September 8, 2008

President Wilson convened the first Strategic Planning and Budgeting Committee meeting of the new 2008-2009 academic year.

In the past, the SPBC has devoted a portion of the year to general reports on progress with respect to goals in the Strategic Plan. President Wilson suggested that in the coming meetings we would shift the focus to "imbedded" items within the plan and begin conversations concerning specific areas (e.g., information technology, alumni engagement, admissions). He also mentioned that there were also requests from various campus groups who would like to meet with the Committee to talk about future priorities.

President Wilson noted that the SPBC is an important sounding board for him. For example, each year we have discussions concerning our tuition and salary policies, which the President conveys to the Board of Trustees. In addition, new topics emerge with financial implications for the University. The charge of the SPBC is to address these important issues and provide feedback to the President for his consideration.

I. Meeting Times.

Meeting times were discussed. It was suggested that noon to 1:30 is a difficult time for some faculty. In the future, meeting times will be rotated between 11:30 and noon. Michael Thompson will contact the group with the updated meeting times.

II. Benchmark Report (draft) Review

President Wilson introduced the IWU Benchmark Report Draft by explaining the importance of examining the performance of IWU as compared to our peer institutions. The report allows us to gauge our progress in the context of available resources. The report contained a sampling of tables to give the Committee some insight into how it would be used and an opportunity to comment on the format.

President Wilson noted that the peer group established by the Strategic Planning Steering Committee in 2004 was utilized for the report with some revisions. Last year, Grinnell College, Ithaca College, and Wesleyan University were removed from the list, while DePauw University, Rhodes College, Lawrence University, and Augustana College were added. The peer group revisions were based on a number of factors including endowment levels, admissions competition, and program characteristics (e.g., liberal arts, fine arts, and pre-professional). President Wilson felt this group was still largely aspirational, yet better balanced with the addition of institutions more similar to Illinois Wesleyan. The President asked if there were additional questions regarding the peer list. No questions were asked, but it was mentioned that we should keep detailed records concerning our revisions to the peer list for future reference. The President then asked the Committee if it was comfortable with the revised list. The SPBC accepted the peer group for future reporting purposes.

Michael Thompson presented the charts within the sample benchmark report and explained what each revealed about IWU's relative position among the peer group. The first page showed charts on three items under the Admissions section: Applications per Matriculant, Admit Rate, and Yield.

In comparison to IWU's peer group, the University has lost ground in terms of the number of applications per matriculant. While our figure has fluctuated from a low of 4.9 (2005) to a high of 5.8 (2003), the peer group median has increased each year from 6.4 to 8.8, reflecting an increase in their application pools. In addition, our admit rate has increased from 43 percent to 57 percent over the past five years, while our peers have moved in the opposite direction (from a median of 58 percent to 41 percent). In 2003, we were ranked number one among our peers in yield, but we are now at the median of the group (from 40 percent to 32 percent over five years).

It was noted that we need to explore ways to increase our number of applications and that the increase in our admit rate over the past few years was alarming. On that note, the Committee agreed to invite someone from the admissions staff to gain a better understanding of the challenges facing the University in attracting and recruiting students.

Michael then explained the Retention and Graduation Rates section with three charts showing: First-Year to Sophomore Retention, 6-Year Graduation Rate, and 6-Year ALANA Graduation Rate. He stated that IWU is doing very well with a 92 percent retention rate for returning first-year students. IWU has been consistently high in this category. He also stated that we are doing well in both the 6-Year Graduation Rates and the 6-Year ALANA Graduation Rate indicators and emphasized the importance of these measures in attracting students to the University.

The next six charts were on diversity. IWU has made great gains in increasing the first-time, first-year ALANA students over the past five years. There has been much improvement, and we are currently at the median of our peer group. The Total ALANA and International Students charts show we are improving quickly in these areas as well.

A question was asked about why an admissions person was not on the SPBC, something viewed as very desirable as we look at diversity of the student body. It was noted that the membership of SPBC had been carefully determined three years ago and that the best solution might be to invite an admissions staff member to attend meetings periodically.

Michael went on to explain more of the Diversity charts. IWU slipped a little over the past year regarding our percentage of female faculty (42 percent to 40 percent), while our ALANA faculty percentage has doubled over the past five years (12 percent). Our percentage of ALANA staff (7 percent) is at the median of our peer group.

The last page of the report focused on Business and Finance measures: Endowment Market Value per FTE, Instructional Expenditures per FTE, and Educational Expenditures per FTE. Although IWU is almost at the bottom of our peer group in terms of the size of our present endowment, our progress on many of performance indicators suggests that we overachieve and make efficient use of limited resources. President Wilson noted that there is no quick fix to the size of our endowment and that sustained effort over the next decade will be required.

President Wilson then asked for comments and questions regarding the use of the benchmark report:

-- Would it be possible to add another column in the charts that shows the US News rank of the institutions for the most recent year?

-- An indicator showing the percentage of alumni giving was requested.

-- More applications are needed. Do we have a plan to generate more applications?

-- We are under-funded in many areas but still overachieve with the resources we have.

-- The diversity charts illustrate progress in our strategic planning efforts.

-- We should stick to our plan, tie it into our resources, and identify a way forward.

President Wilson said this was exactly the type of conversation we should be having and that we can begin talking about the indicators with other groups even though the report is a work in progress. As we continue our development of benchmark performance indicators, we need to discuss the best way to utilize them in our planning efforts.

III. Topics of Interest for Future SPBC Meetings

President Wilson asked for suggestions concerning topics of interest for future SPBC meetings. The following suggestions were made:

-- Sustainability issues.

-- Discussion of the leadership and direction of information technology.

-- The proposed new classroom building and what classroom technology needs will be required.

-- How do we engage, use, and improve communications with alumni in a cohesive way? Alumni can be resources in many areas and their involvement could permeate the entire University.

-- Discussion and updates on the Master Plan

-- Overall strategy for admissions

-- Globalizing the campus.

-- Academic issues -- how we support our present curriculum.

The Provost reported that a consultant had been invited to come to campus to review our information technology area in advance of a search to replace the director. A report will be produced with recommendations. President Wilson stated that we will continue to build the list of topics for future discussion.

Distributed to all faculty and staff: Oct. 6, 2008