Foreword by President Larry Edward Penley

Working Together to Set the Standard

Setting the Standard for the 21st Century outlines important strategic directions for Colorado State University in Fort Collins for the next decade, from 2006 to 2015.

For the university community, this document provides a planning tool to guide faculty, staff, advisory groups and others in mapping out more detailed plans for the university’s various administrative units, colleges, departments, institutes, and other programs.

For the university’s many constituencies – students, alumni, donors, friends, volunteers, community leaders, and public officials – this document summarizes CSU’s institutional priorities. The next 10 years promise to be challenging for higher education – and we invite these partners to join us in realizing Colorado State’s mission.

Setting the Standard is the product of a yearlong effort during 2004-2005 by a new University Planning Council charged by the President with discerning future directions for the campus. Eight special task forces and a variety of ad hoc groups contributed to the draft plan’s preparation.

Setting the Standard

The term setting the standard was purposefully selected. In April 2005, the Board of Governors challenged the institutions in the Colorado State University System to strive for excellence and to set the standard for public research institutions in terms of teaching, research and service.

Colorado State ranks among the nation’s top public institutions, based on the prestigious U.S. News and World Report rankings for 2005. Our goal is to continue to rise in quality and reputation until we rank at the top among peer schools.

Our dream is to set the standard for public research universities, as the model for the 21st century land-grant university.

Purpose of Planning

Management professor Lester R. Bittel observed, "Good plans shape good decisions. That’s why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true."

Indeed, fulfilling the dreams of the institution is why we are embarking on a new strategic plan. Through the planning process, we will anticipate and plan for how we will grow in quality and in terms of meeting demand for our services. We also must think about how we wish to grow intellectually and as a community.

The vitality of an institution such as Colorado State is driven by the creativity and initiative of its faculty, staff and students. Thus, our aim is unequivocal excellence – and a new standard for the 21st century land-grant university, achieved by tapping the entrepreneurial, pragmatic and innovative spirit of the entire campus community.

In some cases, setting the standard will involve affirmation of what we have been doing – and doing well – since 1870. Examples include our outstanding record of research in the sciences and technology and our focus on application.

However, if we are to set the standard for higher education, Colorado State also must strive for improvement in a wide range of activities that are already on a positive trajectory, including but not limited to undergraduate education.

In certain instances, excellence will require the transformation of programs. Among areas that require particular attention are student recruitment and retention, graduate education, international programs, K-14 support, outreach activities, and the marketing and promotion of the university. By linking our international activities and graduate education with our resources as a land-grant institution, for example, Colorado State can make a unique and distinctive contribution to global scholarship.

Colorado State’s spirit of innovation also will be essential to rethinking how we finance a public university. As new resources become available, and we adopt new approaches for funding our activities, this plan provides guidelines for spending in the coming years by identifying where we must invest strategically to achieve key priorities.

Challenges and Opportunities

Our planning process is grounded in 10 key trends recognized in preliminary campus discussions:

• Faculty and staff are loyal, entrepreneurial, and committed to quality. Our most productive people need to be retained and encouraged to excel.
• Colorado State is a destination campus with many aspects of a traditional American university. Students are positive about their experience but have other options available to them in and outside Colorado. Thus, we must be competitive and responsive.
• External funding of research, particularly by the federal government, is one of the institution’s great strengths. Yet private support is increasingly important to the growth of the university.
• As a public research university, coming out of the land-grant tradition, we are well-suited to work as a partner with the public and private sectors.
• The disjuncture between K-12 and higher education – in both teacher and student preparation – limits student access and success. This problem is compounded among young people representing low-income families and ethnic minorities – evidenced by the disproportionate number of these youth who fail to pursue higher education, particularly at the nation’s prestigious research universities such as Colorado State.
• Our society is a global one, and our students must be able to work and interact with people from diverse cultures. At the same time, we face a declining ability to attract non-U.S. graduate students as a result of the image of the United States abroad, increased global competition, and lower levels of student financial support.
• The increasing rate of change in society requires more frequent updating of our curriculum and drives the growing need for graduate studies, outreach, and adult reeducation.
• Colorado State’s many strengths remain largely unknown to the general public, academics and prospective students.
• With one of the lowest levels of administrative spending among leading educational institutions, Colorado State is already highly efficient. However, a culture of scarcity substantially limits our flexibility, invites risk and leads to missed opportunities.
• Public universities in all states, including Colorado, face increased funding difficulties because of growing demands on state budgets. As a result, we must creatively explore new revenue opportunities, re-deploy resources, and adopt an even more entrepreneurial culture.

Approach to Planning

By providing strategic directions for planning at Colorado State, Setting the Standard outlines the institution’s major priorities and the university-level outcomes against which our performance will be measured.

This document is organized in four broad areas. Consistent with the university’s mission statement, sections are devoted to teaching and learning, research and discovery, and service and outreach. The fourth section addresses financial and other resources critical to supporting CSU’s mission. Finally, reflecting our commitment to diversity, a final section outlines how units can help achieve the diversity goals outlined in the plan.

In total, we have identified 15 broad objectives (see left) and 39 specific goals. This is an ambitious number – but not surprising inlight of the size and complexity of Colorado State University. Details about how each of these will be measured are outlined in the chart beginning on page 15.

From this university-level outline, administrative divisions, colleges, departments and specialized units are encouraged to develop more detailed courses of action in unit plans that, collectively, will constitute the university’s strategic plan.

The Charge to the Campus

Management professor Peter Drucker observed that organizations face two fundamental challenges: One is to do the right things; the other is to do things right.

Setting the Standard outlines the right things for Colorado State as it strives to become the model 21st century land-grant institution. Obviously, a summary document cannot address every detail. I encourage everyone on campus to participate in the process of refining these objectives and goals and specifying the strategies and tactics that will enable us to achieve agreed-upon outcomes. In particular, creative approaches to curriculum, research, partnerships, funding and diversity are essential.

With its tradition of community, collaboration and entrepreneurship, I’m confident our campus community can and will achieve the ambitious outcomes we have identified – and set the standard for the 21^st century.

– Larry Edward Penley