KU's Strategic Plan: Inititiative 2001

Act as One University

Following the 1997 convocation, task forces were appointed to discuss each of these initiatives. More than 75 faculty, staff, and students agreed to serve on one of the task forces. The Act as One University was asked to consider how KU, with campuses in Lawrence, Kansas City, Overland Park, and Wichita, could better combine its strengths, promote collaboration across campuses, and coordinate resources, instructional programs, and support activities. The task force was also asked to examine KU's role in the greater Kansas City area. Three of KU's four campuses are a part of greater Kansas City, and KU clearly serves as Kansas City's research university.

The Serve Kansans task force was asked to consider KU's responsibility to serve the citizens of Kansas. It was asked to discuss a philosophy of service for the University and how to bring about a coordinated effort and institutional focus for the wide variety of service activities taking place across the institution. The task force was also asked to look closely at the barriers and incentives to service that exist with our organization.

The Build Premier Learning Communities task force was asked to consider the prediction that the traditional residential campus will disappear in the 21st century, replaced by distance education. How can KU insure that face-to-face instruction in the rich environment of the residential campus maintains its importance in higher education? The task force was asked to discuss how KU's historic strengths and traditions could combine with new ways of doing business and new technological imperatives to insure its future.

The task forces worked throughout the 1997-98 academic year considering these issues, holding town meetings, inviting e-mail suggestions, and broadly involving the campus community in their discussions. In May 1998, the task force reports and recommendations for the future were ready. Throughout the summer of 1998, the Chancellor, Provost, and Executive Vice Chancellor sifted through more than 130 recommendations, categorized them, prioritized them, forwarded them to various units for consideration or implementation, or held them for further study.

• Serve as the research university for Greater Kansas City
• Invest in and remove barriers for interdisciplinary research
• Build common systems, such as e-mail, financial systems, student information systems

Serve Kansans

• Appoint a task force to consider the creation of a KU Center for Public Service
• Build partnerships with Kansas businesses and communities
• Emphasize service learning across the curriculum

Build Premier Learning Communities

Lawrence

• Invest in technology
• Create opportunities for undergraduate research and international experiences
• Improve graduate education

KUMC

• Invest in the infrastructure for clinical and basic science research
• Become a model for modern medical education
• Capitalize on opportunities with the KU Hospital Authority

Edwards Campus

• Emphasize demand-driven education for adults with additional graduate degree offerings
• Construct new buildings to enlarge the campus capacity
• Contribute to workforce and economic development; consider new, collaborative baccalaureate programs not offered in Lawrence or Kansas City

Wichita

• Create educational partnerships with Wichita State and others
• Become a model for community-based medical education
• Find niches for practice-based research