Students will get to weigh in Friday on a plan that will set the tone for Iowa State through 2010.

A forum will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Gallery to gather input from the campus on the direction the university should take.

A 41-member Strategic Planning Committee, led by Provost Ben Allen, began meeting in January to put together a document that would serve as a blueprint for the university from 2005 to 2010.

The Strategic Plan provides a mission statement, vision, shared values, goals, strategies and performance measures for the university.

“Basically, all major decisions that are made in the university follow this Strategic Plan,” said Government of the Student Body President Mike Banasiak, a member of the Strategic Planning Committee.

The last Strategic Plan was drafted in 1999. Banasiak said there has been discussion of making the new Strategic Plan more specific than in the past. He said budget constraints will likely factor into changes made in the goals of the university in the new plan.

“Everyone is trying to figure out how to better predict these types of situations,” he said.

Banasiak encouraged students to bring any issues they feel are important to them to the forum. Rising tuition is an example of one specific issue Banasiak said could translate into larger strategic planning.

“Tuition is a big problem … what does the university do to remain more stable so we don’t have these large increases?” Banasiak said. “Those types of ideas are perfectly acceptable, because we need to know what’s working for the university and what’s a problem.”

Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture and Strategic Planning Committee member, said the group is expected to have a completed plan to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy by the end of this year. The plan will then be submitted to the Board of Regents early next year for approval.

“We really do want to have broad participation in the development of the plan and to provide opportunities for faculty and students to participate,” Woteki said.