indianapolis This is a tremendously exciting time at Purdue University. The Board of Trustees Friday (11/2) endorsed the university's strategic plan for the future. The primary beneficiaries will be our students and our state. Until now, this great university had achieved amazing results. But the Trustees decided three years ago after a lengthy review that Purdue was ready – and had an obligation – to move to the next level. To do that, we went looking for a new president with the vision and experience to help us assess our potential, take stock of our mission and lay plans to turn possibilities into reality. That's what a strategic plan is all about. You have to create a common vision of where you are going, complete with a map and benchmarks to measure your progress. The Trustees found the right person in Martin Jischke. We are very impressed with the plan his team has set before us. It is bold and comprehensive and was developed through an open and inclusive process. It is truly a blueprint for success. A couple of highlights: • Focus: Purdue will play to its strengths. This institution will become preeminent in applied and basic sciences and engineering. That means we will be second to none. While we will focus on our high-tech world, though, the non-technical components of our educational offering will not be overlooked. A great institution requires, for example, a strong undergirding of liberal arts. The plan calls for all areas of Purdue to get better. • Discovery: We will expand our research capacity, especially in the interdisciplinary efforts required to address today's complex research challenges and bring new ideas from laboratory to marketplace. That's much easier said than done, however. It will require retooling our labs and reshaping our infrastructure, much as we're doing with our new $100 million Discovery Park. • Learning: Purdue will take critical steps to improve the education of its undergraduate students. We will hire 300 more faculty, putting them in the classroom. We will cut in half the proportion of our undergraduate classes that are taught by graduate students. We'll also put in place programs to help our students find internships, study abroad and have more learning experiences outside the classroom. • Engagement: Purdue is an international leader, but its first commitment must be to the people of Indiana. The university will help this state by helping existing businesses improve and by working to spin off its high-tech research, creating New Economy companies for Indiana. We'll make sure that our graduates are prepared to take on the jobs that we create. Once we decided what we needed to do, we then calculated how we could raise the money needed to achieve these objectives. We will need to increase revenue by more than $150 million annually to reach these goals. The plan targets five funding sources: • Reallocation: Purdue is asking all areas of the university to give budget funds back to the central administration so that money can be reallocated to the university's strategic opportunities. Each unit will decide which of its programs are most effective and realign accordingly. • Private giving: Purdue has plenty of room to grow in private support, yet its alumni and friends are an extraordinarily committed group. For proof, consider that six of the top 10 gifts in Purdue's history were announced in the past two months. Purdue must continue to earn such support. Before Dr. Jischke arrived at Purdue, the university received about $113 million annually in private gifts and pledges. Last fiscal year, private support jumped to $173 million. We intend to increase that to at least $250 million annually. • Sponsored research: The federal and state government, as well as private industry, help fund research on college campuses. For fiscal year 2001, Purdue, through its outstanding faculty, attracted $190 million in such funding. We intend to increase that by $50 million a year, using private and state support as leverage to attract the research funding. • State support: A quarter of the Purdue budget comes from the State of Indiana. We recognize that the state is facing hard economic times, but we also are convinced that the state must invest in its universities if it hopes to participate in the New Economy. We propose that the state, which now gives Purdue $251 million a year, stay the course by continuing to provide inflationary increases in operating funds and by funding operating costs for new facilities that are built with private funds. Other state investments will be targeted on specific initiatives that build Indiana's capacity to grow and prosper. We believe this is realistic and critical. • Students: Student fees make up 21 percent of Purdue’s budget. The university’s current fees are among the lowest in the Big Ten. When you couple fees with state support per student, Purdue ranks last in the Big Ten. Clearly, this has to change. Student fees will increase – by $1,000 a year at the West Lafayette campus and $500 on the regional campuses – for all new students. The increase will not affect currently enrolled students. After four years, as new students replace those on campus right now, this fee increase will generate $38 million a year at West Lafayette – about a quarter of the total cost of the strategic plan. Purdue fees will still be in the bottom half of the Big Ten. • Accessibility: Purdue intends to make sure that cost never prevents qualified students from realizing the future that comes with a Purdue degree. Purdue will devote $20 million per year from private gifts and increases in student fees to helping students who need financial assistance. Developing this plan has brought consensus, momentum and energy to the entire Purdue community. We all are ready to move forward. President Jischke and the Board of Trustees have the vision, determination and energy to take Purdue to greatness. The planning is done. Now the future begins. To the Purdue News and Photos Page