Trustees take Purdue to 'next level'

By Laura Pelner
Campus Editor

Purdue has a challenge to face in the next five years, a challenge the University has created for itself and one President Martin Jischke is welcoming.

On Friday the challenge — to make Purdue a preeminent university and take it to the next level — was formally established when the board of trustees officially approved the strategic plan, which lays out vision and mission statements and goals for Purdue for the next five years.

Jischke acknowledged that the plan is bold, but he said he's optimistic Purdue can achieve all of its parts.

"Purdue has a remarkably rich history of excellence in higher education," Jischke said. "Now Purdue is ready to undertake new challenges to fulfill bolder visions on all its campuses."

The West Lafayette campus, as well as each regional campus, made its own strategic plan, all of which were adopted unanimously Friday at the trustees' meeting. Preliminary work on the plans began three years ago when the board began looking for a new president and the work intensified last semester when task forces were created on each campus to draft the plans.

"This product is comprehensive, focused, bold and it has energized all of us," said Timothy McGinley, chairman of the board, and he said Friday was the beginning of something great.

"We've talked about taking Purdue to the next level, today we've done it," McGinley said. "Years from now I expect future boards of trustees will look back and see this as a landmark."

The plan has three main goals — achieving and sustaining preeminence in discovery, attaining and preserving excellence in learning through "programs of superior quality and value in every academic discipline," and effectively addressing the needs of society through engagement.

Provost Sally Frost Mason said the University values its arts and sciences as a foundation for academics, and she said all areas of Purdue would improve under the plan. However, she said some programs would necessarily receive more attention than others would.

"We recognize that our international reputation is grounded primarily in science and technology," Frost Mason said.

To that end, the plan calls for "advancing quality in all areas while leading the world in basic and applied sciences and engineering."

The plan calls for a major fund-raising campaign, about $156 million in new resources will be needed annually to support it on the West Lafayette campus. The money will come from five distinct areas, $20 million from private and endowed funds, $55 million in sponsored money for research and specific programs, $28 million from the state, $15 million in internal reallocations and $38 million from student fees.

To get the money from student fees, tuition will be raised $1,000 next fall for each new incoming student, for in-state and out-of-state, and undergraduate and graduate students alike. To get the full $38 million it will take four years at the higher tuition rate.

Even with the higher tuition, Jischke said Purdue is still a "bargain" to attend and he said paying the money is an investment in the future.

"We use the resources available to us extraordinarily efficiently," he said.

After passing the strategic plan the board of trustees received an enthusiastic round of applause. Jischke said the plan will not only better Purdue, but it will make Indiana become a better state.

"These plans are very aggressive and they are very doable," Jischke said. "They will succeed in their goal to take Purdue and the state it resides in to the next level.

"We have taken control of our future, we are planning our destiny."

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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