The Faculty Senate recently made its concerns with the 2005-2010 Strategic Plan clear.

Members of the senate said liberal arts and sciences make the university diverse and should remain in the strategic plan. After review, the group said some progress has been made, but said the outlook for the future is still off balance.

“There is an absolute necessity to balance science and technology with consideration to the other colleges,” said Sidner Larson, at-large senator for the LAS college.

He said this is not an easy task, considering the recent budget cuts.Also, Larson said, there is excruciating pressure on Iowa State from the business community.

Larson said the university has become overly concerned with money — to the point where business and money are making the decisions on which direction the university will go in the future.

“It takes money to run a university,” said Jack Girton, at-large senator for the College of Agriculture and member of the planning committee.

He said when the government and the students are unable to pay more money, the university relies on the external funds provided by people with specific agendas for their invested money.

For example, he said, some money is specifically provided to fund research projects. Certain departments like engineering and agriculture get more funding because they are more involved with industry, Girton said.

“However, we can’t allow this to be the dominating force of the future,” Girton said.

Larson said ISU leaders haven’t made these views clear to the business community.

“It is up to the faculty to speak up,” Larson said.

With the second draft of the strategic plan, the measures have been the main topic of discussion amongst the Faculty Senate.

“The measures are classic examples of our situation being out of balance,” Larson said.

In the Oct. 12 meeting, many senators said the measures outlined to achieve the goals are too number-oriented.

“You can count beans, but you can’t count abstract things in that way,” Larson said.

Sanjeev Agarwal, president of the Faculty Senate, said some of the measures are mandated by the Board of Regents and the mandates are part of Iowa State’s assessment.

“We must come up with subjective versus objective measures,” Agarwal said.

Larson said the best way to be heard is in numbers, and, with the body of the faculty speaking, it is easier to reach the ISU administration, Board of Regents and Iowa Legislature.

“If we can get back to being less money-driven, the sooner the better,” Larson said.