The first draft of a plan that will show where the university is and where it is going was released Monday for review.

A 42-person committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni released the first draft of the 2005 to 2010 University Strategic Plan.

“It’s a road map for how the university should move forward in achieving excellence,” said Provost Ben Allen, chairman of the strategic planning committee and vice president for academic affairs.

The plan lists four main goals:

* To strengthen the undergraduate experience to enhance student success.

* To increase the number of programs known nationally.

* To achieve dominance in turning new discoveries into viable technologies, products and services.

* To enhance the quality of life on campus and throughout Iowa.

Kevin Kane, program manager of academic information technologies, was part of the committee, and one of seven people who took the information from the larger group and wrote the first draft of the plan.

“[The plan] provides a framework mechanism to allow the university to evaluate itself,” Kane said.

The committee tried to decide what it wanted Iowa State to be like in 25 years, and then developed a plan for what must be done in the next five years to achieve the long-term goals, Kane said. The committee has met six times since January to develop the plan’s first draft.

Allen said he went to the president of the Government of the Student Body and the president of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate last year and asked each of them to choose two students to be on the planning committee. He said it was important to have the various areas of the university represented in the committee, especially students.

There have been about 20 focus groups in addition to committee meetings, Kane said.

The Professional and Scientific Council, alumni and a group of Ames community members were just a few of the focus groups that met to look at the university’s opportunities for growth, strengths, weaknesses and challenges, Kane said. They also discussed how to address these issues.

The committee is asking for responses and input on the first draft from the university by Sept. 17 via e-mail and open forums. Then the committee will revise the first draft and release a second for another review.

“We’re seeking input and comments from everyone on the first draft,” Allen said. “We want it to be as strong and useful as possible.”

The second draft of the plan will be more detailed and specific than the first. Allen said the second draft will include global performance measures that should state specific years for each goal to be completed and percentages of success.

He said the plan will also include strategies to achieve the goals. The strategies for each goal will include a time frame, a person or office in charge of executing that goal and a model of how it will be accomplished.

The committee expects to have a final plan to submit for approval from Faculty Senate and ISU President Gregory Geoffroy by Dec. 1.

When the Faculty Senate completes its review, Geoffroy will submit the plan to the Board of Regents.

The new plan is scheduled to go into effect by July 1, 2005, following the board’s review.