Purdue News

November 2, 2001 Purdue maps 5-year future with strategic plan for each campus WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue Board of Trustees today (Friday, 11/2) adopted a five-year strategic plan to make Purdue a preeminent university, advancing quality in all areas, leading the world in basic and applied sciences and engineering, and contributing to societal progress, especially in Indiana. The plan for the West Lafayette campus calls for $156 million annually in new resources that will support discovery, learning and engagement, leading to a wide range of advancements in undergraduate learning, interdisciplinary research and economic development for Indiana. The new money is expected to include: $28 million in state and federal appropriations, $20 million in endowment income from private giving, $55 million in sponsored research funding, $15 million in internal reallocations and a $1,000 annual increase in fees for new students on the West Lafayette campus. Smaller increases are planned for new students on Purdue’s regional campuses. Students already enrolled would be exempted from these increases. President Martin C. Jischke said about half the increased income from student fees will be allocated to financial aid and the technology that students use. An equal amount will pay for the hiring of 300 additional faculty members at West Lafayette. Currently 30 percent of the undergraduate instruction is delivered by graduate assistants. The plan calls for reducing that to 15 percent. The 600 graduate students who will no longer teach will be reassigned to research projects, funded by the increase in sponsored research funding. In addition to the increase in annual income, Purdue is already raising or planning to raise $600 million for more than 20 facilities and programs at West Lafayette. Coupled with the $20 million needed annually in endowment income, the plan will require at least a $1 billion private fund-raising campaign. "This plan is the product of nine months of intense discussion on all Purdue campuses, but its roots actually go deeper," said board Chairman J. Timothy McGinley. "Before we trustees set out to find our new president three years ago, we assessed this university's strengths and looked at its potential. We found a very solid institution ready to step up to the next level, and to do that, we decided it needed a strategic plan. "We couldn't be more pleased with the president we chose, Martin Jischke, or the plan his team has produced." Each Purdue campus has its own plan. Some highlights for the West Lafayette campus include investments that will: • Enhance learning by increasing the number of faculty in undergraduate classrooms and decreasing the reliance on graduate teaching assistants and temporary faculty; providing more experiential learning opportunities through such efforts as internships, study abroad and community service; and creating new academic and support programs. • Expand interdisciplinary research capacity and visionary initiatives. • Advance diversity among faculty, staff and students. • Preserve student access to education through expanded financial aid. • Ensure faculty and staff excellence through competitive compensation and supportive resources. • Strengthen the university's infrastructure, especially facilities and information technology. • Engage government and business leaders to advance economic development. "This plan will take not only Purdue, but also the state of Indiana, to the next level of excellence," Jischke said. "For Indiana to grow its economy and attract new business and industry, it needs a great university that educates people for productive careers as leaders in our economy and is geared to spin off high-tech discoveries into the private sector. "Our rising to a higher level of excellence is inexorably tied to the economic and social advancement of Indiana." The goal to become world-class in the sciences, engineering and technology builds on deep traditions at Purdue, the president said. "However, we will strive for excellence in every area," Jischke said. "A preeminent education, by definition, assumes a world-class foundation in such fundamental areas as the liberal arts." As a yardstick by which to measure the university's performance, the trustees will benchmark Purdue’s West Lafayette campus against 11 peer institutions: Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, the University of California Berkeley, University of California Davis, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, University of Arizona, University of Michigan, Texas A&M, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "These are our peers for the purpose of benchmarking to assess Purdue's competitiveness," Jischke said. "But even with a $1,000 annual fee increase, Purdue will rank below the averages of both this group and the Big Ten in the resources available through the combination of student fees and state appropriations." The strategic plan reflects changes in the Indiana higher education system and opportunities made possible by the Indiana's Community College, Jischke noted. "Purdue needs to plan taking into account the fact that the State of Indiana has moved toward a more differentiated system of higher education," Jischke said. "No university or campus can meet the needs of all the people who need higher education. Purdue West Lafayette will continue to serve a broad range of students, but some are better served at other institutions, some at our regional campuses, and others in the new community college system. "This range of options allows the state's flagship universities to rethink their missions and become more strategically focused, as we have done with this plan, while still allowing every qualified Indiana student a place in the higher education system." Strategic plans at the other campuses governed by the Purdue Board of Trustees – Purdue Calumet, Purdue North Central and Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne – follow many of the themes of the West Lafayette campus. For example, they will: • Increase the number of permanent faculty, while reducing their reliance on temporary instructors; • Improve student recruitment and retention; • Provide competitive faculty salaries; • Promote lifelong learning; • Enhance the quality of life in their areas; • Invest in K-12 partnerships; and • Engage their particular regions with a special emphasis on economic development, focusing on Purdue's strength in high technology. All three campuses also propose to explore the development of residential student housing. Strategic plans at the regional campuses also reflect missions specific to each institution. Purdue North Central plans to expand into a bachelor's degree granting institution with selected master's degree programs. Purdue North Central also plans to provide leadership to encourage the establishment of a business incubator for new enterprise for that area. Purdue Calumet plans to establish bachelor's degrees for all programs currently offering only associate degrees. Calumet also proposes establishing four centers: the Student Success Center; the Center for Professional Development, which would serve faculty and staff; the Technology and Business Center, to train and develop undergraduate student research and support start-up companies; and the Post-secondary Learning Center, consolidating and expanding its current efforts in southern Lake County. IPFW's goals are to become the graduate education center for northeast Indiana and to be recognized as an outstanding regional university that emphasizes excellence, value and accessibility. IPFW's plans also include improving library and learning resources, providing support for both traditional and non-traditional students and investing in partnerships that will contribute to economic and community development. This is Purdue's first universitywide strategic plan. "This is more than just an academic exercise," Jischke said. "Purdue is employing good management practices, defining its mission and setting measurable objectives. This is critical: Opportunity is limitless but resources are finite. Purdue cannot be all things to all people, and it must know its mission so it can use resources wisely. "It is my hope that in five years, as a result of strategic planning, Purdue and all of its campuses will be better institutions in terms of mission, reputation and impact – more strategically focused, more engaged with Indiana and beyond, more diverse, more accountable and better funded." Writer: Jeanne V. Norberg, (765) 494-2084, home: (765) 449-4986, jnorberg@purdue.edu Source: Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708 Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page