Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series that will take an in-depth look into Iowa State’s strategic plan for 2000-2005, which encompasses three concepts: engagement, discovery and learning. Today’s article focuses on engagement.

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The ISU strategic plan has moved from the ’90s concept of “becoming the best” to a goal for the new millennium — being an “engaged” institution.

Iowa State’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2000-2005 presents a more future-oriented approach, starting with becoming an engaged university.

The plan was approved at the Board of Regents’ June 14 and 15 meeting and will be implemented beginning July 1.

Rab Mukerjea, assistant to the president, said Iowa State is using the new terms of learning, discovery and engagement instead of the previously used education, research and outreach.

“It is not a brand-new idea; it’s a different way of expressing it,” he said. “This new language is really language looking forward to the 21st century.

“They encompass a broader sense of involvement,” he said.

The idea of an engaged university stems from “Returning to Our Roots,” the Kellogg Commission Report on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, in which Iowa State participated.

“We have accepted and adopted and built upon some of [the Kellogg report’s] concepts looking at Iowa State as an engaged university,” Mukerjea said.

“This plan is not just a plan for 2000 to 2005; the concept of the engaged institution … connects very well with the forward thinking of the future of state and land-grant institutions.”

According to the strategic plan, “As an Engaged Institution, Iowa State’s tripartite functions will become more responsively and productively involved with our constituent communities; and we will represent the ideals of sharing and partnership by recognizing and respecting what our partners bring to the table. We will work in collaboration with others and expand partnerships with other educational institutions, government, and the private sector, building upon each others’ strengths and focusing on what each can do best.”

Clarkson Kelly, member of the Board of Regents, said engagement is another way to go about Iowa State’s mission of “becoming the best.”

“They’re not conflicting; they’re compatible,” he said. “To do things like advance in economic development, to advance in the plant sciences, to advance in engineering, you have to get better.”

Being an engaged university is a commitment to work with the state, Kelly said.

“Engagement is not quite like being a couple, but almost — to be in contact, to interface with the things that need to be done in Iowa,” he said.

Engagement involves collaborating locally, nationally and internationally, Mukerjea said.

“It’s not a one-way street; it’s a two-way partnership,” he said.

But Mukerjea said Iowa State is not just looking outside the university to create partnerships.

“It’ll be our internal constituents who would be part and parcel of this,” he said.

According to the strategic plan, other ways of implementing the plan are reaching out to Iowa communities and improving Extension; expanding distance-learning degree programs; and technology transfer and pursuing licensing and patents of ISU innovations.

Iowa State will also look to use service-learning programs and student practicums to enhance learning and assess citizen approval of the university.

Engagement involves working with the state of Iowa to address the “brain drain” as well, Mukerjea said.

“A little more than half [of ISU students] upon graduation get a job within the state,” he said. “But over time not everyone remains.”

Studies done by the university show about one-third of all alumni are currently working in Iowa, he said.

“If we want to see that more of our graduates are employed in the state of Iowa, we have to see that our state resources expand to make that possible,” Mukerjea said. “It is not something Iowa State alone can do.”

Some ways in which Iowa State can help, he said, are by making Iowa a more attractive place to live by showing leadership to improve the environment and the workforce. Enterprises such as The ISU Institute for Physical Research and Technology, which includes Ames Laboratory, also promote growth.

“There have been a number of industries that spun off of Iowa State’s research and development,” Mukerjea said.

Engagement

According to the ISU 2000-2005 strategic plan, an engaged institution is characterized by:

* Responsiveness to clients and stakeholders

* Respect for partners in education

* Academic neutrality in serving as a resource

* Accessibility for all constituencies

* Integration of our mission with our responsibilities

* Coordination among university entities working in concert with each other

* Resource partnerships with government, business and the nonprofit world