University of Akron President Luis Proenza’s vision for the school in eight years includes 40,000 students, a $1 billion development portfolio, $200 million annually for research and revamping the way administrators measure success.
The “Vision 2020” plan unveiled Wednesday before university trustees is named to mark the school’s 150th anniversary.
“We are literally creating a new standard of university performance,” Proenza said.
The new “framework for success” is the product of three years of work with 3,500 faculty, staff, students, community leaders and others. The report paints the future with a broad brush, calling for UA to:
• Increase enrollment to 40,000 students. Current enrollment is 29,500.
• Improve job placement to up to 80 percent within six months of graduation in “dynamic careers.”
• “Benchmark” achievements against similar universities.
• Increase diversity with “measurable improvements.”
“This is a real road map that the university could follow, and we feel that the university needs to make a commitment,” said Ralph Palmisano, vice chairman of the university’s board of trustees.
A 2000 plan called “Charting the Course” is being renamed, but the school continues to seek “clusters of excellence” in discovery and innovation, cultural enrichment, community well-being and economic development that it outlined. The early plan, however, did not include numbers to measure those accomplishments.
In a meeting with Beacon Journal editors and reporters Tuesday afternoon, Proenza said he wants the school to judge itself by how well it advances the education of a diverse student body, not merely how many end up graduating. He said many elite universities have an advantage with graduation rates, because they admit only excellent students.
Under the new guidelines, the school will look at how well it keeps its students on track toward graduation, the ratio of full-time to part-time faculty, total research awards and expenditures, entering class average ACT scores, degrees awarded per student and first-year students retained.
Proenza said that when the 10 years are finished, UA hopes to have hired another 200 educators, most of them full-time faculty members.
In fiscal matters, the school will measure itself according to revenue by category per student (full-time equivalent), expenditures by category per student, endowment per student, debt and the condition of facilities.
“It will tell our colleagues, both in the region and in the state, that we are about the process of ensuring an educated work force … and providing the innovation that will support economic development,” Proenza told trustees.
He acknowledged that plans come and go, but he expects Vision 2020 to remain a guiding force for UA for years to come — but there will be changes.
“It will look somewhat different because circumstances will change,” he said. “But I think you will [continue to hear about the plan] not only because it will be a living document that continues to evolve, but also because Vision 2020 is predicated on the year 2020, which is our sesquicentennial,” he said.
The board authorized spending $2 million a year to implement the plan, including the hiring of faculty and initiating programs.
The board also authorized paying Proenza performance bonuses of $60,000 and $25,000. Board chairman Ann Brennan praised him “for not only achieving but greatly exceeding his one-year and three-year goals.”
Brennan said Proenza met standards for increasing enrollment, leading fundraising, advancing innovation and collaboration, and “adding value for our students, region, state and nation.”
“If times were better, we might acknowledge his continuing success at exceeding the agreed-upon goals by providing additional bonus money,” she said.
Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com.
