Strategic Plan: Progress & Status, FY 2011

Pillar #1: Student Success

Access and Enrollment Growth

• Record size, diversity, preparation of incoming classes
• Recruiting activities in focused markets; created recruiting materials in Spanish & 6 other languages

Affordability

• Lowest resident undergrad tuition in Big Ten (ex. Nebr.)

Improved Retention

• Established an Office of Retention
• Launched On Iowa! immersion program
• Early intervention helping to improve retention
• New supplemental instruction program for students in critical “gateway courses”
• Record retention & graduation rates

Increased Students’ Academic Engagement

• 4 new living-learning communities

• 122 first-year seminars (# tripled since 2008-09)
• TILE (Transform. Interact. Learn.  Engage.) classrooms/learning commons spaces
• Increased funding to Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates

Outcomes Assessment

• Hired director of assessment
• First annual assessment report

Alcohol Safety

• Established Alcohol Harm Reduction Plan
• Created Harm Reduction Committee, appointed coordinator of campus initiatives

Graduate/Professional Student Success

• High quality programs: >75% in top 30 publics
• 13 degree programs closed; additional programs realigned for efficiency and synergies
• 11 new programs (subtracks, certificates, 1 degree)
• Career advising incorporated in development programs

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Pillar #2: Knowledge and Practice

Invested in Faculty Cluster Hires

• 5 active clusters, ~50 lines allocated
• Smaller investment in “runners-up”

Enhanced Processes for Monitoring/Rewarding Faculty

• Developed review procedures with deans & Faculty Senate (post-tenure)
• UI Academic and Professional Record – creating central database of faculty activities

Sponsored funding for Research

• Steady despite downturn in federal funding
• Second-highest annual total ever ($456.6M)
   

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Pillar #3: New Frontiers in the Arts

Rebuilding the Arts Campus

• Working together to move forward on building, renovation, mitigation
• Aligning campaign priorities  with arts campus needs

Initiated Unified Arts Vision

• Sponsored unified Arts@Iowa campus website
• Coordinating with Liberal Arts & Sciences

MFA in Book Arts

• An example of creating synergies by bringing diverse programs together
• Fully subscribed in its first year

Hired UI Museum of Art Director

• Renewed relationship with academic units
• Restarted faculty art show at Figge

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Pillar #4: Better Futures for Iowans

Degree Completion Programs

• FY 2011 added Southwestern, Iowa Western, and North Iowa Area community colleges (CCs)
• This summer added Northwest Iowa, Southeastern, and Northeast Iowa CCs (total = 13)

Expanded Distance Education Programs

• New online Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
• 47% of enrollments in for-credit continuing education at Regent universities are in UI programs

Provost's Committee on Engagement

• Articulate a UI vision and priorities that is supportive of academics
• Consider whether to pursue Carnegie community engagement classification

Faculty Clusters

• All clusters directly benefit Iowans

Digital Studio for the Public Humanities

• Inaugural director appointed

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Foundational Commitment: Inclusion and Internationalization

Student and Faculty Diversity

• Record diversity of incoming class (14.2%)
• Positive trends in faculty diversity

International Students

• Record percentage of international students in incoming class (10.6%)
• State-wide, contribute $250M to Iowa’s economy

New General Education Requirements

• International and Global Issues
• Values, Society, and Diversity

Study Abroad

• Positive impact on retention and success
• 2009-10: 912 undergraduates, 453 graduate/professional students (a record)
• 2010-11: 907 undergraduate, 441 grad/prof

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Foundational Commitment: Sustainability

2020 Vision

• 7 ambitious goals for sustainability
• Sustainability Partnership Program agreement with EPA

Building Smarter and Greener

• LEED certification for new construction and major renovations

Energy Conservation

• Energy Control Center “dashboards” – live displays of energy usage for all buildings

Materials and Recycling

• As of August 2010, recycling available in all residence halls

Renewable Energy

• Biomass Fuel Project
• Sustainable Energy Discovery District

Sustainability in the Curriculum/Learning Opportunities

• Sustainability certificate – high demand, new courses
• Held workshop to help instructors integrate sustainability into the classroom
• Countless opportunities for students to participate in sustainability-related research, projects, and volunteer efforts

Sustainability in Economic Development, Research, and Outreach

• Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities – students and faculty collaborating with Iowa communities
• Iowa Flood Center funding to support research to help Iowa communities
• Collaborating with other Regent universities on a major outreach-focused grant proposal 

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Foundational Commitment: Collaboration, Enterprise, Innovation

Program Restructuring to Promote Efficiency

• Created the Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
• Merged two departments into new Department of Health & Human Physiology

Instructional Productivity

• FTE down, student credit hours (SCH) up
• SCH/FTE up 10.5% since 2005

Institutional Cost Savings and Efficiencies

• Sustainability efforts lead to efficiencies (e.g., energy conservation)
• Paperless “e-transactions” growing toward one million  per year
• Lowest ratio of executive/administrative staff to total staff in the Big Ten

Inter-Institutional Cost Savings and Efficiencies

• Conducted a review of software licenses at Regent universities for potential savings
• Investigated joint contracting opportunities
• Reviewed leave programs for more effective and consistent application of policies
• Investigated potential cost-savings in worker’s compensation program
• Working with UNI to implement UI-developed applicant tracking system 

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