Iowa State President Martin Jischke and 24 other current and former public university presidents have designed a framework for reform with the goal of putting students first.

An open letter, called “Returning to our Roots: The Student Experience,” was written by Jischke and sent to the chief executives of the nation’s state and land-grant colleges and universities. It was released in Washington D.C., Wednesday.

Jischke serves on the 25-member Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land Grant Universities. The group is meeting in Washington this week. The commission was created by a $1.2 million grant given by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC).

The letter stated, “It is little wonder that the most dramatic departures in President Clinton’s new budget are in the area of education, and especially in higher education. They reflect a broad consensus in the nation on the increasing importance of higher education as we enter the 21st century and growing awareness that higher education faces important challenges.”

“The most important mission of our universities’ is educating students to be the future leaders of our state, nation and world,” Jischke said in a prepared statement. “Educating students should be our No. 1 priority and we need to put students at the center of the university experience. This report is an excellent beginning to making that happen.”

Roz Hiebert, director of public affairs at NASULGC, said the Commission was formed more than a year ago to look at how public universities can change in order to meet the needs of the 21st century.

The members decided to concentrate on key university issues, the first being student experience, which resulted in Jischke’s open-letter report.

“They came up with a recommendation that they hope universities will follow and how they can put students first,” Hiebert said.

In the report, the commission asked universities to adopt several commitments. They include:

* Revitalizing partnerships with elementary and secondary schools

* Reinforcing the commitment to undergraduate instruction

* Strengthening the link between education and career

* Improving teaching and educational quality while keeping college affordable and accessible

* Defining educational objectives more clearly and improving assessment

* Creating more opportunities for hands-on learning, including undergraduate research

Universities officials need to ask: “How are we going to be a truly relevant university to our region and nation in the 21st century,” Hiebert said.

The commission will look at four more issues. They include access, working with the community, learning with societal issues and campus culture.

Members of the commission meet three or four times a year and communicate through e-mail.

Hiebert had high praise for Jischke. “He’s very dynamic and has good ideas and contributes enormously to the work of this commission,” she said.

Kathleen MacKay, dean of students, said she is pleased with what the commission is doing and said the initiative will gain the attention of officials on campuses across the country. “The general principal of improving undergraduate learning is exactly what we need to be focusing on,” MacKay said.