Making the Case for a Strong Public
Research University : The University of
Kentucky Top-20 Business Plan
Alan J. DeYoung,
University of Kentucky
Drivers of Change and Choice: What Can We Learn About Competitiveness By
Comparing U.S. and EU Education at the University Level. Warsaw, Poland,
June 18-19, 2010.
University of Kentucky
THEMES AND APPROACHES
• University Snapshot
and Politics of KY
Higher Education
• Top 20 Universities
and the Social
Context
• President as CEO
• Business Plan and
Strategic Plan
• Logic Behind the Top20 Initiative
• Strategies for
Engaging the Public
and Private Sectors
• Conceptual and
Practical Challenges
“Snapshot” of the University of Kentucky
•
Location: Lexington, Ky.
Type: 4 year, Public
Year Founded: 1865
Tuition and Fees (Fall 2008): In-State: $7,736; Out-of-State: $15,884
Total enrollment (Fall 2006): 26,382
Undergraduate enrollment: 19,292
Undergraduate applicants (Fall 2006): 10,024
Percentage admitted: 80.5%
Graduation rate: 59%
16 colleges, a graduate school
Almost 100 undergraduate and 100 master’s programs
70 doctoral and professional programs.
•
Sports Nickname: Wildcats
Official Web site: Uky.edu
•
•
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, US News and World Report, College Board
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_kentucky/index.html?inline=nyt-org
UK as Kentucky’s Land-Grant
University
•
The University of Kentucky is a public, co-educational land-grant university
and is the largest in the Commonwealth. Designated as the state’s
“Flagship” research university.
•
Land-grant colleges/universities are institutions of higher education
designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862
and 1890 and the Hatch Act of 1887.
•
Their mission: To focus on the teaching of agriculture, science and
engineering as a response to the industrial revolution and changing social
class rather than higher education's historic core of classical studies.
Mission expanded by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 to include cooperative
extension — the sending of agents into rural areas to help bring the results
of agricultural research to citizens.
•
Each land-grant university still receives annual Federal appropriations for
research and extension work on the condition that those funds are matched
by state funds.
Political Context of the Top 20 Plan
in Kentucky
• Kentucky House Bill 1 (1997): UK to become a
major comprehensive research institution ranked
nationally among the top 20 public universities.
• Passage of HB 1 forms a “Top 20 Compact” with
the university
• University agrees to relinquish control over the
state’s community college system.
• The Plan proposed/mandated/ promised to
facilitate UK’s thrust to become a Top 20 public
research university by 2020.
Top 20 Universities and Social
Contexts
States with Top 20
Universities have:
•
•
•
•
Higher median incomes
Higher educational attainment
Lower poverty rates
Fewer citizens on Medicaid
President Lee Todd’s Agenda
• Connecting research and job
creation
• raising the academic
performance and national
standing of the university as
the best way to improve the
state’s economy
• reducing the scourge of what
he calls “the Kentucky uglies”
— high rates of diabetes, lung
cancer, illiteracy and poverty.
Credibility: President Lee Todd Jr.:
CEO
• … Dr. Todd grew up in a small coal-mining and farming
town in western Kentucky, graduated from the university
and earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at MIT. He
returned to his Kentucky alma mater to teach before
leaving to spend 18 years creating two successful hightech companies, in a state better known for
thoroughbreds and bourbon than for digital innovations.
• “What the state needs is a more educated work force,”
Dr. Todd told members of the Scott County Chamber of
Commerce during an address at a luncheon recently in
nearby Georgetown. “We’re going to have to have more
graduates in our economy if we want it to grow.”
Developing Strategic and Business
Plans
• “Few ideas are bigger than the one that Dr. Todd, 61,
began promoting when he became president in 2001:
getting Kentucky into the top 20 among public research
universities by 2020.” (New York Times Series on UK)
• “It took 18 months to develop a plan, with the aid of
consultants, to enhance the academic reputation …
• The first step … to devise their own system for rating
state universities. It involves measuring indicators like
graduation rates; the academic quality of entering
students; the number of Ph.D.’s being produced; the
scholarly citations and awards amassed by the faculty
members; and the dollar value of federal research grants
awarded to faculty members.
• Then, they designated benchmarks by which the
university’s progress could be measured over the years.”
•
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/education/01face.html?_r=1&ref=education
Business Plan vs. Strategic Plan
• The Business Plan is a long-term financial
document. It quantifies how much Top 20
status will cost and the return on investment
(ex., more degrees and research
productivity).
• The 2006-09 Strategic Plan defines specific
measures of quality, establishes strategic
goals for excellence, and directs the
allocation of resources across campus.
•
http://www.uky.edu/OPBPA/business_plan.htm
Business Plan Working Groups
• Top 20 Work Group
– VP for Planning, Budget, and Policy; VP
for Institutional Research, Planning, and
Effectiveness; Policy Director; Planning
Director
• Top 20 Steering Committee
– Deans, administrators
– Faculty, staff, and student leaders
• The Stillwater Group (External
Consultants)
Business Plan Considerations
1
• How do we define ‘Top 20’ status?
2
• Where does UK rank now?
3
• Where will the 20th institution be in 2020?
4
• What is the gap?
5
• What resources will it take to fill the gap?
Making national comparisons
COMPOSITE SCORE
DOMAINS
MEASURES OF PROGRESS
Growth Targets for 2020
Undergraduates
Graduates, First Professional
Postdoctoral Appointments
Total
Faculty
Research Expenditures
Bachelor's Degrees Granted
Doctorates Granted
2004
2020
Change
18,492
24,692
6,200
7,252
8,002
750
295
670
375
26,039
33,364
7,325
1,920
2,545
625
$298 M
$768 M
$470 M
3,285
6,350
3,065
276
465
189
Early Results: UK’s Rank Among 88
Institutions, 1997-2007
Since 1997, UK
moved from
40th to 35th
UK
Business Plan Summary
• UK will provide 40 percent of the needed
investments
•
•
•
•
Annual Giving
Research Recovery
Hospital and Clinical Services
Internal Reallocation
• The remaining 60 percent of the needed
investments should come from the state
and students
Selling the Plan
• The Dream Tour
– Occurred prior to
completion of Top 20 Plan
– 22-city, 1,600 mile trek
across Kentucky
– “Our Campus Is the
Commonwealth”
Selling to Different Audiences
• Campus buy-in
– Board of Trustees, University and Staff
Senates, faculty breakfasts, open forums
• Statewide support
• Media
– Local and national coverage
• Government
– Met individually with Governor, over 100
legislators
Implementing the Business Plan
Top 20 Business Plan
Implementation
University of Kentucky
Strategic Plan
2006-2009
University Committee on Academic
Planning and Priorities (UCAPP)
•Steering Committee chaired by Provost
•Four Domain Subcommittees:
–Undergraduate Education
–Graduate/Professional Education
–Faculty Development
–Research
•Engagement Subcommittee
•Staff Development Subcommittee
UCAPP Charge Highlights
•Advise President’s Cabinet:
–Identifying academic priorities
–Revising university-wide strategic plan
–Recommending criteria and principles for
resource allocations
–Monitoring success in achieving intended
outcomes
2006-09 Strategic Plan:
Alignment with the Top 20 Business Plan
•Five Major Goals
•Enrollment Plan
•Campus Master Plan
•Market Analysis
•Workforce Planning
Strategic Plan 2009-2014
• Goal 1: Prepare Students for Leading Roles in an Innovationdriven Economy and Global Society
• Goal 2: Promote Research and Creative Work to Increase the
Intellectual, Social, and Economic Capital of Kentucky and the
World beyond Its Borders
• Goal 3: Develop the Human and Physical Resources of the
University to Achieve the Institution's Top 20 Goals
• Goal 4: Promote Diversity and Inclusion
• Goal 5: Improve the Quality of Life of Kentuckians through
Engagement, Outreach, and Service
Source: http://www.uky.edu/Provost/strategic_planning/plan.htm
WWW Top 20 Sources
• Kentucky Top 20 Business Plan Executive
summary:
http://www.uky.edu/OPBPA/Top20/executi
ve_summary_v7a.pdf.
• Strategic Plan 2009-2014:
http://www.uky.edu/Provost/strategic_plan
ning/plan.htm
Issues in Achieving Top 20 Status
• Hard to Get to the Top when Everyone
Else is Also Striving to get there.
• The Problem with Correlations
• Economics of Higher Education in a
Recession